News

Four start-ups, doing everything from reducing killer western Sydney commutes to making geocoded address information more accessible, have won an ‘open innovation’ competition with the prize a 12-week accelerator program hosted by the University of Western Sydney, and access to potential clients provided by co-sponsor PwC. The competition sought to solve four problems experienced by people living in Sydney’s western sprawl, identified by PwC and UWS in conjunction with the NSW Government and program partners Google and Cisco. A lack of teleworking and smart work hubs, fuelling the predicament for residents of Greater Western Sydney who work in the Sydney…

Queensland public servants could soon be working remotely if a trial underway in the state's south-east proves employees remained productive away from their head office. The Flexible Work Centre Trial began in May this year when the State Government rented space in shared offices at Southport on the Gold Coast and Redcliffe north of Brisbane. The 12-month trial will evaluate the viability of staff working from commercially run offices. Data is being collected on the use and productivity of flexible work centres and the results will be used to form policy in the future. Queensland Innovation Minister Ian Walker said the…

The 2014 Sunshine Coast Startup Weekend is now behind us, and we eagerly awaiting the announcement of the dates for the 2015 Sunshine Coast Startup weekend.  In the meantime, check out this fabulous short 5 minute video showcasing this recent past event, created by Marcus. This is Startup Weekend from Marcus H on Vimeo. For further information about Startup Weekend Sunshine Coast: sunshinecoast.startupweekend.org

Recreate Eureka Stockade by The Core The-Core has partnered with the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka (MADE) to set up the MADECORE competition and are calling minecrafters to recreate the Eureka Stockade as part of the 160th anniversary. Competitors will build their stockades on a custom Minecraft server called MADECORE. The winning model will be the one that builds a fun, creative version of the Eureka Stockade. What does my entry get me?  Your registration gives you access to the private MADECORE server throughout the duration of the competition as well as your own plot to build your creation! More information

In news that will come as no surprise, slow internet speeds are hindering the Sunshine Coast's ability to do business. Poole Group director Greg Tuckwell said "woefully slow" connection speeds were one of his biggest challenges. "We do a lot in the cloud and we see the speeds are woeful, and it affects our productivity and the service we can deliver," Mr Tuckwell told the Sunshine Coast Daily while attending the launch of the Draft Digital Action Plan last week. "We have people working off site and it affects the speeds they can log in. There is infrastructure in place, but we…

Encouraging digital innovation, investing in infrastructure and ensuring the community has the skills and capacity to embrace the digital revolution are the key features of a Draft Digital Action Plan launched today by Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson. At an event attended by dignitaries including local digital business leaders, the Draft Digital Action Plan was aptly launched amongst the new high-tech digital equipment at the University of the Sunshine Coast including the Oculus Rift, augmented reality and motion capture technology as well as 3D printers. Mayor Jamieson said the draft plan provided an opportunity for people to learn and get…

This page has been archived. For information on current coding workshops please visit: ​http://sunshinecoast.coderdojo.com.au Three new CoderDojos will be held on the Sunshine Coast from October where young people aged 7-17 can learn how to code, develop websites, apps, programs and games.  The next round of free workshops follow the success of the first pilot program in August, which booked out within the first 24 hours of being launched.  CoderDojo is an open source, volunteer led movement orientated around running free not-for-profit coding clubs (Dojos) for young people. In addition to learning to code, members meet like-minded people, show off what they’ve been…

Sunshine Coast based The Training Collective, a spin-off company of The Creative Collective, has taken out the hotly contested Access & Digital Skills category at the prestigious 2014 Australia New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIAs) in recognition of its Get Up To Speed program. Category finalists included the Australian Communications and Media Authority Cyber Safety program, iiNet and the Deaf Society of NSW. Founder and CEO of The Training Collective, Yvette Adams said the win was a real victory for the Sunshine Coast training organisation which has continued to offer the online program for the past 18 months without any government…

More and more Australians are going online and are using the internet more intensively, according to ACMA’s latest research, Regional Australia in the digital economy. Importantly, there has been a huge jump in the use of mobile phone internet services for the almost 40 per cent of Australians living outside the six biggest capital cities. In communities with less than 1000 people one in three adults went online using their mobile phone during December 2013, compared to just one in 20 four years earlier. Across Australia, going online on mobile phones has seen a dramatic increase. Nationally, 46 per cent…