AIIA members may have read with interest the recent media coverage of a proposed merger between AIIA and the Australian Electronic & Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (AEEMA).

AIIA will begin accepting enrolments for its inaugural Developing Business Skills for ICT Entrepreneurs program from 9 May, 2005.

The innovative course has been designed specifically for business owners and managers of established ICT companies with less than 20 employees.

The importance of ICT as an enabler for many other industries cannot be underestimated.

Pioneering ICT transforms and increases productivity across all sectors of the economy and creates high value businesses, growth, exports and skilled job opportunities.

AIIA has been working closely with our members and Planet Ark Consulting to develop an industry-driven product stewardship and shared responsibility strategy that addresses environmental management of e-waste (collection and reprocessing) at the end-of-life stage of the product life cycle.

The principles of product stewardship and shared responsibility dictate that each player in the product chain performs a role and carries a share of the responsibility for environmental and cost outcomes. In a recent submission to the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC), AIIA proposed that this would involve responsibilities for the industry, consumers and all levels of government. In addition to that statement, AIIA, presented an outline of AIIA’s project plan and proposed next steps (a precursor to the final report due in June).

According to Kaaren Koomen, IBM Australia’s Government Affairs Executive and member of AIIA’s Environment Special Interest Group, the interim report is the result of detailed discussions on the legal and financial framework, as well as the practical arrangements that will need to be put in place. “The development of a scheme that has broad industry support is far from easy,” Ms Koomen says. “This interim report is a crucial step in the process.”

The final report, once completed, will represent a considered view and demonstrates the ICT industry’s willingness to show leadership in the development of a socially responsible product stewardship scheme.

Background
Since 2001, AIIA has undertaken a number of activities in support of the development of this strategy, including:

• Providing submissions in response to a number of government discussion papers,
• Developing AIIA’s Product Stewardship Policy Statement that was endorsed by AIIA’s Board of Directors in August 2002,
• Publishing Designing for the Environment Report, a snapshot of the product stewardship initiatives being undertaken by AIIA members to reduce the environmental impacts of their products both globally and in Australia, and
• Planning, funding and organising the Recycle IT! Pilot Project with (the former) Resource NSW.
• Information on the Recycle IT Pilot Project and other reports can be accessed from our website. Click here

Progress
AIIA’s report explores the options available for the collection and reprocessing of e-waste and finds that costs of such a scheme to the community and economy as a whole is dependent on the decisions made in relation to the material to be targeted, the method of collection and the way in which the e-waste program is to be funded.

“There is a huge ground swell of goodwill in the industry ready to move forward on this issue,” says Ramsay Moodie, Director Corporate Affairs for Fuji Xerox and member of AIIA’s Environment Special Interest Group. “While there are issues of equity relating to old-debt name and no name product, we should move quickly to tie down the future.”

Planet Ark’s key advisor on the project, Gerard Van Rijswijk, explains, “Should funding of an e-waste program (whole or in part) become the responsibility of the industry sector, the program set up by industry, through an industry-based Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), will be primarily designed to be forward-looking to cover all products sold after an agreed start date. This approach overcomes the problems of equity and retrospectivity associated with the management of historic (particularly orphan and white box) product, and the associated issues of unquantified and unfunded liability that a retrospective approach to collection and reprocessing would pose.”

According to AIIA’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Josh Millen, research undertaken by Planet Ark has revealed that the number of computers and related e-waste available for recovery and recycling is uncertain and hence the cost associated with their recovery is unknown.

Based in part on those figures, AIIA members felt that the program should initially be designed to be forward looking and cover the products sold after an agreed starting date. AIIA socialised the Planet Ark research with key government officials and this has since resulted in a government-funded proposal to undertake a quantitative survey to explore the issue more comprehensively.

“Importantly, I’d like to stress that members aren’t baulking at the sensitive legacy issue,” Millen says. “Many of our member companies already have excellent recycling and reprocessing schemes in place and now see improved environmental performance as part of their corporate and social responsibility and a means to boost their competitive advantage over the longer term.

“The ultimate goal is zero waste to landfill. However, it will be a staged approach and could take some time. Right now, we can present a viable solution for the ‘go-forward’.

“With respect to the legacy and white box situations, we have consistently emphasised to the government that our members shouldn’t have to foot the entire bill. It is much akin to dining at an exclusive restaurant and expecting someone else on another table to pay your bill! It just doesn’t make sense! Government is quite intent on establishing a legislative framework and we want to make sure we have our say on how it is drafted and implemented,” Millen says.

Annukka Sairanen, Hewlett-Packard’s Environmental Manager for the South Pacific region, believes it is important that the system is set up to deliver the desired environmental and economic outcomes. “The issues surrounding e-waste are complex, and should be based on shared responsibility. We at HP are looking forward to working with industry groups to take this issue to the next level,” Ms Sairanen says.

AIIA believes that the development of a co-regulatory framework that ensures an equitable solution and that will cover the entire computer industry, including the significant white box segment, is essential. The framework will need to, at the very least, set nationally consistent and agreed product stewardship and environment management requirements and that model could feasibly be backed by appropriate safety-net (code of practice or complementary legislation) to ensure cooperation from all parties.

Should you have any queries regarding our comments please contact Josh Millen, AIIA’s Policy Manager - Corporate Social Responsibility: Further information can be found on AIIA’s website

On Wednesday 25 May, the iAwards will acknowledge Australia’s cutting edge technology.

For Shortcuts Software, being an iAwards finalist puts them head and shoulders above the competition.

ICT marketers must get back to basics to be successful in the increasingly fast-paced ICT industry.

By Tony Iams, VP & Lead Analyst of Systems Software research, Ideas International Limited

Many of Australia’s leading IT enterprise users are currently in the process of evaluating the potential impact of virtualisation techniques to achieve improved ROI on their IT infrastructure investments.

Following an enquiry from the US, Austrade is looking for suppliers of the following technologies:

• Passive (non-RF emitting or below PART standards) methods to "block" cellular communications in pre-designated areas of buildings,
• Passive means to select certain cellular devices as authorized to receive a signal from the cellular tower while denying all other cellular devices the ability to operate in the same area, and
• Technology for identifying devices by type of ID information (phone number, etc.) and tracking their movement in buildings using 3-D modelling.

If your company meets these specifications, or if you’d like to know more information, contact Katharine Heather, Senior Export Adviser - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Client Advisory Services (CAS) at Austrade on (02) 9390 2395.

The possibilities for Australian information and communications technology (ICT) companies in Southeast Asian markets can be overwhelming. Wielding a population of 500 million, ASEAN offers a mixture of developing and advanced economies with a combined gross domestic product of almost A$960 billion.

15th World Congress on Information Technology: Austin, Texas USA:
May 1 - 5, 2006

What does the number of dimples on a golf ball have to do with ICT?

Today, more than ever, security is at the forefront of everyone’s mind - at home, at play and at work.