Newsletter Volume 31 Issue 9, Sep 2019
From The Editor
“The general prescription is that the government needs to better coordinate all arms of national power to compete in the grey zone, or left of boom..”
The above quote is from an 11 Sep 2019 article by Ewen Levick in The Strategist, which is the commentary and analysis site of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), an independent, non-partisan think tank based in Canberra. “Left of boom” is the military term for the period when you still have time to prepare for and to avert a crisis. See below The way we think about national security needs to change
“Rather than the large, printed book of the past, we’ve moved the majority of the analysis online, so users can explore in a more flexible, intuitive way. We’ve also restructured the content to ensure we’re always putting people and their experiences at the centre of the data.” This quote is from a September 12, 2019 LinkedIn publication by Barry Sandison, CEO, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, who also notes that “ For those who want an overview of the latest findings in one place, we have summarised the data in Australia’s welfare 2019: in brief.”. See below, Celebrating Australia’s welfare 2019—and a year of achievements.
“Australia, like many other countries, is grappling with the problem of how to keep good teachers in schools, especially those who are early in their careers.Accurate data on the attrition are not available, but it’s estimated up to 50% of teachers leave the profession within five years of graduating. This quote is from September 9, 2019 compilation of international research, published in The Conversation. The authors have also written a book, Attracting and Keeping the Best Teachers, The article in The Conversation outlines the costs “in terms of the social, emotional, economic and (potentially) geographic dislocation”. See below, Fewer casual positions and less out-of-hours work could help retain early career teachers.
“A new material could aid in the development of extremely energy efficient IT applications. The electrons at the oxide interface of the material possess special properties which drastically increase the conversion rate of spin current to charge current. The material is more efficient than any previously investigated material.” This quote is from a September 9, 2019 ScienceDaily article by Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), which gives a short, interesting account of a recent breakthrough in Spintronics. See below, Spintronics: Physicists discover new material for highly efficient data processing.
Current Issue
Articles in the current Issue cover:
The way we think about national security needs to change
“The analysis must go beyond purely military concerns to include social and economic factors that could affect Australia’s ability to fight a future war.”
Celebrating Australia’s welfare 2019—and a year of achievements
“An important part of adding value to our data is to look outwards, which is why I’m pleased to share a new product, Australia’s welfare 2019: data insights. This report brings together the insights of a range of subject experts, who can provide new, in-depth perspectives into the issues behind the data..”
Fewer casual positions and less out-of-hours work could help retain early career teachers
“ This issue is becoming more serious in Australia because we are experiencing early signs of a teacher supply problem. For example, fewer people are being attracted to a career in teaching. There are growing shortages of teachers in specific subject areas such as mathematics and science. There is also an increasing difficulty in recruiting teachers to schools in rural and remote regions, or in communities facing significant social and economic challenges…”
Spintronics: Physicists discover new material for highly efficient data processing
“The idea behind spintronics is: If spin current flows through a material instead of an electrical charge, no heat is generated and significantly less energy is lost in the device.” “However, this approach still requires an electric current for the device to work. Therefore, an efficient spin-to-charge conversion is necessary for this novel technology to work,”
QESP Blog
A Walk on the Widdle Side?
(QESP Editor’s Note: Alert for pet owners, particularly dog owners! The ACT is following a growing international view that pets should be recognised as “sentient beings” and has passed tough new animal welfare laws which will come into effect in six months. Also, a July 18, 2019 article in The Conversation shows why and how dog owners could help to control dingoes in a humane yet cost effective way. See Dog owners could take the lead on dingo conservation with a ‘Fido fund’ For cat owners, new research shows that “Despite apparent aloofness, cats are social creatures capable of relationships with people.”)
Events
Consensus Software Awards
World’s Most Successful Awards
2019 Awards Presentations
The second round of 2019 Consensus Software Awards will be presented at the end of October. There are now 9 Awards Programs with new ones for FinTech, Blockchain, Agriculture, Education and Cognitive. See www.consensus.com.au
If you would like to receive further information, please email.
Quotes
Quote of the Day
Animals have come to mean so much in our lives. We live in a fragmented and disconnected culture. Politics are ugly, religion is struggling, technology is stressful, and the economy is unfortunate. What’s one thing that we have in our lives that we can depend on? A dog or a cat loving us unconditionally, every day, very faithfully. – Jon Katz
Quote from Yesteryear
“Comforts that were rare among our forefathers are now multiplied in factories and handed out wholesale; and indeed, nobody nowadays, so long as he is content to go without air, space, quiet, decency and good manners, need be without anything whatever that he wants; or at least a reasonably cheap imitation of it.” – G K Chesterton Commonwealth, 1933
Ted Smillie
QESP Chair