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If you enjoy coding, creating solutions, being innovative and are interested in creating solutions from open data and taking them all the way to a commercial outcome, then the Sunshine Coast Hackfest is for you.  Add to the Sunshine Coast Smart City theme by creating smart applications for business and the community. Working in teams or individually, Hackfest 2015 is for people with a mixture of skills including entrepreneurs, developers, designers, digital media creators, artists, story tellers, researchers and open data enthusiasts. This is an opportunity to hack and create an outcome over an entire weekend on 20-22 November. Ideas for Hackfest 2015 Do you have…

nbn has announced its three-year construction plan, outlining where construction will have begun across the Sunshine Coast by September 2018. 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 tools and more options for on-demand entertainment. Areas where construction scheduled to start before end-September 2018 Estimated number of premises Expected Technology Estimated time to start construction Alexandra Headland, Birtinya, Bokarina, Buddina, Currimundi, Meridan Plains, Minyama, Mooloolaba, Mountain Creek, Parrearra, Warana, Wurtulla 24000 Fibre to the Node (FTTN) Nov-2015 Buderim, Forest Glen, Kuluin,…

nbn has successfully launched its first broadband satellite into orbit after it blasted 36,000kms into space from Guiana Space Centre in South America on 1 October. Sky Muster is one of the world’s most-advanced communication satellites and will play a critical role in providing fast broadband access to around 400,000 Australian homes and businesses. Over the coming months the satellite will undergo final technical testing ahead of its commercial launch scheduled for mid-2016. Once available, the service is expected to provide wholesale speeds significantly faster than those currently used now. nbn CEO Bill Morrow said the satellite would provide access to fast broadband for…

Telstra has partnered with the Swinburne Institute for Social Research and the Centre for Social Impact on a research project to create the Australian Digital Inclusion Index to measure progress in improving digital inclusion in Australia.  Digital inclusion is recognised as one of the key social justice challenges facing policy makers and communities worldwide. It means more than just access to computers, the internet or technology. Digital inclusion is about using technology as a channel to improve skills, enhance quality of life, drive education and promote economic wellbeing. Yet more than 4 million Australians are still not online, and are missing out…

Innovative business activity can be influenced by where your business is located, and how close it is to other innovative activities and research institutions. The National Innovation Map shows the location of innovative activities, business creation, and research organisations across Australia, including the Sunshine Coast.

The Australian Smart Communities Association Summit will provide the first all-inclusive opportunity to connect with, be introduced to, learn from, and become inspired by national and international leaders at the forefront of what it takes to become a smart city or smart community. View delegates brochure. Who should attend? If you work in any capacity to make a community, region or city smarter through the use of information or communications technology to enhance diversity, support growth, enrich lives or solve social and infrastructure problems, then this Summit is for you. Check out the Australian Smart Communities Association Summit website. Keynote speaker to…

Guest speaker Steve Baxter was treated like a rock star amongst budding local entrepreneurs and business people at the sell-out Digital Entrepreneurs networking event held at Noosa Boardroom last week. Steve has become a well-known and respected entrepreneur and investor due to the popularity of Channel Ten’s successful Shark Tank TV program.  Steve is also the founder of successful startup hub and tech co-working space River City Labs, and a strong advocate for Queensland’s local entrepreneurial ecosystem. “Steve described his philosophy about investing in people first, skills second and the nature of the problem being solved third,” RDA Sunshine Coast CEO Estella…

Congratulations to CryptoPhoto who has taken out the financial category at this year’s national iAwards, with Sunshine Coast Council’s Disaster Hub a merit recipient in the government category. The iAwards honour top Australians at the leading edge of digital innovation and recognises brilliant new ideas that have been brought to life by the country’s finest minds from schools, start-ups, universities and research institutions, and the public and private sectors – everyone from app developers to scientists and engineers.  Industry domain / financial category winner CryptoPhoto security blocks phishing and malware attacks (these cause 90% of all internet breakins) by giving…

Cisco's report, South East Queensland: A Smart Region, outlines the impact that smart region projects could potentially have on South East Queensland, the level of community support and how their implementation could contribute to building the world’s first smart region, as well as benefit residents and businesses, and enable governments to deliver better services for their communities. "South East Queensland now has an opportunity to embrace smart city concepts to ensure the entire region’s residents experience better access to public transport, more reliable core council services, faster access to emergency services and more effective methods for getting goods to market," the report…

Local hackers Jason Discount, Pat Walsh and Johannes Klupfel have shared a $1000 cash prize for their Dogs Unleashed web application in the Sunshine Coast’s first GovHack event in Peregian Beach on 3-5 July. They received the prize for the most innovative use of data to create a recreational, environmental and/or cultural solution for the Sunshine Coast region. Dogs Unleashed is a responsively designed, location-aware web app that combines data on parks, beach access points and dog-friendly water fountains to provide local and visiting dog owners with information on where they're welcome, where they are required to use a leash,…