ITP Techblog

Kia ora koutou ITP members and supporters, welcome to news in brief. I am keeping half an eye on Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral as I write this post tonight. I marvel at the notion of live streaming, video calling, being able to meet in real time using technology connecting people all over the world - so cool it’s something we can so easily consume everyday like power and water, well most of us. 

Which reminds me to share a great resource the DECA community has created for candidates running in the upcoming local body election - but really useful for all of us to be fair - explaining what Digital Equity is, how local government is well placed to help communities, how existing services focused on closing the digital divide are under-funded, oversubscribed and under threat. Digital equity is so necessary for us as a nation, to grow our economy, and for us as an industry to help us grow our sector as well. Check it out, there are some other great resources coming from the Digital Equity Coalition Aotearoa very soon.

Finally, I wanted to thank everyone for your kind words and great advice for getting through Covid! I worked my first full day in 2 weeks today and it feels like a massive milestone worth celebrating. Next week is Mental Health Awareness Week and I love the theme this year - Reconnect with the people and places that uplift you.

Mā te whakarongo, ka mōhio
, through listening, comes knowledge
Mā te mōhio, ka mārama,
 through knowledge, comes understanding
Mā te mārama, ka matau,
 through understanding, comes wisdom
Mā te matau, ka ora
, through wisdom, comes wellbeing

Mā te wā, Vic 

From Yesterday to Tomorrow History of ITP - reading summary

Over the course of the last few months I have shared snippets into 15 chapters of insights into amazing stories, history and experiences shared by fabulous leaders of our community. 
In preface to these chapters its additional worth reading the introduction and forward from our current President Anthony Downing and former CEO Paul Matthews. 
Ants and Paul walk us through an overview of 60 years in technology in Aotearoa NZ, how ITP was formed as the Computer Society - the oldest tech body in the country - and evolution of ITP through it’s first 60 years of existence. 

In case you missed them here are the chapters of the book, thank you to all of the wonderful contributors who have shared their experience and insights with us: 

1. The clandestine computer on The Terrace by Brian E Carpenter
2. Telecommunications infrastructure: Entering the fibre era by Bill Bennett
3. Primary, secondary and tertiary computing education in Aotearoa New Zealand by Professor Tim Bell
4. A new environment for digital start-ups by Chris Gardner
5. A history of digital accessibility in Aotearoa by Chandra Harrison
6. Speed and stability: Redefining IT with DevOps by BMK Lakshminarayan
7. The future of testing? Challenges in application automation testing by Adesh Pernekar
8. Indian IT professionals in New Zealand by Sunit Prakash & Lalita Kasanji
9. 60 years of cybersecurity in New Zealand by Andy Prow
10. Advances in Agile software development by Diane Strode
11. Fragments of the Real Me: National identity in New Zealand by Richard Williams
12. Challenging technologies: Perspectives from the Privacy Commissioner by John Edwards & Lauren Bennett
13. Te Hīkoi Roa: A journey of Māori towards information technology mastery by Robyn Kāmira
14. Re-connecting the public service: Openness and data sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic by Jon MacKay
15. Making New Zealand’s cities smarter by Mark Thomas

Student Member event

If you are a student (ITP Member or not) there is a great event coming up this week (22nd) A Day in the Life of three experienced, impactful digital technology industry leaders. Hear their experiences, how they got there and what it has taken to be successful in their careers. 
Register here for this event.

Quick reading links

The new iPhone 14 announcement didn’t land as well as it might have from NZHerald

Although iOS 16 gave us the ability to edit or delete text messages from the Sydney morning Herald

Gartner, says many disruptions that seem futuristic may be closer than we think from Future Five

New Zealanders love digital payment platforms from Scoop

VR and the future of Theme Parks from The Guardian

The flight that took the Queen’s coffin to London was the most tracked in history from the BBC

New glow in the dark Australian road paint goes viral from News.com.au

108 Excel tips every user should master from TechRepublic

Teenager partitions parliament to make captions mandatory from Stuff