2005 Media Releases

National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australia’s information and communications technology Centre of Excellence, today announced the signing of an agreement with Australia’s foremost comprehensive cancer centre, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PMCC).

The agreement focuses on applying advanced techniques in data analysis to large sets of genomic data generated by the PMCC. The relationship between NICTA and PMCC reflects the fundamental importance of current information and communications technology (ICT) research to the next generation of advances in biotechnology and life sciences. In advance of the agreement Peter Mac and NICTA researchers have interacted over the last year in the development of a test to predict site of origin of a cancer, for a small but significant group of patients where this diagnosis is problematic.

National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Information and Communications Technology research, today announced a collaborative effort with QUALCOMM Incorporated to use NICTA versions of the L4 Microkernel and the Iguana operating system together with select versions of QUALCOMM’s Mobile Station Modem™ (MSM™) chipsets. The L4 Microkernel and Iguana operating system provide a high-performance, secure platform for embedded systems such as mobile communication devices.

"We are pleased to be working with QUALCOMM to utilise the L4 microkernel as the foundation for a trusted computing platform on embedded wireless devices," said Professor Gernot Heiser, leader of NICTA’s Embedded, Real-Time, and Operating Systems (ERTOS) program.

National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australia’s national centre for research in information and communications technology (ICT), has developed an advanced open source operating system (OS) that will increase the security, reliability, and trustworthiness of embedded systems.

Embedded systems are special-purpose computer systems that are completely encapsulated by the device they control. They have specific requirements and perform pre-defined tasks and are used in devices such as mobile phones, televisions, cars, toys, smart cards, network switching equipment, and sensors.

Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, today opened a state-of-the-art laboratory in New South Wales, dedicated to research and development in information and communications technology (ICT). Located opposite the University of New South Wales (UNSW), National ICT Australia’s (NICTA) Kensington laboratory provided a first-time look at some of the pioneering ICT projects underway at the facility.