The Last Day 31/10/09

Well today is my last day as the SA Non Profit Broadband Project Officer. I've got most of the reporting done and now its just a matter of dotting the i's and crossing the t's to ensure all obligations are met. Its a shame really but with all funding cycles it was bound to end at some stage.

For a sector that provides 3% of the GDP and employs over 600.000 Australians it is extremely disappointing to see the ‘digital divide’ grow for these hard working and dedicated people that provide so much for their communities and yet have funding resources slashed in most cases annually.

These people are desperate for help and broadband technology can make their jobs more efficient and break down the geographical issues they face every day. We take so many things for granted and yet these people work tirelessly with little support to provide for those that need it the most.

I will be returning to do some consultancy work and focus on providing IT support services for non profits. I feel that I now have the experience and knowledge to help this sector start to embrace technology.

To all those that have helped over the 2 years I would like to thank them and hope to stay in contact for many years to come.

BPO Meeting - 21/10/09

Today we had our last BPO meeting at BroadbandSA. It is a shame to see the projects winding up however I feel that there was a lot of positive outcomes for rural and remote South Australia. We covered our recent events including the Untangling the Web at Port Augusta and then covered the dreaded final reporting obligations. All in all I hope to stay in touch with the team and keep my ears open for any further positions especially with the rollout of the NBN not to far in the distance.

Annual General Meeting - 16/10/09

Connecting Up Australia held their Annual General Meeting today. I gave a small presentation on my project and with it winding up I presented a small slide show of some of the events and places I've visited over the last 2 years. Doug said some kind words about me and I hope that I can continue to work within the non profit industry and return some of the generosity shown to me by Connecting Up Australia and all its staff.

UTW - Port Augusta 8/10/09

A couple of days ago we held another one of our successful Untangling the Web events in Port Augusta. It was combined with the opening of the Port Augusta Business Centre that aims at providing a business incubator for local start up businesses. BroadbandSA helped organise the event and was opened by the State Manager of Microsoft, Mike Duhne. All in all it was a great day and demonstrated the need for more events within rural and remote South Australia.

TCGSA 22/09/09

Attended a meeting at the Telecommunications Consumers Group of SA today. Discussion covered the current changes within the consumer industry including recent changes with ACCAN. Ian has put himself forward to sit on the board and we are looking forward to see the outcome. It has been identified that recent forums etc. have not been well attended and changes are needed if any further events are to be held.

Central Local Government Region - 10/09/09

Had a meeting earlier today that was an extension of our regular BPO meeting with the State Government. There is a submission being formed to over the Central Local Government area and as part of that submission there are negotiations to include BPO's similar to myself. I was interested to see if the State was going to start offering some funding arrangements so that our projects could continue after the contract period.

DRI Meeting 28/08/09

Today was another DRI meeting where some of the finer points were discussed. From the many people attending there didn't seem to be anyone that had a viable project due to the funding requirements. The State made it quite clean that there was no money to be found and with such a high buy-in I can't see any projects getting the go ahead. Sadly it would seem that only those with plenty of spare cash will get any notice and considering the dire need for projects across the State I don't see many positive outcomes.