Op-ed

A new approach to towers, growth of neutral hosts, and an expansion of private networks. Those are three strong trends to consider in telecom infrastructure for 2022. A strong recovery post-pandemic has further accelerated the transition of society moving to digital platforms.

It is one of those rare small companies on the cusp of being able to play a key role globally – and Australia will play a crucial role in that journey. Osteopore is on an exciting path, we have commercial traction, and our novel medical tech platform is proven and has numerous apps for bone regrowth and hopefully in the near future for cartilage, tendons and ligaments.

Centre for Digital Wellbeing welcomes the announcement by the NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns of NSW Labor’s commitment to restrict the use of mobile phones in NSW public high school classrooms and introducing an e‑safety and digital literacy program, if elected. We welcome the thoughtful and comprehensive nature of the digital literacy and wellbeing strategy proposed by the NSW Opposition Leader. Focusing on online ethical behaviours, critical thinking skills and data privacy for children is a critical step in the right direction.

Healthcare data breaches in Australia have reached record levels. According to the OAIC, the health sector reported 83 data breaches, and is the highest reporting industry sector. Health service providers also reported an equal number of breaches resulting from malicious or criminal attacks and human error (47% each). With healthcare under the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (SoCI Act), there’s clear recognition that the sector is of key interest.

Full Stop Australia has welcomed the Albanese Government’s draft legislation that will make long overdue reforms to the family law system to protect children and victims of family violence. The presumption of shared parental responsibility led to serious abuse in the system because perpetrators were able to game the system and manipulate traumatised families.

As workplaces across the country bring workers back to the office small issues are becoming big problems and creating significant productivity concerns for businesses such as; Poor dress, Tardiness, Hygiene, Language, Physical appearance, and Inappropriate language. These issues may sound trivial, but when you are part of a team working with people day in and day out, they start to grind on people’s nerves and can cause massive implosions. Even worse, if these people are representing businesses at stakeholder, client and new business meetings, these issues can be extremely damaging for a brand. Business can be lost.

The month of May is set to put a spotlight on the issue of data management and privacy, something that is of particular importance given the string of cyber breaches and information mishandling we have seen repeatedly documented in the media over the past six months. This Privacy Awareness Week (May 1-7) and Information Awareness Month, it’s time for businesses to look inward and consider how much useless and unnecessary information they're hoarding, not only for the safety of its clients, but for financial management as well.

As we celebrate Social Media Day, it is important to remember that scams have evolved alongside social media platforms. Today's social media scams are increasingly complex and creative: they involve multiple interactions across different social media platforms, taking advantage of the inherent trust users place in their online interactions and global reach. 

Developing a level of public understanding and trust around the use of alternative data is essential to transforming what would be digital waste into exciting and innovative solutions. The amount of valuable web data coming out of the global data exhaust will continue to rise. We must use this ‘waste’ to our advantage to tackle climate change and meet key targets while respecting compliance requirements and acting responsibly.

Commpete, Australia’s leading alliance of challenger telecommunication companies, has come out in opposition of proposed merger of Telstra and TPG’s regional and rural mobile networks, calling on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to do the same.