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National university IT conference on the Coast
10 July, 2006
The University of the Sunshine Coast will host the 2006 QUESTnet
Conference at the Hyatt Coolum July 11-14 as part of its tenth
anniversary celebrations.
350 delegates from universities around Australia will attend the
conference to discuss the latest advances in network
technology.
It will be an excellent opportunity for USC to showcase its
campus and technology, and to celebrate productive partnerships
that further the region's interest, according to Executive Director
of IT Services at USC, Maureen Klinkert.
This year's conference is themed Networking for e-Research -
Communication, Collaboration and Regional Engagement.
"Whilst the conference is geared mainly for networking
technologists, there will be many managers, IT directors and some
government representatives who will attend. Speakers are from
university, research, health, government, defence and industry
sectors," Ms Klinkert said.
The event will provide delegates with the opportunity to develop
their professional and technical knowledge and gain an appreciation
of the key strategic issues for network development.
"QUESTnet 2006 is the premier conference for networking
professionals in Australia. It is an opportunity for delegates from
the university and research sector to meet their peers, develop
personal knowledge, exchange observations and experiences, and gain
an understanding of future network directions and developments," Ms
Klinkert said.
Internationally significant keynote speakers include Associate
Professor Colin Carati, Assistant Dean of Support Services at the
School of Medicine at Flinders University in South Australia.
His role covers infrastructure and IT management for a medical
school that has both national and international research and
teaching collaborations, and has a significant rural and remote
component.
His presentation will explore some of the areas of current and
future interaction between medicine and advanced networking.
Examples will be given of high quality interactive digital video
links for surgical training between Australia and Japan, Korea and
Singapore.
Platinum sponsor, Nortel, will present workshops and a
representative of the company will give a keynote presentation.
Some Queensland universities and research organisations are
leading the way in the use of technology to support improved
services for students and staff, according to Phil Edholm, Chief
Technology Officer and Vice President of Strategy and Architecture
for Nortel's Enterprise Solutions and Packet Networks group.
"Nortel is working closely with those institutions and other
like-minded organisations, to help them meet their service needs
while still hitting their operational targets, by reducing the cost
and complexity of their advanced networks," said Mr Edholm.
About QUESTnet
QUESTnet is a management committee of Queensland university IT
directors who aim to promote and advance the development and use of
Information and Communications Technologies in Higher Education and
Research in Queensland. QUESTnet works closely with the Australian
Academic and Research Network (AARNet) in the management of the
Queensland research and education network.
Further information about QUESTnet and a program of this year's
conference speakers is available at
<www.questnet.net.au/questnet2006>.