News

It’s a new year which means another year of CoderDojo is about to commence! We currently have three Dojo’s running all over the Sunshine Coast; Noosa, Maleny and Maroochydore and registrations for term 1 are open now. So what IS Coder Dojo? Coder Dojo is a global movement of free, volunteer-led, community based coding clubs for young people between the ages of 7 and 17. Here at CoderDojo we learn how to code, develop websites, apps, games and explore technology in an informal and creative environment. Emphasis on the informal, we prefer you think of Sunshine Coast CoderDojo as a…

Thanks to a major update, Australians looking forward to being connected to the nbn™ network can now expect greater clarity on when their premises will be made ready for service. Newly released improvements to the address checker function on the nbn™ website mean that most Australian homes and businesses will now be able to access better information on the rollout in their area.  The update provides the most accurate view of when the nbn™ network will be available as well as what technology will be used at any given time. The website now also allows nearly every Australian to find out…

From disrupted to disruptor: Reinventing your business by transforming the core By Peter Dahlström, Liz Ericson, Somesh Khanna, and Jürgen Meffert Companies must be open to radical reinvention to find new, significant, and sustainable sources of revenue. When Madonna burst onto the scene in the early 1980s, there was little reason to suspect that she’d have more than her allotted 15 minutes of fame. But in the three decades since her debut album, she has managed to remain a media icon. Her secret? “Madonna is the perfect example of reinvention,” Janice Dickinson, renowned talent agent, has said. Fittingly, the name…

Future-Proof Yourself TAFE Queensland East Coast in partnership with Sunshine Coast Council and Regional Development Australia Sunshine Coast are delivering this course for anyone looking to develop their skills in coding. Get started with the basics of coding using a range of applications to develop coding and programming skills. Students will begin by looking to understand coding principles with a focus on JavaScript. This course is designed for first timers, students looking to develop entry level skills in coding or existing employees looking to enhance their role with coding skills. Coding is a universal language and in high demand worldwide.…

Queensland communities can look forward to improved mobile phone coverage thanks to the funding of 144 new or upgraded mobile phone base stations under a joint Commonwealth-State Government arrangement.   The Queensland Government will fund the base stations with the Commonwealth Government, mobile operators, councils and other stakeholders under the national Mobile Black Spot Program. The State has committed almost $24 million across two rounds of the program to secure the new mobile base stations.   The Mobile Black Spot Program is a three-year program with construction of Queensland’s first round towers currently underway throughout the state. Round 2 tower…

The Future of Work: Setting Kids up for Success Our kids are going to face a radically different work environment from what we see today. Everyone’s talking about it…  In partnership with nbn, the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has moved beyond peak noise on this topic, taking action to do something really useful and practical about it. It’s in all our interests to ensure our children are future work ready and these resources are available now, free to anyone with access to the internet. Together they have delivered an online toolkit to make sense of the future of work, what it…

The nbn™ network will become critical for health, education, business development and the overall long-term sustainable growth of the Sunshine Coast region. Right now on the Sunshine Coast, over 29,000 premises are ready for service, with a further 50,000 currently under construction. By 2020, every home and business is expected to be able to benefit from the nationwide upgrade to Australia’s broadband infrastructure. Access to fast broadband is designed to provide a range of benefits for homes and businesses such as improved opportunities to work from home, better access to online education and health tools and more options for on-demand…

Do you enjoy being innovative, working with others and collaborating to come up with some great solutions and concepts that could benefit the Sunshine Coast and wider community? Do you want to add to the Sunshine Coast Smart City theme by creating smart applications from Open Data for business and the community?  After a successful inaugural event last year, Sunshine Coast Council's HackFest is back in 2016. HackFest 2016 aims to link up community members and provide the incentive to participate, innovate, create, develop, and succeed. Working in teams or individually, HackFest 2016 is for people with a mixture of skills…

There’s a fantastic new addition to the already thriving Sunshine Coast entrepreneurial ecosystem! Council has partnered with Spark Bureau to provide a community driven space where local youngsters will have the opportunity to explore the world of virtual and augmented reality and develop skills for future careers in the technology industry. Spark Bureau CEO Zach Johnson said virtual reality and live streaming had enormous potential for growth over the next 10 years. “The Sunshine Coast is a hub for innovation and digital entrepreneurship and here at Spark Bureau we are helping businesses tap into emerging and future markets” Mr Johnson…

Local hackers have shared in $3000 of prizes from the 2016 GovHack competition which aims to uncover new digital products and services that can benefit the community. Digital geeks, entrepreneurs, creative technologists, and savvy creators came together over the weekend of July 29-31 for the event, held simultaneously in 9 locations across Australia and New Zealand, with the Sunshine Coast event being held at Spark Bureau. Councillor Brian Stockwell from Noosa Council presented the Sunshine Coast awards at the GovHack Queensland State Awards on Friday, 2 September 2016 in Brisbane. Sunshine Coast creative technologist Mic Black won the Spirit of GovHack award, and took out the Spirit of GovHack Queensland State Title for creating the ‘random idea generator’…