AIIA’s Annual General Meeting will be held this Thursday, providing the perfect opportunity for the Association to examine the defining moments of 2006.

This year, AIIA has focused on delivering programs and products that improve the business climate for all members, but particularly small-to-medium enterprises.

One of AIIA’s new initiatives in 2006 has been CollabIT.

As SMEs make up nearly 80 per cent of all ICT businesses in Australia, and 70 per cent of AIIA’s membership, the board has increased investment in CollabIT to drive membership growth among this vital segment of Australia’s ICT industry.

CollabIT assists clusters of like-minded smaller companies to forge alliances with multinational corporations, share their knowledge, and pool their resources to access new markets.

CollabIT has received a very positive response from companies – both members and non-members – and from governments. The program has already been rolled out successfully in Victoria, Western Australia and Sydney, and we have plans to expand to all mainland states and territories over the next three years.

CollabIT is just one part of AIIA’s vision to create a globally competitive ICT industry.

Our highly successful Developing Business Skills for ICT Entrepreneurs program was launched last year to assist companies to expand their potential through mentoring and peer evaluation. The program continues to aid budding entrepreneurs to build their businesses, rather than simply run their businesses.

AIIA has also developed a range of products especially for the SME ICT market, such as the SME Marketing Guide, which provides clear and practical advice on a range of marketing, public relations and communication issues, and FindICT, our new business matching service, which will be launched next month and which will link AIIA members to customers needing ICT solutions.

Moving forward, AIIA will extend our training to include capacity building programs to help members raise capital and commercialise new products.

We will lobby governments to change arrangements for pre-seed funding and ESOP programs. And we will investigate how we can bring companies together so that they can leverage their collaborative buying power to reduce costs associated with international tradeshows.

Just last month, AIIA released Realising the potential of the local ICT industry, a research report which confirmed our policy directions. Those interviewed said that they wanted to build capacity, gain entrepreneurial training, access marketing intelligence and collaborate with other like-minded companies to win business.

AIIA has worked hard to support the contribution that SMEs make to Australia’s $90 billion ICT industry, and will continue to build on our solid reputation as the voice of the ICT industry.

On a personal note, I have recently stepped aside from my role at Telstra to start an exciting new enterprise. Kazacos Industries will target the small business market and will look, in part, at the convergence of information and telecommunications technologies.

I hope to continue to serve the Association as Chairman in 2007 and to continue to build on the solid gains made by the Association during 2006.

I look forward to seeing many AIIA members at the AGM dinner in Sydney, which will have special significance this year, as it will be the last AGM with our Chief Executive Officer, Rob Durie at the helm. Rob has represented the Association for more than seventeen years and leaves behind a substantial legacy and a stronger, more influential industry association.

One of my major preoccupations for the past few months has been the executive search for a new Chief Executive Officer to replace Rob. The process is almost complete and we hope to announce the new appointment within a few weeks.

Peter Kazacos
Chairman
Australian Information Industry Association

On Thursday 19 October, AIIA will host its annual general meeting dinner in Sydney.

AIIA is delighted to present keynote speaker, Dr Geoff Garrett, Chief Executive of CSIRO. Dr Garrett leads 6,500 staff engaged over 57 sites across Australia with an annual turnover of $900 million.

18 October: Melbourne - AIIA's Victorian Government Symposium
18 October: Canberra Managers' Forum - Defence
25 October: Brisbane - Member Only CEO Breakfast
25 October: Perth - WA Branch meeting features outstanding ICT opportunities


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