ITPA Newsletter - The Download Issue No.13

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In this Edition:

ITPA response to Commonwealth’s latest proposed visa changes
Gone Phishing: The challenges of defending against malicious email attacks
From the Fifth Estate - a media watch on the IT industry
Don’t miss our Short Courses!
How to become a Certified Practicing Member
ITPA Advice Forums

Hi <<First Name>>,

There’s been a lot of industry news around lately that is in alignment with some of the public interest issues that we have been raising awareness of since the creation of ITPA.

A new scheme for granting visas to global talent was announced by the Commonwealth, Facebook admitted there is no such thing as privacy if you frequent its platform (or even if you don’t) and the train wreck that is the NBN continues to stall the nation from reaching its next digital destination.

As explained in a commentary below on the new, so-called Global Talent Scheme, it is not enough for immigration regulatory authorities to simply define where skilled workers are eligible to be brought in without explaining how this is policed.

For too long we have seen IT organisations use skilled worker visas as a cost reduction exercise for jobs that can be filled by local candidates if they are given appropriate training. A local industry employing locals is something that the Government needs to foster because at present, many IT graduates from Australian tertiary education institutions are struggling to find secure work in a growth industry.

There needs to be more focus on delivering curricula matching the exit skills and knowledge of graduates with industry demand. There also needs to be a carrot approach as encouragement for employers to train, instead of import, where skills are in shortage and there must be a big stick ready to come into play as a disincentive to blatant gaming of the system.

As far as Facebook goes, those of us in the industry probably had a pretty good understanding of how social media’s surveillance capitalism works. However, even most of us are shocked at revelations about how big data analysis service providers, such as Cambridge Analytica, are delivering results for their clients including powerful wealthy political influencers.

It appears data security and digital privacy protections - from both public and private organisations - need more regulation too. It’s not good enough to just sit back and think “I have nothing to hide” as we watch our civil liberties get eroded away by virtue of Government fear mongering and corporate greed.

Which brings us to the NBN. I don’t want to sound like a broken record here but, if there is any justice in the world, there will be a special role for it to play in passing judgement against those who have orchestrated its demise from a grand nation-building project to an international embarrassment.

Throw in the tens of billions of dollars that have been wasted so far and the tens of billions more that will be required to start again, and this disgrace will be a millstone around the neck of the country that will hold us down for many years to come as the rest of the world advances.

Having seemingly abandoned the flawed Fibre to the Node (FTTN) disaster, NBN has started to roll-out an only slightly less shambolic Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) commitment. At the same time, it is still struggling to come up with a manageable Hybrid Fibre Co-Axial (HFC) configuration that will allow for multiple resellers to offer stable services in competition with each other.

No wonder NBN’s CEO, Bill Morrow is getting out before the job is completed and any more damage is done to his personal brand by having to deliver a dog’s breakfast for privatisation.

So, what does this all mean to IT professionals?

It all represents a hand-brake on the industry in this country. IT graduates in limbo as they look for work and wages stagnation for those who already work in the industry are the symptoms of an unregulated skilled worker visa system.

Loss of trust in the industry can be directly related to big data scandals while constraints on entrepreneurial opportunities and the delivery of essential public services such as health and education are predictable outcomes of below par telecommunications infrastructure.

As an independent body that represents a significant proportion of people who work in the industry, it must be our priority to raise awareness of challenges that are holding back the realisation of what information technology offers to the world.

A strong, vibrant local industry potentially offers so much to this country including jobs, global investment, improvements in government services and bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots.

We all need to become more active in raising awareness of the challenges and working through the solutions. The best way to do that is to put your hand up and say that you want to be part of the change.

That is where ITPA is heading. so get on board.

Upgrade your ITPA membership NOW!

Cheers.
Robert Hudson,
ITPA President
president@itpa.org.au

Vigilance and independent oversight required for Commonwealth’s proposed new “Global Talent Scheme” skilled worker visa system. Comment by Robert Hudson, President, ITPA.

The Download spoke to a phishing countermeasures expert about the nature of evolving digital security threats via unsolicited emails with malicious payloads trying to extract personal or corporate data.

What the Media is talking about

A somewhat irreverent look at some of the media chatter on the IT industry that has been happening over the last month.

Don’t miss our Short Courses!
One of the exciting new services we will be offering as the ITPA is quarterly, free, online Short Courses. The courses will normally be five weeks in duration with four weeks of study followed by an optional assessment in the 5th week.

In most cases, they will be advanced ‘500 level’ courses designed for experienced IT Pros and will be delivered by senior ITPA Members and or third-party industry experts.

ITPA's short courses are the foundation stones of our commitment to professional development an a pathway to Certified Practising Member status, so get keen and get registered.

So far, we are planning to run Short courses on the following:

IP6 Masterclass
Configuration Management
Cisco CCNA v3
Pen Testing Masterclass

If you have ideas for other Short Courses you think will be relevant to skills development for the membership, get in touch with ITPA via: sponsorship@itpa.org.au

Membership Growth:
ITPA is Delivering Value
Since launching in November 2016, ITPA's membership numbers have grown rapidly to now be over 18,000.

As part of our professional development and skills verification agenda ITPA offers an official certification program for practicing members.

In a similar way to which accountants or other professionals need to continue improving and demonstrating their skill sets to retain their accreditation, ITPA offers a Certified Practicing Member (CPM) level of membership.

With the cost of an individual membership only $165 per year, you should really think about making that commitment, getting involved with ITPA and taking advantage of the knowledge sharing and credibility benefits that come with being a member.

For all information on ITPA membership levels, see the dedicated section of the website including specific information about the CPM program

ITPA Advice Forums

One of the most valuable services currently offered to ITPA financial members is the Advice Forums which are hosted on the MyITPA section of the ITPA website. This service offers members the opportunity to engage and share knowledge with other ITPA members through reading and contributing comments on a range of subjects that are industry-based, technical or otherwise of interest to members.
Once logged in, members can start new threads, pose questions, answer questions or just engage in conversation with their industry peers. This peer review ensures that information shared is accurate and up-to-date while the closed nature of the lists means that members can ask questions without fear of reprisal for sharing information in a public domain.
The Forums receive an average of 22 posts per day and this is expected to grow rapidly in line with an expanding number of financial members under the new ITPA umbrella.
Below are some recent topics that have been discussed: