Internet Society of Australia
A Chapter of the Internet Society
ABN 36 076 406 801
Minutes of Directors' Meeting 21 July 2003
The meeting started at 5.15 p.m. ACST (5:45 AEST) on 21st July, 2003, and took place by way of teleconference in accordance with the Articles of Association. 1. Attendance and apologies Present: Ross Kelso, George Fong, Tony Hill (Chair), Gunela Astbrink, Andrew McRae, Gerry White (Minutes), Kate Lance (Executive Director), Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Craig Ng. Apologies: Anne Greiner, Narelle Clark Absent: Jeremy Malcolm 2. Minutes of previous meeting MOVED (Kelso/Langdon-Orr): That the minutes of 24th June, 2003, be approved. CARRIED 3. Actions arising from the minutes * Cheryl has organised ISOC-AU accounts with the Bendigo Bank * Cheryl to invoice Cisco for sponsorship dues * Notes on the Melbourne TCCM have been completed and posted on the website * Ewan Brown has been suggested to fill the current Board vacancy * The Chinese translation has been done * Tony to meet with Professor Albert Zomaya * The Industry Council seems to be revitalising - driven by Comindico seeking a relationship with ISOC-AU * Cheryl will follow up relationship with IBM 4. Reports 4.1 Executive Director's report As circulated prior to meeting. Further information from report: * notes from Darwin TCCM completed * forum to be organised in Sydney for late September. Fred Baker has agreed to speak * Sydney TCCM notes on website * organisational membership certificate drafted * Raffi Sabel, a new foundation member, has compression software for large logs - to be followed up MOVED (Langdon-Orr/Astbrink): That the Executive Director's report be accepted. CARRIED 4.2 Financial report * Bendigo Bank report available. Directors asked to access account to peruse report. Discussion about fees including Merchant fee and Government fee. * Committee members need to access account to authorise payment to Kate MOVED (Fong/Ng): That the report be accepted. CARRIED 5. Guest speaker Anne-Marie Lansdown together with colleague Helen McLaren from DCITA joined the meeting at 6:15 p.m. Additional members joining for this session were: Matthew Allen, Gary Hardy, Mark Needham, Geoff Keena, Peter Gerrand Topic: Broadband Advisory Group and where it is up to. Anne-Marie made the following points: The Broadband Advisory Group (BAG) report released in January 2003 had captured the views of industry, the submissions and States and Territories. Following the government's response to the Estens Enquiry on 25th June, work is progressing on the National Broadband Strategy and associated programs. The programs respond to issues identified by the BAG such as the need for Common wealth leadership and more strategic coordination of expenditure through mechanisms such as demand aggregation. The focus is on education, health, small business and research. The BAG report focussed primarily on the supply side whereas the issues associated with content and applications are essential considerations in going forward. The Minister is committed to the national strategy which will be coordinated through the National Broadband Strategic Implementation Group (NBSIG ). The NBSIG will focus on coordinated infrastructure projects, and extensive in formation sharing with a view to co-investment. Associated work is being undertaken in the areas of measurement, monitoring and evaluation. The first meeting of the NBSIG will be on 16th August and it will be focussed on the development of the national strategy. As part of the package, the Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme (HBIS) has been allocated $107.8m, will be managed by DCITA. A sum of $8.4m over four years has been allocated to support a demand aggregation broker program to assist in market development and maximising resources. The Coordinated Communication Infrastructure Fund (CCIF)is focussed on looking at projects in priority regions and sectors. It is currently in an intensive design phase. A small amount of funding is available in this financial year. Exposure drafts for the three programs are expected to be available at the Regional Telecommunications Forum 7-8 October 2003. Questions Q1. How is the NBSIG working? We originally had an open mind on the composition of the group, with a model similar to the UK stakeholder group considered. However, given that the group will need to avoid conflict of interest considerations, and that there is a need for transparency in undertaking funding decisions, representatives will generally be officials. Representatives include members from NOIE & DCITA, all State and Territory governments, Commonwealth and State nominees from education (both generally and research) and health, and local government. Q2. How can ISOC-AU help? By involving people through lists of those interested, consultation on program design and placing guidelines on the website. Q3. Can we send information to Anne-Marie? Kate will send information. Q4. Can you comment on equity of access. For example, people with disabilities? The focus of these programs will be on rollout in rural and regional issues. There are other programs that focus on disability. Q5. Are symmetric services important? Yes, particularly in the health & education areas. Q6. Will there be Commonwealth and State investment and who will own the infrastructure? While funding principles are still to be worked out and several options are available, it is expected that projects will involve co-investment by the Commonwealth and the states. Q7. Where individual governments or consortia want to create eligible projects, do they need State endorsement? State governments will need to match funding, however, other stakeholders will be able to bring forward applications for consideration. The Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme will be a subsidy to carriers. Q8. How will regional groups have the relevant information and be involved in wider discussion? Through the website and target group discussions such as the Regional Telecommunications Forum in October. NOIE is interested in avenues that ISOC-AU might suggest. (There was some discussion about previous programs and how they were funded which were not regarded as relevant today.) Q9. Are there ways for greater transparency in which ISOC-AU could assist? Providing feedback on exposure drafts would assist. NBSIG will put as much on the website as possible bearing in mind confidentiality issues. The Chair thanked Anne-Marie and Helen for making the time available to talk with ISOC-AU and her open and interesting discussion. Committee discussion * appears to be lack of a national strategy * there does not appear to be a coordinated national infrastructure for narrowband or broadband * funding for programs has been announced - there will be no more * we could organise and manage two or three teleconferences like this to keep in touch * further consultation in capital cities would be a good idea * DCITA telecommunications forum will be run in Canberra on 7th and 8th October. 6. Membership issues * membership invoicing being worked on 6.1 MOVED (Ng/Fong): That the refund policy be agreed out-of-session and then sent out to members. CARRIED 6.2 Membership cards need a good design. Kate will follow this through. 7. No Resolutions on Notice 8. Discussion * RMIT is involved in the ENUM proposal looking at second level providers * Kate to attend SPAN meeting on MMV issues, 24th July in Melbourne for $88 * Need to set up a meeting with Marsha Thomson. George has a contact in Wayne Lewis, who may be able to help. Topic could be, 'How States are going to participate in the NBSIG program.' * Kate will draft a plan for a number of consumer meetings for Tony to review. 9. Any other business 9.1. Logo use * Logos need to be on corporate members' certificates * Members can indicate their membership on their websites * Trademark issue needs to be done properly * An expedited application needs to be completed for $450 for the application and $150 when approved * Craig agreed to complete application MOVED (Langdon-Orr/Astbrink): That a Trademark application be completed and submitted. CARRIED 9.2 Other issues * AUUG conference in October. There is a discount for ISOC-AU members * Ross moving to Queensland soon and to forward details to Craig and telephone number to Kate. * Kate will remove Galen's name from the website * Anne has now missed the fourth meeting. Tony will follow up. 10. Next meeting Meeting closed at 7:15 pm. Next meeting 18th August at 5:45 p.m. AEST 11. Confirmation Signed as a correct and complete record of the above meeting. Tony Hill President, ISOC-AU