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ACS News

ACS staff, Information Age

14/12/2005 10:29:19

ACS Foundation builds momentum for 2006

As we approach the new academic year, many students begin considering available scholarship opportunities to help them finalise their university preferences.

The ACS Foundation is currently on track to offer more than 200 scholarships in the 2006 academic year to students enrolled in ICT-related courses across the country.

While some scholarship candidates are chosen for their academic achievements, other scholarships are awarded to assist geographically isolated students, those with disabilities, or to encourage more women or indigenous students into ICT.

Despite the strong upturn in the IT industry over the past two years, concerns remain high about Australia's ability to meet future demand for ICT skills as university enrolments continue to fall. First preferences for ICT university degrees for 2006 dropped 20 per cent, adding to a 17 per cent drop in 2005 and even higher falls in 2003/04.

At the same time, the impending retirement of the baby boomer generation spells the loss of a significant proportion of the sector's ICT experienced professionals. One large ICT organisation has identified that 50 per cent of its workforce will be eligible to retire over the next eight years, creating a substantial recruiting challenge.

ACS Foundation executive director John Ridge said that company's plight is typical across the industry.

"The future is bleak unless we can attract the best and brightest young people back into ICT to fill the expected shortfall. The ACS Foundation has been extremely successful so far in the calibre of our students. We've been delighted with the academic results they've achieved in 2005, with 80 per cent achieving an academic average of Distinction or High Distinction, which is an outstanding result."

Ridge said the ACS Foundation has designed its ICT scholarships for maximum impact and relevance, with two programs currently on offer: Work Integrated Learning and Grow a Graduate.

Work integrated learning

During the ICT downturn of the late 1990s and early 2000s, many new graduates found it difficult to find jobs in their chosen profession because of the number of more experienced workers looking for positions.

The ACS Foundation has chosen to address this challenge with its Work Integrated Learning (WIL) scholarships, which combine university education with up to a year of fulltime work experience with a leading corporation where the student gains invaluable hands-on experience by working on real-life projects.

Not only does this remove the "no experience" label traditionally attached to university graduates, but it also ensures that ACS Foundation graduates can become productive for their new employer very quickly.

"We've found that students undertaking the WIL program not only have the benefit of having real-world experience, but they become far more business aware and typically achieve higher grades on their return to full-time study because of their greater understanding of business and real-world issues."

Grow a Graduate

This program provides an opportunity for employers who recognise the need for specific skills to begin developing graduates with those skills. By identifying and developing the kind of individual they hope to employ in the future, they are helping themselves and the wider industry.

The Grow a Graduate program allows donor organisations to be very specific about the type of person they might need in the future, in terms of gender, geographical location, skill set, background and so on. Once a profile has been established, the ACS Foundation identifies the relevant university courses needed to develop the individual and goes out and "grows" them.

"By growing people to meet specific, identified needs within the ICT sector, the ACS Foundation is adding value by helping to meet future skills needs. It's a benefit not only to industry, but also to those individuals who know they are being developed to fill real positions and are assured of excellent employment opportunities on graduation," said Mr Ridge.

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Teachers vie for scholarships

There's been an overwhelming response to the launch of a new scholarship program aimed at helping teachers to more effectively integrate technology into the classroom.

The new Graduate Certificate in Information and Communication Technology Education will be offered to forty scholarship candidates - 20 full-fee places and 20 half-fee places - thanks to a substantial donation from Microsoft.

The ACS Foundation will administer the new program, which will count towards a Masters degree in Education, with distance education enrolments offered through Charles Sturt University.

ACS Foundation executive director John Ridge said almost 2000 teachers registered their interest for the scholarships within the first few weeks of them being announced.

The full-fee scholarships have been reserved for teachers from rural, remote and/or financially disadvantaged areas, while the half-fee places are available to teachers from anywhere in the country.

"We've been delighted with the response from the teaching community, which has embraced this approach whole-heartedly," he said.

"With the ACS recently releasing its ICT Literacy policy calling for national standards in technology literacy within school education, this is a practical way in which Microsoft and the ACS Foundation are helping to raise the standard, particularly in regional and remote parts of the country."

The ACS Foundation has received funding of almost $250,000 for the program, with the scholarships due to be awarded in December 2005.

The certificate includes the Microsoft Office Specialist industry certification and the Partner in Learning program, a peer coaching component.

Information about the new scholarship program can be found at www.ictteachers.info/scholarship.htm

ACS launches membership advocacy program

The ACS has established a Membership Advocacy Program to provide professional services and advice to members for significant matters that may arise in their working life. "The ACS is continually looking at ways to improve its overall service offering to its members and the creation of this program will enhance the professional service capabilities that we can provide to our members," said ACS President Edward Mandla. "We would like our members to consider the ACS as their prime resource for professional advice and options." The program is a continuing part of the ACS membership lifecycle strategy to cater for the inevitable changes and upheavals that professionals experience through the course of their careers. A key aspect of this program is that it is also offered to ACS members who are employers of 12 people or fewer.

"About a third of our members are contractors or in their own business and such people will be able to obtain timely and professional advice on any legal issues they may have, including all aspects of employment law. This advice is given via a free initial consultation," Mandla said. The key elements of the program include: • Listening to members about any issues that may arise in their professional life and providing them with options • If the matter requires legal attention it is referred to the society's legal partner. This service includes one hour of free legal advice per annum per issue category. Wrongful dismissal, contract disputes and divorce are treated as separate matters • Preparation of wills • Advice on sexual harassment and discrimination; • Advice on disputes over entitlements; • Up-to-date information regarding hiring and firing procedures. The ACS has appointed legal firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman, an acknowledged leader in the field of industrial law, to provide the service to its members. The ACS believes the program will be attractive to ICT workers and small ICT business owners and provide additional incentive for them to join the society.

Mandla said his vision is to create a service that supports members both in good times and bad: "While few professionals ever envisage legal issues arising in their careers, it is an insurance policy that the ACS will be there to see that members have access to sound advice in those difficult times", he said. ACS and Sturt gain funding for ethics, regulation research

By John Weckert and Yeslam Al-Saggaf Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University

The ACS, in partnership with the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE), has won funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) for research into ethics and regulation in the ICT industry.

The funding comes from the ARC's Linkage Project scheme, which funds joint venture projects between a university and an industry partner. The industry partner can be in the public or private sector, or a body like the ACS, but cannot be a research organisation.

The aim of the scheme is to develop collaboration between universities and industry bodies to undertake research that is relevant to industry. The industry partner is required to make a cash contribution as well as contribution in-kind, which can include people's time, office space, secretarial help and so on. The in-kind contribution is costed at normal commercial rates, and the ARC cash contribution matches the total cash and in-kind contribution of the industry partner.

Additionally, the universities involved, in this case, Charles Sturt University and The Australian National University, make an in-kind contribution of the time of their researchers. In this project the bulk of the funding is used for a PhD scholarship and for a research fellow. Our PhD student began in the middle of 2005 and interviews have recently been held for the research fellow.

The project, which is investigating integrity systems for the ICT industry, has as its first stage a comprehensive search of the literature in order to gain a thorough understanding of current regulatory regimes. These include legislation, self-regulation, codes of ethics, and education and training schemes in Australia and other countries, particularly the USA, Britain and the Netherlands.

It is planned for a report of this literature search to be available to the ACS in February, 2006.

The next phase of the research will involve gaining a clear understanding of the extent to which the current regime is working. This understanding will be developed through interviews, workshops, surveys and a conference. The interviewees and workshop and conference participants will be computing professionals from both the public and private sectors. The ACS will be closely involved in this part of the project.

The ACS will also play an important part in the project through its Committee on Computer Ethics (CCE), which is beginning a re-examination of the ACS Code of Ethics, an important component of any regulatory system. As part of this re-examination, it is planned to run a workshop in 2006 with Professor Simon Rogerson of De Montfort University in the UK, who has worked extensively with the British Computer Society on their Code of Ethics.

On the basis of the information gained through the literature searches and interviews, policies and guidelines will be developed for promoting ethical conduct in the ICT industry. These will include regulatory polices and guidelines for the education and training of ICT professionals which encourage the highest standards of professional competency and ethical conduct for professionals in the industry.

A key component in the development of these guidelines and policies will be a thorough ethical and philosophical analysis of the underpinnings of the various issues. It will not be enough, for example, to develop some policy on privacy simply because most people want it. That policy will also need to withstand close ethical scrutiny, which will include factors such as whether it is consistent with other policies and whether it is based on sound ethical theory. This ethical and philosophical analysis is a central aspect of all CAPPE involvement in projects.

The deliverables from this collaborative project between the ACS, CAPPE, CSU and ANU will be reports detailing the guidelines and policies mentioned previously, including suggestions for updating the ACS Code of Ethics and the role of the Disciplinary Committee. Additionally there will be theoretical articles that will advance academic research in the field. Finally ACS members will be kept up to date on the progress of the project through Information Age. The ultimate aim of the project is to help the ACS in its drive to professionalise the ICT industry.

Premier Beattie announces skills summit

Just a few months after he got the state's ICT industry offside, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has announced a national summit to focus on skills challenges facing the ICT industry to be held there early next year.

Beattie said that the looming skills crisis was not only limited to the ICT sector; however, at the same time as demand for ICT skills has increased, young Australians enrolments in undergrad university ICT courses are dropping. Early in the year the premier's comments after extending a multinational's contract, that he "had to choose the best", resulted in an uproar in the local IT sector and saw the industry set up a special group to work with government.

Speaking at the Australian Computer Society's ICT Industry lunch in Brisbane recently, Beattie said even though university applications from year 12 students has increased by 1400 applications over last year, demand for ICT courses in 2006 fell by 12 per cent on top of a massive 30 per cent drop for the previous year.

"These are matters of concern to the industry, to the Queensland government, and, ultimately, to our society as a whole," Beattie said.

"We've got to encourage more young people into an industry, which, after all, is skilled, well paid and likely to continue to grow strongly. We've also got to develop a system of accreditation for workers in the industry who don't have a university degree and whose skills are therefore not recognized through any common benchmark.

"There is a strong element of self-interest on the government's part in addressing these issues; we could not function without the ICT and the sounder and stronger the industry is, the better."

Beattie said the Minister for Small Business, IT Policy and Multicultural Affairs, Chris Cummins, spearheaded the idea following the last four meetings with the Industry/Government ICT Working Group. The ICT Working Group was designed to address key issues affecting Queensland industry's business with government, and raise its profile for whole of government tenders.

Mark Lloyd, chairman of the Queensland branch of the Australian Computer Society, said there are some sobering home truths for the national ICT industry reflected in Beattie's speech. Lloyd said the identity tag that follows ICT professionals around is an issue that has to be corrected if the industry is to attract young workers. This initiative puts Queensland well ahead of the other Australian states.

"Australian federal and state governments are littered with good intentions, but poor outcomes and of all of the states Queensland is now in a box position as the state government is throwing everything at the issue," Lloyd said.

"We (ICT workers) need a brand name for schools, universities, government and industry to start promoting IT as an icon; we are promoting the name of technologists. At the moment, we are either nerds, geeks, propellerheads or IT professionals."

GAMAA/ACS Foundation scholarship leading the way for leaders

While the ACS Foundation has gained plaudits from both industry and academia for its donation of scores of scholarships for the brightest and best among tomorrow's ICT professionals, its activities with the Graphic Arts Merchants Association of Australia (GAMAA) have also been fostering professionalism in the printing industry.

As part of an integrated program to enhance the level of ICT, business management and leadership skills in that industry sector, the Foundation administers a national scholarship program for GAMAA.

The scholarships enable recipients to undertake a 12-month program of study, workshops, coaching and mentoring. The students - all middle and senior managers - come from a diverse array of businesses spanning traditional print producers through to digital solutions and book publishers.

Speaking at the launch of the collaborative program two years ago, GAMAA President David Rands said the scholarship scheme is unique for its compulsory, residential workshops, developed by GAMAA in conjunction with the Melbourne Business School, a division of the University of Melbourne (MBS).

A recent recipient of one of its scholarships, Graham Trickey, spoke about his experience to printing industry and graphic arts leaders at PacPrint in Melbourne:

I would like to give you and overview of my experiences, learning outcomes and the journey I have now embarked on that has been based around several GAMAA Leadership workshops that I have recently attended.

But first, something about myself and the program: I have been employed with Hannanprint NSW now for five years as operations manager and I am lucky to say that I think I have a balance between being trade-skilled with an expertise from "in the trench learning" complemented with university qualifications in management.

I have three passions in life: my family, my work and a topic known as leadership, as I believe that outstanding leadership counts for almost everything in both a personal and business sense.

Hence, when the opportunity came about to participate in the GAMAA leadership workshops and seek a scholarship which will be used to improve the leadership traits of stakeholders at Hannanprint as well as being reinvested back into the industry, I decided that this was for me, and through some invigorating conversations with Anni Rowland Campbell I applied for the scholarship and have been since blessed with the opportunity to pursue this desire for which I thank you all for your contribution to help make this happen.

Now allow me now to enlighten you with an overview of my journey thus far and the value-add it is generating through the business.

Firstly, the experience

Both workshops have proven to be a balance between practical exercises, proven theories, participant interaction through team exercises, reflection time, role plays through professional actors and through ourselves, all of which led me to take away being further stimulated with new ideas and concepts that could move me from manager to leader, leader to coach.

The learning outcomes:

So from manager to leader - how do we get there?

Over the weekend we looked at leadership in an emotional capacity, not technical ability, and how the leader connects with other people.

This was reinforced when the group brain-stormed what makes a good boss/bad boss with a consensus that the bad boss has traits such as arrogance, intimidating, power tripper and ignorant where as the good boss connected emotionally to staff through being supportive, reassuring, trustworthy, happy and approachable.

This comes from having the ability to take a helicopter view, which means taking time to step back and look at things from different perspectives and when confronted with difficult issues take the time to uncover the blind spots, invite suggestions and commit to action.

Another key ingredient to move from manager to leader is listening. Think of it like a dance, that is, two-way, giving positive feedback, learning about others and connecting in the conversation.

My other key take-home from manager to leader was a concept called emotional intelligence - which is a person's ability to manage feelings and communicate with others through personal qualities such as Initiative, empathy, adaptability and persuasiveness. Compared to IQ and technical expertise, emotional competence matters twice as much, as out of control emotions or emotional incompetence will cloud smart people's judgement.

We are slowly moving into a world that looks at how well you use your people and maximise the human asset.

I have personally found that before you can lead others, before you can help others, you have to discover yourself and you have to be willing to embark on a journey that leads to an alignment between your personal values and aspirations, and the values and aspirations of the company.

Use your inner compass to be your motivator and guardian angel of purpose.

Another learning outcome which I found not only the hardest to perform but the most invigorating was moving from manager to coach.

When I say hardest I mean, as a practical thinking person (whom I'm sure most people in this room are) when confronted with problems, the simple answer is to either fix it ourselves or simply offer the solutions.

Allow me to give you an example. As a manager the first question you may ask a colleague in discussion could be: "So what's the problem?", whereas the leader would ask "so how would you like the situation to be?"

The manager may then ask "why is it still a problem?" where the leader would ask "what are two small steps you could take to fix the situation?"

These are just a few examples of the leader negotiating in questioning and getting the buy-in through solution-focused language that clarifies goals and moves the coachee forward.

In most scenarios you will find that the coachee actually knows what they need to do; the coach just helps them to bridge the gap.

As managers of people it is difficult to get to the real issues as we tend to skirt around the edges, but as a leader, we explore the possibilities.

Just think of it as peeling back the layers of an onion, carefully listening to, and observing, each layer of dynamics in the conversation.

But beware - there are coaching derailers: • Don't rush to conclusions • Don't be intolerant to a solution there and then • Don't tell, simply ask why?

We also worked through leading through change with the emphasis being that if you want to change, you need to build a level of dissatisfaction, find and focus on a compelling vision, believe it can be done, set a strategy then persistently reinforce, reinforce, reinforce. The real take-home here was that at the end of the day, If nothing changes - nothing changes.

Personal branding also became a theme where we looked at what our brand stood for, made us aware that everyday we are being branded, and that we need to keep ourselves top of mind.

Strong personal brands are built from the inside out not the outside in. Substance, not image, is the foundation.

Change the inner before the outer and as George Elliot once quoted: "It's never too late to be what you might have been".

In conclusion, based on my learning, the next level of leaders in Hannanprint and the leaders of tomorrow will need to tap into the emotional and spiritual intellect of its people, which will eliminate hate and fear out of the organization, and enable trust to become the lubricant for success.

Leaders must listen as well as hear, God gave us two ears and one mouth so we should listen twice as much as we speak. Hannanprint operational managers and team leaders are now learning to connect with their people and dance in the conversation.

The bottom line between a good and bad organization is its people; We at Hannanprint have worked very hard to get the right people on the bus and more importantly in the right seat. My seat on the bus is one that ensures our people are giving their best and that I am giving my best to ensure their success.

I have leant that strong leadership is a key ingredient to Hannanprint's success and would like to say that my recent learning from the GAMAA Workshops have provided me with strategies that will further enhance this.

ACS calls for urgent upgrade to computer literacy standards in schools The ACS has called for the creation of a national computer literacy standard in Australia's primary and secondary schools in the next two years to ensure young people are equipped with a sufficient level of ICT skills when they leave high school. ACS President Edward Mandla launched the Society's ICT Literacy Policy at its government conference in Canberra.

He called on the Federal government to increase its funding for ICT training and resources in the nation's schools. The ACS said its policies were aimed at ensuring teachers were better trained, and providing young people with access to computers and quality education in the use of technology. The ACS is proposing a number of initiatives to ensure that young people receive the training they need to compete in the workforce: •Creation of a national computer literacy standard in schools •Adoption of benchmarking tools for computer literacy in Australian secondary schools. •Creation of federal and state government programs to further embed ICT into the curriculum of all Australian schools. •Establishment of professional development programs for teachers to ensure all school teachers are confident and competent in using ICT. •Provision of Federal Government funding for the technical infrastructure of schools to ensure sufficient bandwidth at affordable rates. •Provision of funding at federal and state level in order to continually upgrade and increase the number of computers and software in every primary and secondary school classroom in Australia. •Establishment of a national education portal that will allow online content to be delivered by teachers that are not "in-house'', allowing students from all over the country access to resources, providing significant benefits to students in rural Australia. As a first step to developing a national computer literacy standard, the ACS is calling on the Federal Government to commission a nationwide research project to assess the varying standards of computer literacy in Australian schools. These standards would specify the minimum acceptable competencies for aspects of computer literacy at different year levels. The ACS advocates that additional Federal Government funds and resources be committed to ensure these standards are introduced within a fixed time frame. Mandla said there were various studies in Australia that show there is a widely acknowledged shortage of adequately prepared teachers for senior secondary school specialist ICT subjects. "The ability of students to participate in society and improve their educational and career prospects is dependent on the skills they receive in using computers and information technology tools,'' Mandla said. "Every school leaver needs to enter the working world or move to higher studies with a basic level of computer competence. Having some level of IT competence is now a life skill.'' He said that students that graduate from school without an adequate grasp of ICT are setting themselves up for a life with a limited ability to meet their fundamental needs such as employment, quality health care, access to facilities and information "The aim should be for all students to be not only fluent in the use of ICT but they should also be able to use it to their advantage in learning. It is a skill they will need regardless of their career paths, whether it is university, TAFE or a trade. "For Australia to compete effectively as a technological nation in the future we need to increase our investment in the national education sector and this starts with creating a system that allows for a basic level of IT literacy,'' he said.

Former students honour computing pioneer

After seven years' effort, University of New South Wales alumni have established the John Lions Chair in Operating Systems 2006 to honour their former mentor.

Helped by a $500,000 donation by US-based Qualcomm, former students John O'Brien, Greg Rose, Steve Jenkin, Chris Maltby and others have worked to raise the money in honour of the former professor and author of a controversial book on UNIX systems.

Greg Rose, vice president of technology for Qualcomm, and John O'Brien, managing director of Whitesmiths, gave personally to help raise funds for the Chair.

"This is the first time that alumni have established a Chair through their own efforts and I applaud their dedication and tenacity," said UNSW's Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mark Wainwright.

John Lions graduated from Sydney University in 1959 with an honours degree in Applied Mathematics. He received a doctorate from Cambridge University in 1963 and worked in Canada and the US.

In 1972 John moved back to Australia with his wife and family to take up the position of senior lecturer with then University of New South Wales' Department of Computing. He became associate professor in 1980 and lectured until 1995, when he retired due to poor health. He died in 1998.

During the mid 70s he wrote commentary on the UNIX code. His book was regarded as a threat to intellectual property and became the world's most illegally copied book.

"The manuscript was a revelation to students," recalls Greg Rose. "The book quickly gained a reputation among the programming community and became a technical bible for students, hackers and qualified professionals throughout the world."

The book was finally published legally in 1996.

Prof Paul Compton, head of the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW, said: "It can be argued that John Lion's book was a key factor in developing the open source movement, which is based on studying and building on code that others have written. For many years, photocopies of his commentary on Unix provided the only access to the Unix kernel source code outside Bell Laboratories."

He noted: "The university is very grateful to John's students and others in the open source community for honouring his memory in this way. UNSW has a very strong research reputation in open source; the chair will further strengthen this as well as honour John's memory."

Top of the harbour scheme for ICT development

Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour's biggest, and a former shipbuilding and convict prison site, will become a new centre of ICT development if plans for its revival stay on track.

The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is seeking expressions of interest from Web designers, software developers and others to lease the island's buildings to create a maritime techno-community among some of the greatest views anywhere.

The ACS has been meeting with the Trust's executive director, Geoff Bailey, to discuss potential ICT uses for the site, and welcomes any new opportunity to nurture new technology for small to medium businesses.

"The adaptive reuse of these buildings and facilities will create a community of professional businesses in a diverse number of sectors. And we see the ICT sector as one that may find this an unbeatable location for their operations," Bailey says.

While the first round of expressions of interest have closed, like most real estate developments there will almost certainly be potential for further negotiation with the Trust. Visit www.harbourtrust.gov.au for further information.

YIT conference inspires

"Ordinary people can do extraordinary things" was the key message at this year's national Young IT Professional conference, held in Canberra recently.

Themed "Accelerate Your Career", the conference attracted around 80 delegates from around Australia to spend two days on a challenging and stimulating journey to extend their skills and help them plan for a successful future.

The speakers brought their practical, real-life perspectives to a range of topics that are difficult to acquire from a text book: mastering the art of networking, establishing good communication practices, how to prepare for horizontal and vertical career growth, and how to create career opportunities.

Brand Hoff, founder and director of Tower Software, shared some powerful life messages with delegates.

"No matter what else you learn during this conference, take home the message that you are best to be in a job where you are happy. Don't worry too much about the money - go for the experience, satisfaction and growth. Money will follow," he told the audience of final year university students and young IT professionals.

"And always try to complete a task or a project a little better. Leave something extra on the table," he said.

Hoff reminded delegates that while this may not necessarily enhance their resume, it will definitely make a difference when it comes to referee reports.

This was a message also touched on by Cheryl Hannah, then CIO, Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs, who reminded delegates that the interview is only a small part of the selection process.

According to Hannah, HR, recruitment or hiring managers don't only rely on talking to the referees listed on a resume. Most will also talk to the applicant's peers and their own personal networks to find out about the applicant's suitability for the job -- and the organisation.

As a CIO with a team of over 600 people, Hannah often received calls from her own network asking if she knew of certain people who have applied for a job with their organisation.

"I recently received a call from [a large employer] saying I have a number of people I'm interviewing - have you heard of any of them? And he proceeded to run down the list of names," she said.

Karen Paxton, master networker and director of The Public Affairs Recruitment Company, reinforced the power of getting to know people, and expanding your network of contacts. She reminded delegates that it's a life-long pursuit, and while they won't see the results overnight, it does eventually reach a critical mass.

"Networking is all about relationship building. It's how you expand your ability to help and be helped by others," she said.

Paxton acknowledged it can be difficult at first, particularly for young IT professionals who find themselves at functions with senior people.

"Don't ever think you're a young, new, cleanskin. You have an enormous contribution to offer, and it's your opportunity to get that message across. If your mind is bubbling with ideas, let people know. It might spark their interest.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have skills and experience - focus your discussions on your ideas and visions," she said.

The YIT Dinner, which was held on the first evening of the conference, attracted over 100 people and provided an ideal environment for conference delegates to practise their networking skills.

Conference committee chairman Yohan Ramasundara said the feedback from delegates had been extremely positive.

"We ran a program that dared to be different, that challenged, excited and motivated delegates. I think we all left the two days with renewed enthusiasm for taking responsibility, and regaining power and ultimate direction of our careers," he said.

Feedback from delegates suggests they left the conference with the personal challenges of being flexible, taking calculated risks, learning how to take some of their own power back, and not being afraid to say yes to something and seeing where the road leads them.

The 2006 Young IT Professional Conference will be held in Brisbane.