By CEBIT Australia chairperson Stephen Scheeler, ex Managing Director ANZ, Facebook and Founder, Digital CEO

There’s no doubt that the growing realm of artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionise our world for the better. Intelligent machine systems are already transforming our lives by conducting research, optimising logistics, writing articles, detecting fraud, and providing translations, wresting much of the drudgery associated with repetitive tasks away from human hands, freeing us up to be more creative and productive. As a result, our world has become more efficient and profitable.

One of the world’s foremost authorities on computer security and privacy issues, Mikko Hypponen, has been announced as a keynote speaker for CEBIT Australia 2019, to be held in Sydney from 29 – 31 October 2019. Hypponen will be one of eight influential keynote speakers at the event, which is Asia Pacific’s largest and longest running B2B technology exhibition and conference examining every aspect of business digitisation.

By CEBIT Australia chairperson Stephen Scheeler, ex Managing Director ANZ, Facebook and Founder, Digital CEO

It’s always been a challenge to be an effective, progressive leader, however in the coming years, leading with purpose in the rapidly changing digital age will be even more paramount. As the World Economic Forum rightfully asserts, “You either disrupt or are disrupted.”

CEBIT Australia is thrilled to announce Virgin Galactic’s Stephen Attenborough as the first keynote speaker for CEBIT Australia 2019, Asia Pacific’s largest and longest running B2B technology exhibition and conference examining every aspect of business digitisation. Stephen will be one of six keynote speakers at the event to be held in Sydney from 29 – 31 October.

Call for content

With technology now an ever-present force in many of our lives, CEBIT Australia will evolve in 2019 and we want you to be a part of this change.

We want to hear your stories, your big ideas, your failures, successes & solutions – not only what they are but how you can share them in an exciting and engaging way.

Hannover Fairs Australia is thrilled to announce that Stephen Scheeler, former Facebook CEO for Australia and New Zealand, has joined as the new chairman of CEBIT Australia, Asia-Pacific’s most significant B2B innovation and technology event which will be held next year in Sydney from October 29-31.

As consumers living in the digital age, our expectations of how we want to be marketed to have shifted, just as speed to innovation has created a world where change has become the norm.

The current FinTech boom is rapidly changing the way we manage our finances, not just in the way we transact, borrow, budget or transfer every day, but also in the way we invest.

Sydney has become “the epicentre of innovation, economic growth and jobs in Australia,” according to Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney.

For businesses looking to scale, is Big Data a source of competitive advantage, or is it now required for basic survival?

Every day, stories arise that point to a bleak future of jobs. We hear about truck drivers at the risk of losing their livelihoods to autonomous vehicles, fast-food workers being replaced by self-ordering kiosks, and machines winning the robots-versus-humans race in the manufacturing sector.

It’s true: about 75–90% of start-ups will fail (or, in other words, not make it to a trade sale or IPO). In face of these grim odds, it is easy to feel discouraged, and want to throw in the towel when it comes to your own start-up.

You’ve seen the movies, the colourful boxes at the toy store, and you might’ve even been to one of its many theme parks. That’s right, we’re talking about LEGO – the Danish-owned toy manufacturer of over 400 billion interlocking bricks that have entertained kids and adults alike for nearly a century.

Much has been said about blockchain technology and its potential applications, but can it really usher the world into a future where traceability, identity security, and speedier, more secure transactions are no longer nagging problems for businesses and individuals?

Binoo Joseph is Head of Technology for Tesco PLC (Singapore). As one of the world’s largest retailers, Tesco understands the transformational impact of cloud technology – and how it can be harnessed to deliver a seamless customer experience.

If you use your mobile phone or the web to do most, if not all, of your money management, then you’re a part of the digital revolution that has disrupted the banking and finance world in the last couple of years.

Technology and innovation have transformed the world in the last 500 years. Since the turn of the 21st century, the rate of change has become faster and faster.

Here’s a great quote from Richard Branson: “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and falling over.”

You already know Ping Data won a hotly contested CeBIT PitchFest 2018, pipping runners-up Littlescribe and BenchOn to first place. But what about the other seven start-ups selected as finalists? What innovative ideas did they share?

In a rapidly evolving business environment, there are big opportunities on offer for canny start-up founders in the B2B space.

There’s an undeniable shift happening worldwide in the ways in which people work.

CeBIT Australia 2018 came to an exciting close with PitchFest 2018. Ten worthy finalists (from 40 entrants) pitched their tech-related start-up ideas to the panel of expert judges: Adam Cook, Investment Associate, AirTree Ventures; Bradley Delamare, Chief Executive Officer, Tank Stream Labs; Rohen Sood, Investment Manager, Reinventure; and Noga Edelstein, Co-Founder, UrbanYou.

Successful start-ups need three main things: a fantastic, commercialisable idea; investment; and a lot of luck.

Cybersecurity is currently one of the thorniest issues business and industry are facing. How do you ensure your systems, operations and data are as protected as possible from increasingly sophisticated attacks?

Twenty three start-up companies and organisations from the Hunter and Central Coast regions north of Sydney commandeered a bus this week - the ‘start-up Xpress’ -  to travel to the Asia Pacific’s largest technology exhibition.

If there’s one thing we’ve been reminded of at CeBIT Australia 2018, it is the rapid pace of change. In fact, a key reason for attending the event is to try and keep up with the constantly evolving business and technology landscape.

Some of the statistics around the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) are staggering. Speaking at CeBIT Australia 2018, Justin Nelson, Head of IoT APAC, Vodafone Global Enterprise, and Leticia Jennings, Country Manager IoT, Vodafone Australia, revealed the numbers from a specially commissioned Vodafone report, and showed how the real potential of Internet of Things lies in its benefit to people.

As providers of essential services with better access to resources, government bodies and their affiliated agencies are well-placed to be at the forefront of digital transformation.

UTS Advanced Analytics Institute (AAI) is collaborating with ANZ-OnePath, one of Australia’s leading providers of wealth, insurance and advice solutions, to harness advances in machine learning, data science and predictive analytics to do things differently…

We’re excited to announce one of our key sponsors, the NSW Government, will be launching a new procurement platform on 31 May 2018.

Artificial intelligence (AI) used to belong in science fiction. But as Xiaofeng Ren, Chief Scientist and Associate Dean, Machine Intelligence and Technology at Alibaba explained at CeBIT Australia 2018, AI is not only science fact, it’s steadily transforming the way industries operate.

As the former Executive Director of Europol, Rob Wainwright knows a thing or two about fighting crime.

If your business spans multiple locations, the first step to unleashing the power of your stored data sets is to ensure connectivity across your enterprise.

CeBIT Australia is hosting the largest start-up showcase in the Asia Pacific with over 100 tech focused start-ups presenting products and services to potential customers, investors or partners over its three days.

From holographic and intelligent smart building displays to the next wave of customer service chatbots..

Top ten tech start-ups to go head-to-head for the coveted title of PitchFest Winner

CeBIT Australia’s PitchFest is a 'Shark Tank' style competition giving ten of the nation's most promising start-ups the opportunity to pitch their entrepreneurial ideas to an esteemed panel of judges, before an audience of fellow start-ups, investors and potential customers.

Digital technology has made it infinitely easier for businesses to reach and engage with their customers (and vice-versa). However, in a time of great technological innovation, consumers are still very much after the personal touch.

Some of NSW’s best technology talent will be taking centre-stage at Asia Pacific’s biggest technology exhibition, CeBIT Australia 2018, thanks to its partnership with the NSW Government.

Traditionally, the chief information officer (CIO) role was about delivery, support and backend operations. In other words, their focus was on “keeping the lights on”, rather than innovation and business strategy. But as digital transformation continues to revolutionise just about every aspect of business, CIOs, as technology experts, are having to step to the forefront of their organisations in order to help them succeed.

While some small business owners may not think of their business as being a target for cybercriminals

As CeBIT Australia 2018 fast approaches, one of the most anticipated events is the PitchFest, where start-ups go head-to-head in front of our highly experienced panel of judges, and an audience of fellow start-ups, investors and potential customers, to see who will come out on top.

Researchers at Purdue University recently demonstrated that a rudimentary form of "mind reading" is possible.

The NSW Government is leading on digital - here’s why

For the past 25 years, the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has been driving an innovation nation through the iAwards program. Australia's longest running and most broadly scoped innovation recognition program, the iAwards promotes excellence in the Australian digital ecosystem that is making a difference. The iAwards has unearthed, recognised and rewarded excellence in Australian innovation from the likes of Google Maps, Atlassian, Wotif and WiseTech Global. 

If you’re still dealing with a legacy system at your organisation, you’re no doubt starting to feel the strain.

Corporate travel is the second largest indirect spend for business but most are struggling to unlock a greater return on investment. The key is using the right travel tech which will not only help your bottom line, but protect your employees and keep your data secure.

The NSW-Israel Research and Development (R&D) and Technological Innovation Program provides funding to assist NSW and Israel entities to cooperate on joint R&D projects. These projects will advance market-driven, new and innovative products for the global market and with the potential to contribute to economic growth, skills development and job creation. The program implements the agreement on bilateral co-operation in R&D and technical innovation between the NSW Government and the State of Israel.

We spoke with Toby Walsh about Artificial Intelligence and why many fears are wrong. In his new book "It's Alive!: Artificial Intelligence from the Logic Piano to Killer Robots" Professor Walsh asks if we should be worried about the spectacular advances and if AI will really threaten our existence. Here is his opinion:

No matter what business process you want to outsource, there’ll be a vendor to match your needs. But finding your perfect match offshore partner is like searching for a needle in a haystack, with hundreds of reputable vendors in the Philippines alone.

As a tech entrepreneur, particularly in the early stages of a startup, you have to be a jack of all trades in order to succeed.

When fourth-generation farmer Naomi Stuart hit on a new and better way to process payments for crops – a market worth an estimated $2.1 billion each year in Australia – she found financial support for her idea from an unlikely source: the NSW Government.

Marketers are mired in data. They’re up to their necks in it. No doubt you’ve heard the term data-driven marketing if you’re in the space.

In July 2017, it was revealed that millions of Australians’ personal data had been put at risk,

Written by John Barilaro, Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Minister for Skills, Small Business, and Regional NSW

Many innovations wouldn’t make it to market without the drive provided by our startup sector.

Privacy breaches can no longer be hidden from the public now that the Australian Government has introduced the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme

Whenever you hear about the darknet, it is usually in connection with criminal activity or information leaks, such as the recent Medicare data breach that made headlines in July 2017.

Quality developers don’t just play an essential role in the success of every tech company; they also play an essential role in the Australian digital economy,

Opened on February 14, 2018, the Sydney Startup Hub helps cement the harbour city’s reputation as Australia’s startup capital. Take a look inside:

After a banner year for cryptocurrencies, which saw the value of bitcoin skyrocket from around A$1000 to over A$24,000 in just 12 months,

Niall Blair, NSW Minister for Trade and Industry

For businesses eyeing Asia-Pacific markets, Sydney provides the ideal gateway to the region.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Deputy Premier John Barilaro unveil the Sydney Startup Hub plaque with Jobs for NSW Chairman David Thodey and Minister for Innovation Matt Kean watching on 

In a major coup for NSW, Microsoft will bring its world-renowned intensive program for start-ups to the new Sydney Startup Hub, making it one of only eight locations in the world to host the accelerator program.

As a small business, you’re no doubt very conscious about every penny that your company spends.

CeBIT Australia, Asia Pacific’s largest and longest running business technology conference and exhibition, has released the 2018 conference program. CeBIT Australia will welcome 300 leading technology suppliers to the exhibition floor, while the new streamlined conference program features over 50 expert speakers across four dedicated streams.

As the number of devices connected to enterprise networks proliferates, and the sophistication of hackers and malwares grows, cybersecurity is only becoming a bigger concern for organisations worldwide – and this goes double for Australian organisations. According to a survey by PwC, the frequency of cybersecurity incidents in Australia almost tripled that of the rest of the world from 2014 to 2015. And more than six million people were victims of cybercrime in 2017– constituting more than one in three (36 per cent) of the adult online population, and a 13 percent increase from 2016, according to the 2017 Norton cybersecurity Insights Report.

Governments have been using biometrics – the authentication of an individual by evaluating one or more unique biological traits

Deputy Premier and Skills Minister John Barilaro today announced that the growing threat of cybercrime and the potential shortage of skills to protect against it has led the NSW Government to offer subsidised training in cyber-security for the first time.

The NSW Government is calling for expressions of interest from technology companies across the state to showcase their products and services on its official stand at CeBIT Australia 2018, Asia Pacific’s largest business technology event. 

The NSW Government today announced a $2 million investment in a new university-led network aimed at bolstering NSW’s cyber security research and development capability and harnessing the state’s growing cyber security industry. The NSW Cyber Security Network will bring together leading scientists and engineers from seven of the state’s universities to protect government, industry and individuals against cyberattacks.

For the second year in a row, Gartner has identified digital twins as one of its top 10 strategic technology trends,

“If there was one takeaway from this year’s Adobe Summit, it was that we have entered the ‘Experience Era.’

As we leap feet first into 2018, digital disruption remains par for the course, and technology continues to spread into all aspects of the business.

In July 2017, it was revealed that Medicare card details were being sold on the “dark web”, by a vendor who claimed to have access to every Australian’s Medicare card details, and could supply them on request, amounting to a serious data breach.

The start-up scene in Australia shows no sign of waning, and NSW in particular seems to be going from strength to strength.

This digital age presents great opportunities for chief information officers (CIOs), but with those opportunities comes unprecedented challenges.

Start-ups can be a hard slog, often with more setbacks than triumphs. In particularly challenging times it can be difficult to find the motivation to keep going.

In a world with a fast-growing population and diminishing resources, a sharing economy model seems to make a lot of sense.

If you’re a marketer, then you’re probably suffering from a pretty severe case of exhaustion. And why wouldn’t you be, having to deal with email campaigns,

It’s here. Dubbed by some as the “Death Star” of retailers, it appears that Amazon slowly started adding items to their Australian site on 23 November – the day before Black Friday

It was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who said, “The only thing that is constant is change”, and that is no more true than in the world of marketing.

If you thought the pace of digital transformation would slow down in the next few years, think again.

You’d think this digital day and age would be a golden time for chief information officers (CIOs) – after all, they should be more integral to an organisation than ever.

It seems Elon Musk is at it again. At a National Governors Association meeting on 15 July, he told the audience, “I have exposure to the very cutting-edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned about it. I keep sounding the alarm bell, but until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don’t know how to react, because it seems so ethereal.”

It’s been an eventful few weeks for cryptocurrencies, and in particular Bitcoin.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) 2017 Threat Report has just been released.

The Australian technology start-up scene is thriving, due in part to tax incentives for early-stage investors being introduced last year, as well as the $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda launched by the Turnbull government in December, which aims to help innovators gain funding to make their ideas a reality.

While experience is king when it comes to salary advancement, hitting the books is a great option for both the less-experienced IT professional, and those looking for a swifter climb up the salary ladder.

Did you know that on average, large IT projects run 45 percent over budget?

Branded merchandise and sales brochures have become a bit of a crutch for companies exhibiting at trade conferences.

The report card for myGov is in, and the grades are … well, a mixed bag.

Presenting at events, such as an industry conference like CeBIT, is beneficial for two big reasons: it positions you as a thought leader within your industry, and it’s a great way to network, which may eventually lead to profitable partnerships or sales.

When launching a start-up, one has to wear many hats – researcher, developer, salesperson, admin assistant etc. Among the most important of these hats, is  ‘marketer’. After all, there’s not much use having a great product if no one has heard of it, right?

Another day, another cybercrime story. HBO made headlines in July when its network systems were hacked and 1.5 terabytes of data was stolen and held to ransom.

As Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) strategies become more prevalent among forward-thinking organisations, it is interesting to note that the strategy itself has been largely driven by users, rather than by IT.

The question of whether your small to medium business should develop its own IT staff or enter into partnerships – outsourcing – with companies which specialise in the field, is a relatively new one.

Adobe recently announced that Flash will become completely obsolete as of December 31st, 2020; “specifically, we will stop updating and distributing the Flash player at the end of 2020 and encourage content creators to migrate any existing Flash content to [sic] open formats.”

While there are some who would have you believe that artificial intelligence (AI) may spell the end of human civilisation as we know it, there are inarguably many benefits to AI, one of which is fostering better sales and marketing alignment.

A future with autonomous vehicles (AVs) is often touted as a sort of utopia.

In recent news, two of the biggest names in tech have been facing off in a showdown over the perils of artificial intelligence (AI).

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are playing a much bigger part in our day-to-day lives than most people realise. An algorithm could be deciding whether you get a bank loan or credit card, whether or not you’ll be hired for a job and even whether or not you’ll be granted parole.

‘Digital transformation’ is a term that has been bandied about a lot over the past decade. Now it seems it is back in vogue, with Microsoft pushing their digital transformation capabilities hard, under the stewardship of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk flew in to announce that Tesla won the South Australian Government’s tender for the world’s largest battery installation (it’s 60% bigger than any other large-scale battery energy storage system on Earth). To top things off, Musk says if the battery isn’t complete in 100 days, it will be free!

Corporates are finding it ever-harder to recruit talent because “most of the smartest people work for someone else”, start-up accelerator Slingshot’s CEO Karen Lawson told the audience at CeBIT Australia 2017.

Back in the early 90s two self-proclaimed “total nerds” graduated from Australian National University, set up in a bedroom clad with Star Wars wallpaper, installed a second phone line and started a company.

The now economy is presenting businesses with a digital challenge: how to monetise new opportunities from the latest technologies while also providing a highly individualised customer experience. 

2017 is shaping up to be a good year for tech crowdfunding projects. Here’s a list of our favourite ones so far.

The potential for blockchain to affect change for a large number of people is very exciting and has been a hot topic in technology circles for a while.

What qualities does an effective IT leader need to create lasting and dynamic change?

As many speakers touched on at the recent CeBIT digital healthcare conference, those who work with healthcare data have to walk a fine line between privacy and using it to create innovative outcomes for patients.

CeBIT Australia’s strategic panel “Streamlining and growing business with the aid of technology” brought together some dynamic entrepreneurs at various stages of their journeys to share their experiences in founding their business, and creating a fertile environment for growth. This blog post summarises some of the key findings from the session.

The workplace has changed a lot over the last few decades. It’s becoming increasingly common for staff to work from various locations and there’s a need to communicate with people from all over the world due to organisational globalisation and outsourcing.

Australian Federal Police officers respond to more than one thousand cybersecurity incidents a year – including attempted attacks on our critical infrastructure, said one of the AFP’s top officers.

What is big data's greatest asset? The access to knowledge it provides us. 

It's time we all face the elephant in the room: digital campaign reporting is misleading.

Sydney’s School of Entrepreneurship’s first intake of students will hit the books at the Ultimo campus in August. It’s an exciting time with the mammoth project positioned for ultimate success.

The way customers are behaving is rapidly evolving. As Brian Kracik, Senior Director, Product Marketing Enterprise and Cloud Solutions, Oracle. Inc admits, ‘From 100 years ago we were concentrating on connecting to a billion different places. 20 years ago we were connecting with billions of different people. In the next 10 years we will be connecting with billions of different things.’

What are some of the biggest issues plaguing healthcare? What do customers want from their healthcare providers? What are some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the digital healthcare industry?

What is the problem you are trying to solve?

Professor Christian Guttmann from the School of Science and Engineering at UNSW and Nordic Artificial Intelligence Institute, and the Karolinska Institute (Sweden), suggests that all business cases need to start simply with this question.

Working with and understanding practical ways to apply blockchain to Fintech is a daily task at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia according to CeBIT Australia 2017 panelist and Commonwealth Bank Executive Manager, Emerging Technology Team, Chris Connor.

Delivering on organisational goals in a digital world that never seems to sleep is a challenge so many of us can relate to.

A panel comprised of participants from diverse industries came together at CeBIT Australia 2017 to examine the social, political and technological impacts of data.

Did you know that the government's attitude to cloud computing has recently become more positive? And why not? Cloud technologies offer organisations convenience and security bundled up in one tech solution. 

Artificial inteligence (AI) will provide immense opportunities in health, but some people may have questions as to how AI can be translated into a rich solution for a system as complex as health. 

Jackie Plunkett Director of the Australasian Telehealth Society started by saying, ‘Telehealth should be one of the no-brainers in healthcare.’

Data makes government agencies more dynamic, more responsive and more open to change.

News Corp started web publishing in 1988, and at the time, the online news division didn’t really have a sustainable business model.

Much has been written about the very early stages of start-up life - so much so that a Google search on ‘starting a startup’ gets over 50 million hits.

The CeBIT Pitchfest 2017 cat is well and truly out of the bag with Macquarie-based start-up Look Who’s Charging taking home first prize.

Striking the right balance between information security and digital transformation can be a difficult task for organisations.

Programmatic ad buying has become significantly more efficient over the past 18 months, but there are still notable elements of wastage in the data-driven landscape, according to Yahoo7’s Ben Green.

“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Malcolm X

Digital solutions have posed many businesses today with a conundrum for implementation: how can they be innovative and sustainable at the same time?

Identity moments are defined as the daily interactions when you prove who you are.

Keyboard stickers created for #chickenfries, logging into your accounts with emojis, taking a selfie for coffee art and virtual reality cooking. If you understood what any of these things are they aren’t just made-up gibberish; these are some of the latest trends marked by Randi Zuckerberg as the next disrupters in business.

There is a near infinite pool of knowledge that can be attained by applying the insights of big data and analytics into our everyday lives. And according to NASA’s Dennis Andrucyk, this pool of knowledge expands much farther than just Earth; we should in fact be seeking intelligence by exploring outer space. 

Given what an online giant RedBalloon is, it’s hard to believe that in the not-too-distant past their orders were taken on fax.

A start-up focused on eliminating the stress of unknown transactions on your credit card statement won the CeBIT Australia 2017 PitchFest competition.

The mantra of learning from failure is so ubiquitous in the start-up world that it’s almost deteriorated to a cliche.

The beginnings of robotic surgery began with the prostate. Or more accurately it began with the advent of PSA screening. Before PSA screenings, prostate cancer was often not picked up until the symptomatic stage, in other words — it was too late to fight it (prostate cancer at its most curable stage is completely invisible).

‘We’re all in this room because we share a common vision, putting to work digital enablement to help out patients. Yet there is still some work to be done - we’re not where we want to be yet.’

Australia’s digital economy is experiencing a boom, with 40,000 ICT jobs created in just two years and ICT services exports up 12% to $2.8b.

To bot or not to bot? It seems to be one of the biggest emerging trends forcasted by experts at CeBIT Australia 2017.

Autonomous robots running a Japanese hotel and quantum computing solving our everyday problems are just two of the digital trends transforming our world according to WIRED Magazine Executive Editor, Greg Williams.

“The new systems of digital revolution are powerful, but they are also a bit scary because they have the potential to fundamentally change us as humans,” Nicholas Davis, Head of Society and Innovation at the World Economic Forum Geneva summed up one of the key dilemmas of our times.

Australians have high expectations of a digital government.

Fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship is a critical element of a thriving Australian business technology industry.

The lesson of the 2016 census was a serious one. It brought to light issues about big data, governance and the social contract. It also exposed how difficult it can be for governments to manage risk while striving for open and agile models of operation.

For the second time, over 400 senior C-suite executives and digital leaders from Australia’s prominent enterprise and government organisations gathered at the elite, invite-only event - CeBIT Black. On Tuesday night, attendees were treated to great food, wine, entertainment, and a dynamic presentation from the event’s sponsors Accenture and Commonwealth Bank, titled ‘Fast Forward Future’.

If you reach one person online you need to start thinking about yourself as a media company. This is just a snippet of the many insights American business women and former Facebook employee, Randi Zuckerberg shared during her Day 2 keynote at CeBIT Australia 2017. 

Cyber crime has an impact of more than $600 billion per year according to CeBIT Australia 2017 keynote speaker and cyber security expert Eugene Kaspersky.

Remaining competitive at a time when industry after industry is disrupted by start-ups that didn’t even seem to play in the same category when they first emerged can seem like a constant battle.

Empowering women in business technology will be a key success factor of the industry as a whole.

Darragh Kennedy is no stranger to cloud transformation. At his previous post at Lonely Planet and in his current role as the Platform Engineering Manager at Zendesk, he has seen how cloud technology has completely transformed the speed, scale and scope of how businesses operate.

Ticketek can tell if you’re an Adelaide Crows fan or a Katy Perry fan or both. It can predict the next event you’re likely to book and it knows if you’ll travel to see your favourite star.

Strive for improvement not perfection is one of Flight Centre’s Technology Chief Customer Officer Mike Dudarenok’s key pieces of advice when it comes to using data to innovate in business.

Technology is key driver for digital transformation and businesses need to adapt to remain competitive in a changing environment.

NASA. Instantly our minds forge images of astronauts in white space suits, gigantic space shuttles and the great words of Neil Armstrong - “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

It was fitting that Harvey Stockbridge, Managing Director Hannover Fairs Australia, commenced CeBIT Australia 2017 by taking a moment to commend its relocation to the beautiful new International Convention Centre. He acknowledged, ‘the rebuild of the ICC is a landmark project for the NSW government.’

The contribution of digital technologies to the Australian economy is forecast to grow from $79 billion in 2014 to $139 billion in 2020.

It’s less than a week to go before CeBIT Australia takes place at the new International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour. One of the highlights of this year’s event is the invite-only CeBIT Black VIP program, being held at Doltone House at Jones Bay Wharf on the evening of Tuesday 23 May from 6.30pm till 10.00pm.

“Success in management requires learning as fast as the world is changing.” Warren Bennis, American scholar and author

With three jam-packed days of CeBIT Australia 2017 right around the corner, it’s time to start planning out your days. With your Exhibition Pass you get access to a wealth of knowledge and insight at our free Showfloor Theatre presentations.

From bike locks that can be opened via an app to light switches that can be flicked off from your computer and phone, the Internet of Things is well and truly changing the way we do things. But it wouldn’t be possible without the innovation from companies far and wide. And one of the companies leading the way with IoT is telecommunications provider Vodafone.

Visiting (or manning) exhibition booths all day long, forging new business connections and listening to the latest developments in business technology at CeBIT Australia’s many keynote presentations, strategic panels and conferences is thirsty work.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Charles Darwin | English Naturalist and Geologist

For the first time, CeBIT Australia is featuring six strategic panels where some of the most successful leaders and greatest minds in the industry will debate the biggest issues in business technology.

By NSW Minister for Trade and Industry, Niall Blair

Lack of cyber security is a significant threat to both our national security and to commercial activity on many levels. 

“Stay Fearless and Don’t Pay The Ransom” – Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher, GReAT

Superannuation. It’s not the most riveting topic. If you’re under 35 the idea of retiring probably isn’t on your radar, and that’s okay considering the day you walk away from work for the last time is at least 30-40 years away.

We had the delightful opportunity to catch up with cybersecurity specialist Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher (GReAT) at Kaspersky Lab.

Futurist Ross Dawson delivered an inspiring keynote presentation at CeBIT Australia 2016, and we've got his presentation for you. 

Strategy first, technology second. These wise words were delivered by Jodie Sangster, CEO at ADMA during her presentation at Digital Marketing 2016 @ CeBIT Australia. 

By John Barilaro, Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional NSW, Skills and Small Business

Everywhere we look at the moment, it seems industries are being transformed, traditional firms disrupted and business models reborn.

To launch a successful marketing campaign, there must to be a budget of proportional weight and heft.
- Traditional Marketing Proverb

After years working for the man, you’ve finally made the transition from being staff to needing staff — and are now ‘the man or ‘the woman’. Congratulations!

When you think of areas where innovation and start-ups are rife, it’s usually places like Silicon Valley and countries such as South Korea and Singapore that spring to mind most readily. 

The 2016 Australian census has caused much debate about data security and data privacy - with far reaching implications for digital government into the future.

David Hodges, Founder and Managing Director of Loc8, knows what it takes to make the successful transition from start-up to flourishing, scalable business.

Accessing health information in the Information Age often consists of a five-minute consultation with Dr Google. We’ve all been there. We’ve all thought that minor headache we’ve become inflicted with is some life-threatening disease that has somehow singled us out from across the cosmos.

Technology has the potential to transform patients and their families’ lives dramatically for the better.

Remote, unified and comprehensive sensors are set to be the next big thing in biometrics. ContinUse Biometrics was developed by one of the creators of Xbox Connect, and these remote sensors use similar technology in the medical space.

The line between information and persuasion is a difficult one for marketers to navigate at the best of times.

We are excited to welcome Deputy Commissioner at the OAIC, Angelene Falk to this year’s CeBIT Australia.

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

When David Hodges began a software start-up in Melbourne just six years ago, he didn’t quite imagine that the company would by now have expanded to the UK, the US and New Zealand.

“It makes no sense to invest in companies that undermine our future.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Every generation is shaped by defining moments. And millennials have seen more than their fair share of global events that led them to become the most ethically and socially aware generation yet.

Optimising your business to deliver on a promise to customers, keeping shareholders happy and finishing the financial year with a solid profit margin is challenging.

We love the rewards of technology, but not so much the security challenges. In an ever-evolving environment, it can be hard to put security systems in place that will only be obsolete with the next innovation in technology.

Having stumbled upon the field by accident when his computer became infected with the Cascade virus, Eugene Kaspersky is now a global thought leader in cybersecurity.

“So tell me, what is conversational commerce anyway?”

In 2017, we don’t talk, phone or email. We message. The nuances of language have been replaced with ‘winky face’ ‘dancing girl’ and ‘angry cat.’

Ever wanted to know how blockchain technology can reduce fraud? Or better yet, how governments around the globe are implementing the technology for better digital services? Well the GovInnovate Team has you covered.

Aaron Tan, Computer Weekly Senior Editor, APAC

We’re still in the midst of a blockchain revolution, but Dilip Rao, Managing Director of Ripple APAC is looking to the future beyond the era of cryptocurrencies, to a world of connected and seamless payment systems.

Catherine Thompson was happy and fulfilled in her role at a promising start-up when the Digital Transformation Office (now Agency) approached her to head up the Digital Marketplace.

We are delighted to welcome Catherine Thompson, Head of the Digital Marketplace (DM), Digital Transformation Agency,  to CeBIT Australia 2017. In her role, she works closely with start-ups and government to unlock opportunities for both sectors.

We’ve seen incredible changes in consumer behaviour over the last 20 years, and a lot of this is thanks to new technologies that change the way we shop.

In the lead-up to CeBIT Australia 2017, we had a chance to catch up with Gold Sponsor Australia Post to discover how they are innovating their services to keep up with today’s consumer expectations and demands. Read on as Regis Bauchiere, General Manager, Identity Solutions of Australia Post, tells us what we can expect from Australia Post in the next few years.

Digital delivery does not come without its challenges. Culture, processes and the digital skills required to use new technologies are just a few of the hurdles digital project teams need to mull over before they seek to transform important services.

With the emergence of three separate policy units related to public data, it can be difficult to understand the ins and outs of data policy within the framework of digital government.

Carl Mackie is Key Account Manager for Advantech, a leader in industrial automation and embedded computing hardware who have a long association with CeBIT Australia.

Starting your own business takes passion and perseverance, we’ve heard this time and time again. But it also takes cash. And, depending on the business you’re in, it might take a lot.

As government’s begin to ride the wave of innovation, it will be important for departments across federal, state and local levels to make sense of these vast and complex new sets of information.

You could easily be fooled into believing governments going digital is a new fad. Everything nowadays has an ‘i’ or an ‘e’ in front of it.

The role of the CIO has become broader in the last few decades. They need to take on more, often with smaller budgets, managing both internal and external stakeholders. These challenges can be amplified in the public sector.

Building a workforce capable of delivering digital projects, while also ensuring infrastructure is up to scratch for the latest technologies is no small task.

The alarm goes off at 6:30pm, but the thought of dragging yourself from your warm and safe bed to the horrors that lay in your inbox put you into near paralysis.

Brand strategy in the technology space can be challenging. There’s fierce competition and more often than not, it’s a sink or swim scenario for the new players in the crowded software market.

The next event is on the horizon, you’ve got the whole day planned out from staff placement to freebies to stall decorations.

Only a decade ago technology chained us to our desks.

We’re very excited to welcome Katherine Squire, General Manager, Application Development and DevOps at ASX to CeBIT 2017.

‘I don’t know if any technology is future-proof,’ Katherine Squire remarked when we posed the question how can you future-proof your infrastructure?

Mobility within the workplace has given businesses the opportunity to operate in a more fluid nature. However, with the opportunity to work in an incredibly flexible environment comes a range of security challenges that need to be strategically thought out and managed.

Technology expands our world, but the size of it is no bigger than a five inch screen.

Using a single device across a variety of tasks not only makes life easier, but it saves time and ensures your IT infrastructure stays in tip-top shape.

Our mobile devices have made our lives handy.

Everybody is itching to know what breeds start-up success and how they can mirror it. Is it timing? Is it marketing? Is it that new, edgy product?

Whether or not it's a dream job, there are probably some tasks an employee dislikes doing (think mountains of paperwork, or the dreaded weekly report).

Did you know data can assist with more effective traffic management? We’ve got the scoop on how IBM helped improved one of the world’s most traffic-heavy cities.

The rise of robots and drones, 3D printing, smart connected devices, the quantified self, and Everything-as a-Service is upon us.

Rocky Scopelliti, Global Industry Executive – Banking, Finance & Insurance, Global Industries at Telstra discussed the ways technology is changing how we engage and has resulted in the new concept mobile identity.

Antony Ugoni, Global Director, Matching and Artificial Intelligence at Seek joined a panel discussion at Big Data & Analytics 2016 conference powered by CeBIT Australia to discuss the ways in which businesses are currently achieving an advantage through data analytics.

The mission statement of Advantech, a leader in industrial computing, is ‘enabling an intelligent planet.’

The buzz surrounding blockchain has reached a new level.

Marketing used to mean flyers, commercials, ad spots and billboards like Chuck Norris’ line of ‘action jeans’ that ‘won't bind your legs, ’ (presumably while you substitute traditional walking for a series of roundhouse kicks).

Daring bank heists. System takeovers through home appliances. Russian spies tampering with elections. No these aren’t Ian Fleming plotlines.

Having the right capabilities to respond to a data security incident is a necessity in the internet age.

Biometric face recognition is a commonly used method to verify identity in high security areas. But what happens when body features are falsified or disguised?

Nicole Eagan has 25 years in the technology sector and has seen first-hand how cyber attacks have become more sophisticated and more ambitious.

2016 was a huge year for technological advancement and innovation.

In the first industrial revolution, a group of angered weavers and textile workers were made redundant, losing their livelihoods to technology that could do the job quicker and more efficiently.

“It took about 75 years for the telephone to connect 50 million people. Today a simple iPhone app like Draw Something can reach that milestone in a matter of days”

Darktrace is a network solution for detecting and investigating emerging cyber-threats that evade traditional security tools. It is powered by Enterprise Immune System technology, which uses machine learning and mathematics to monitor behaviors and detect anomalies in your organization’s network. The Enterprise Immune System's mathematical approaches do not require signatures or rules and so can detect emerging ‘unknown unknown’ attacks that have not been seen before. 

Big data is a relatively simple concept.

The world we live in has fundamentally changed.

Hopefully you’re in the midst of planning your 2017 CeBIT Australia booth.

Hello Social is Australia’s first social media agency and have been partners of CeBIT Australia for three years, helping to create some very memorable social media displays.

About 19.8% of business time is wasted by employees searching for information to do their job effectively.

When applying the lessons of start-ups to drive corporate innovation, customer data is one of the greatest strengths of an enterprise. But are start-ups beating corporates at their own game?

The 2015 mystery Ex Machina explores the dark relationship between an AI creation, her maker and a programmer unwittingly brought in to be a test subject in the maker’s experiment:

Telstra has long been a success story for the way they identify network issues by applying predictive analytics to operational data (Source: Forbes 2015). For businesses to emulate this success, it's important to have the right people, tools and data in place. 

Between July 2015 and July 2016 there were 14,804 cyber security incidents affecting Australian businesses according to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).

We’re excited to welcome Sam Robertson, Head of Research & Innovation – Western Bulldogs and Victoria University to CeBIT 2017.

Cloud computing has moved far away from the exclusive realm of early adopters.

Many businesses are bypassing traditional IT structures and procuring systems and services directly in the Cloud. 

It only seems like yesterday when you signed your business up for CeBIT Australia 2017.

It is an exciting time to be in the Software as a Service (SaaS) industry.

The clouds are rising. The use of cloud technology in small business has become so ubiquitous, one commentator has remarked ‘the cloud revolution has now reached mom and pop shops.’

Organising data effectively is better for the end user. But for many businesses, breaking down silos and creating a path to effective data integration is a challenge if business intelligence systems aren't connected properly.

Think cloud solutions and you think of cheap ways to manage modern businesses that require less office space and less paper file storage, right?

In a world filled with so much noise, businesses around the globe are trying to utilise data to create better personalised experiences for their customers. 

At the Cloud and Computing Expo in 2010, Andrew Solomon then the A/G Assistant Commissioner at the OIAC gave a presentation about opportunities and challenges that cloud technology would present for government agencies and for citizens.

Like many new business technology solutions, cloud technology is developing exponentially. Attendees at Cloud 2016 at CeBIT Australia were fortunate to hear John Sheridan, First Assistant Secretary Technology & Procurement and Australian Government Procurement Coordinator, deliver his presentation on the cloud. Some of the questions he asked were: where are we now, what is the policy, where are we going?

Every day there’s a start-up offering a new cloud app, platform or service.

Rocky Scopelliti, Global Industry Executive Banking, Finance & Insurance Global Industries at Telstra presented Mobile Identity at CeBIT Australia 2016. He discussed the fusion of financial services, mobility and identity by addressing what app features really matter in a mobile first world, and what role mobile plays when delivering a great customer experience. 

For some of us the thought of maths brings on sweaty hands and memories of staring at a chalkboard with tilted heads in utter confusion.

Remember the days when marketing was also known as the colouring in department?

Virtual Reality (VR) is no longer the stuff of myth and futurist propaganda, though it’s still a far cry from the visions of Tron.

Consumers post 500 million tweets and 55 million Facebook updates each day, so how can businesses make sense of big data sets they have been accumulating? Watch Joanna Batstones keynote presentation from CeBIT Australia 2016 on intepreting and analysing enterprise data. Joanna is IBM Research-Australia's Vice President and Lab Director, and is CTO of IBM ANZ.

We’re now on the other side of the New Year and the exhibition that seemed like it was eons away is drawing ever closer.

We’re pleased to welcome Mohammad Eltiebi to the speaker panel for Big Data & Analytics 2017 Conference @ CeBIT where he will present on Data Fuelled Entertainment Analytics.

The adage to fail fast and to fail often has become a mantra within the tech space.

A brand spanking new year will inevitably bring new challenges, but it should also bring a new outlook.

In March 2016 the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) launched its Digital Transformation initiative.

In 2016 the AFL’s Western Bulldogs achieved grand final victory for the first time in 62 years.

Data is all around us. From calculating our steps to scanning the solar system, data is being created quite literally, in and out of this world.

When a shiny new piece of technology appears on the market, the knee-jerk reaction for many marketers is to go a bit Gollum on it, hiss myyyy precioussss and grab at it, thinking that it will be The One Thing to rule them all.

Do you remember the wonderment Photoshop caused when it was first launched?

The Internet of Things – connecting everything to everything else.

2016 has been a year of tremendous technological achievement.

The Department of Human Services' Chief Technology Officer, Charles McHardie AM delivered a thought provoking presentation at eGovernment 2016 @ CeBIT. His presentation focused on how to recreate an organisation where its 'services are shaped' around the public. 

Google’s Director of Product Management for Europe, ME and Asia, Rohit Dhawan is responsible for small to medium sized publishers who use Google Adsense. He delivered a Keynote presentation at the CeBIT Global Conferences in March 2016.

A tech event stall is a lot like Baby from Dirty Dancing.

NAB’s Head of Human-Centred Design, Louise Long presented Delivering customer centric products at CeBIT Australia 2016. She discussed what customer led design is and how NAB is delivering customer centric products. Take a look at Louise’s presentation below.

It was in early 2015 that start-up founder Vidya Nallamad had to pull the plug on the central idea that established her start-up business NetHealth.

As in life, the concept of synergy is a magical goal in software development wherein the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

When adults meet children for the first time, they love to ask them the question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Video games have the power to transport us to a different world.

Did you know that women only represent 14%-24% of start-up founders and only 4% of funded Australian start-ups — those attracting investment — are led by female entrepreneurs?

In 2010 The Economist published a report called Data, data everywhere.

It’s almost that time of year. The mandatory two week shut down where you get to escape for a few weeks with your family.

The world is reeling from one of the strangest elections in US history.

The internet allows us to shop, bank, work, sign contracts, apply for loans, pay bills and do our taxes all from the privacy of our own homes.

As the world becomes more interconnected the human race is becoming increasingly dependent on our gadgets.

There’s nothing more satisfying than growing your business: seeing your team expand in size and confidence, boldly venturing onto cool new clients and knowing that all your blood, sweat and tears are paying off.

In 2015, research found Uganda was the most entrepreneurial country. The results were unexpected.

Creating a start-up pitch that convinces investors to trust you with millions of dollars is a lot of pressure.