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Not only are we a ‘great place to work’ – our team continues to grow. In the marketing and communications department, we’ve added two valuable members to help promote IAA to the world.
Suzanne Thompson joins us as our new Marketing Manager. Suzanne is an experienced marketing and communications specialist with over 20 years’ experience, including working at some of Australia’s largest advertising agencies. She will manage strategies to promote our work and the service offerings we provide for the benefit of our Members.
In her spare time Suzanne enjoys writing, running and swimming, and is a Ward Councillor for the City of Joondalup, where she lives.
Chris Bishop joined IAA at the start of April and has settled in nicely to the role of Digital Marketing and Communications Officer. Chris has over 20 years’ experience in the digital marketing and design space, working with some of Perth’s leading digital agencies.
When he’s not helping to promote IAA to an international audience, you’ll likely find him training for an upcoming trail-race or enjoying a post run coffee or beer – depending on the time of day – with his training partners.
Finally, we extend a warm welcome to Anita Chidi-Amadi to the team. Anita joins IAA as Executive Assistant to our CEO Narelle Clark. Most recently working in Abuja, Nigeria, Anita was integral to supporting and developing strategic enrolment plans for a leading sixth-form college.
Outside of work Anita loves watching the news, cooking for her family, listening to podcasts and gaming.
Discover more about the team on the IAA website.
The mighty Tech Team have been very busy and are pleased to announce the Phase 1 of the rack migration at VDC-MEL03 is now complete. 40/100G ports are now available to all members on level 3. Make sure you get your orders in via the IAA Portal!
Our cable up to MDC/5GN on level 15 is currently being re-terminated from our previous rack in the OFDF to now be direct to our rack, which should be completed within a few weeks. We will soon be able to deliver 40/100G service ports to MDC/5GN members via level 15. Regardless of where you are at 530 Collins St, feel free to place your order now!
As a result of this hardware being installed, we were able to upgrade our VIC-IX ring to fully redundant 200G paths giving us up to 400Gbps usable out of each site, and at the same time reducing OPEX by choosing 100G BiDi transceivers to get the most out of a pair of fibre.
This hardware will also permit us to finally progress further on updating our layer 2 fabric technology choice. Watch this space for more updates!
NZIX was a proud Gold Sponsor of this year’s NZNOG, which took place in Rotorua late March. The NZIX team hosted a stand and were a valued contributor towards making the event a resounding success.
In the conference itself, NZIX committee member Simon Allard, in his capacity as Head of Technology Architecture at 2degrees, gave a fascinating talk about the impacts and learnings from Cyclone Gaby for both Vocus and 2degrees . Rene, from FLEXOPTIX, gave both a terrifying, yet heart-warming talk on the Keep Ukraine Connected project.
IAA also sent our very own Matt Kobayashi who gave a bit of an update on ‘all things tech’ on NZIX’s three exchanges and an informative lightning talk about optical circulators and how they can be used when bi-directional (BiDi) optical transceivers are not available. Watch it now on the NZNOG YouTube channel.
The national 2023-24 Budget was released earlier this month, which will no doubt affect the telco sector in the year ahead. Here are some key details from this year’s budget:
- $86.5 million to establish a National Anti-Scam Centre, boost ASIC’s work, and establish a SMS Sender ID Registry
- $44.3 million to the OAIC to take appropriate regulatory action and enhance its data and analytics capability, and support a standalone Privacy Commissioner
- $0.9 million over 2 years to progress the review of the Privacy Act
- $26.9 million to expand Digital ID
- $23.4 million over 3 years to support small businesses to build resilience to cyber threats
- $19.5 million to support responsible entities owning critical infrastructure to respond to significant cyber threats
- $46.5 million over 4 years to establish the Coordinator for Cyber Security to enhance the Commonwealth’s cyber security efforts
- $134.1 million over 4 years to fund the eSafety Commissioner – quadrupling its base operational funding
- $10.1 million over 2 years to establish a central task force for the delivery of a new Public Safety Mobile Broadband capability – an initiative that will provide Public Safety Agencies and first responders with fast and secure voice, video and data communications
- $50 million for the Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation grant program
- $15 million for the next round of the Mobile Network Hardening Program
It’s clear that cyber security and online safety are core focuses for the government, with a particularly significant increase in investment towards eSafety. This is likely to have a great impact on the telco sector as we have already seen a wide number of legislative reforms in relation to the SOCI Act, Privacy Act, and the TIA Act, as well as the ongoing development of Industry Codes for online safety.
Although IAA welcomes the government’s commitment to safety online, including cyber security, we emphasise that this be actioned in a measured and effective manner, with genuine engagement with industry and other stakeholders throughout all legislative and regulatory reform processes.
We’re delighted to announce that we have been awarded Great Place to Work® Certification. We now feature on the Great Place to Work portal, where you can learn more. We will wear this new badge with pride as a sign of a positive employee experience. In receiving this accreditation, we join the ranks of Cisco, Google and American Express. Great Place to Work is a globally recognised employee validation program.
On our first attempt at achieving certification, we received an impressive 86% overall satisfaction score. This score is based on a comprehensive employee survey and a detailed questionnaire about our workplace. Because employee feedback and independent analysis determine the scores, our certification can give future employees confidence that we genuinely offer a great company culture.
Hiring and retaining talent has never been more important or more challenging for all employers, so earning this certification means a lot to us. We aim to be an employer of choice and foster a healthy workplace culture.
Undergoing the Great Place to Work assessment gave us some real insights into what we’re doing well and some opportunities to improve.
Comments from team members included:
“Excellent flexibility working from home, and ample opportunity to attend to outside of work commitments and requirements and make up the work later when it suits.”
“As a relatively small team, everyone is very busy but still happy to help each other out. We have lots of opportunities to grow in the industry, such as participating in industry forums and conferences.”
“Genuine flexibility and care from the management. Know how and understanding of the Internet and industry. Our status and respect as a trusted player in the industry.”
Of course, we are always looking ways we can be even better and look forward to repeating the process annually so that we can keep track of our progress. In this way, you can always be confident that creating a safe and happy workplace is at the heart of everything we do.
If you or someone you know are looking for a progressive and proactive place to work, check out our latest career opportunities on our website.
Our success in achieving Great Place to Work Certification is all thanks to our awesome team. Each and every one of them has contributed to making this possible and we’re pleased to share their achievement with you.
Since our last newsletter, we have been very busy hosting and planning Convergent Events for our Members to network, learn and grow.
First up in March was an online event – “Malicious Domains: Where they are, and what we can do about them.” Industry experts, Graeme Bunton and Rowena Schoo, of the DNS Abuse Institute gave us fascinating insights into this topic. Don’t worry if you missed it, you can find it on IAA’s YouTube channel.
This was soon followed by an in-person event in Adelaide, in partnership with APNIC Academy Training, who provided an insightful RPKI/ROV Tutorial. This gave our members the opportunity to receive free training on this important subject (typically valued at $80), followed by the opportunity to network at our social event.
For those who couldn’t make Adelaide, you’ll be pleased to learn we’re partnering with APNIC Academy Training to provide the RPKI/ROV Tutorial again in two other locations. More details to follow, but make a note in your calendar, if you’ll be in Canberra, Tuesday 18 July 2023 or Sydney, Thursday 20 July 2023. In both cities the tutorial will run 1.30pm – 5.30pm AEST and be followed by a social event. Check your emails and the IAA Portal closer to the date to register.
In other news, our Melbourne Convergent Event in May featured a talk by Professor Darryl Veitch entitled “Can I trust my clock? Why NTP is fail .” The presentation was followed by drinks and nibbles. Darryl’s presentation was well received with one attendee reporting: “Everything I thought I knew about how NTP worked and synced and reliability was wrong. This may have been one of those red pill or blue pill moments.”
Register now for our Convergent Online Event 1 June
On the back of the success of this event, we have decided to share Professor Veitch’s insights with the rest of our Members, with a special online event on Thursday 1 June 2023 from 12pm AEST (10am AWST) via Zoom.
Register via the IAA Portal now!
Member registration Non-member registration
We look forward to bringing you even more Convergent Conference Events soon.
