[LINK] AusInnovate NBN Conference Trip Note

[George Bray]

There's been grumbling about how poor the *human* communications have
been for the NBN. The question "What does the NBN mean for me?" has
never been answered. Grumble no more, today DBCDE have a modern new
site that educates and engages.

"The government's aim is that, by 2020, Australia will be among the
world's leading digital economies based on key indicators such as
broadband penetration and usage rankings."

Greetings from the CeBIT AusInnovate conference in Sydney. This
morning Minister Conroy delivered a presentation launching a new
education campaign for the NBN. The video he showed was a portion of a
larger collection explaining the NBN in different scenarios. Their
choice to deliver it as video from the website as well as 2 x DVD's
should work because many of the concepts covered are quite complex,
best consumed in a sit-down learning position.

  Differentiation between current and new technology
  It's the Apps
  Ubiquity - Every home, school, business gets at a minimum a fast and
reliable service
  Working together as an online group regardless of location
  Education
  Health
  SME

There are many documentary-style interviews speaking to people about
how things will be different with the NBN. There are futuristic
simulations in some of the material showing multi-parting
videoconferencing. Some guys are all at their own homes able to
practice their music. It tells the story without mentioning much of
any technology issues. This portrayal of real people interacting in
new ways is what the NBN discussion has required.

The human communication problem the department faced was quite large.
However, today is probably the starting point where there's much
better understanding among Australians about the NBN and it's
potential for significant national impact.

NBN Gov AU
http://www.nbn.gov.au/
http://www.nbn.gov.au/media-centre/videos/

George Bray