2006 Media Releases

National ICT Australia (NICTA) and Ericsson today announced a three-year umbrella agreement for research into next-generation mobile networks to develop technology that will optimise connectivity for the consumer. The agreement is with Ericsson’s global research arm and is initially valued at AUD$2.7 million with scope for expansion.

National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australia’s ICT Centre of Excellence, and the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity, today announced a new A$1 million collaborative project to develop new computing technologies that will automatically scan and detect crops for infestations of insects and diseases.

The project will enhance Australia’s national early-warning quarantine surveillance system by developing computer-based technologies that use spectral imaging to survey and detect insect and plant disease outbreaks.

National ICT Australia, (NICTA) Australia’s Centre of Excellence for information and communications technology (ICT), today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two Italian organisations: Torino Wireless Foundation and Politecnico di Torino, a leading Italian university. The organisations plan to collaborate on technologies that deliver seamless access to information via diverse wireless infrastructure technologies.

The MOU, promoted by the Scientific Office of the Italian Embassy, will support future collaboration between the partners in research, research training and personnel exchanges. It will build on common technical interests in information mobility, which will provide mobile device users access to the information they need regardless of their location or type of wireless connectivity.

National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australia’s national centre of excellence for information and communications technology (ICT) research, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to engage in joint research with Fluffy Spider Technologies, a world leader in the development of user interface technology for embedded devices such as mobile phones.

Fluffy Spider Technologies will be working with NICTA’s Embedded, Real Time and Operating Systems (ERTOS) Program, which focuses on improving the reliability and trustworthiness of embedded systems. ERTOS has developed a unique microkernel-based embedded operating system called L4/Iguana.

National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australia’s ICT Centre of Excellence, today announced, at its technology showcase Techfest 2006, the first round of commercial initiatives it is pursuing as a result of its research success.

Speaking to several hundred representatives from industry, government and research at the technology showcase, NICTA’s Chairman, Mr Neville Stevens AO, highlighted the rapid progress NICTA has made over its three and a half years of operation. "We are now an organisation of around 400 staff, over 200 NICTA-endorsed PhD students, 55 research projects, five research laboratories and has a portfolio of over 30 patent applications.

"NICTA has made significant progress in turning research into viable commercial opportunities," said Mr Stevens.

National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australia’s centre for information and communications technology, has added to the expertise of its board of directors with the appointment of internationally recognised engineer and entrepreneur Dr Graham Hellestrand and the highly experienced director and executive, Professor David Karpin AM.