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Objective: The current international trend is to create large datasets with existing data and/or deposit newly collected data into repositories accessible to the scientific community. These practices lead to more efficient data sharing, better detection of small effects, modelling of confounders, establishment of sample generalizability and identification of differences between any given disorders. In Australia, to facilitate such data-sharing and collaborative opportunities, the Neurobiology in Youth Mental Health Partnership was created. This initiative brings together specialised researchers from around Australia to work towards a better understanding of the cross-diagnostic neurobiology of youth mental health and the translation of this knowledge into clinical practice. One of the mandates of the partnership was to develop a protocol for harmonised prospective collection of data across research centres in the field of youth mental health in order to create large datasets. Methods: Four key research modalities were identified: clinical assessments, brain imaging, neurocognitive assessment and collection of blood samples. This paper presents the consensus set of assessments/data collection that has been selected by experts in each domain. Conclusion: The use of this core set of data will facilitate the pooling of psychopathological and neurobiological data into large datasets allowing researchers to tackle important questions requiring very large numbers. The aspiration of this transdiagnostic approach is a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying mental illnesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual Australia is not a well-defined or agreed concept. This discussion paper conceptualises Virtual Australia as a 'virtual [digital] model containing and representing all non-trivial objects and their contextual environment - from blue sky to bedrock - in real world Australia'. It describes a scenario for Virtual Australia, one or two decades from now, in which the locations and conditions of non-trivial objects and their environment are updated automatically through a combination of remote sensing and wireless communication technologies in support of a 'Supranet'. It then examines the concept of the 'Supranet' - a pervasive information network based largely on wireless technology linking the physical world to a virtual model in real time - and develops and discusses three principal characteristics of the Supranet: the ability to have or collect specific information (know); the ability to process information (think); and the ability to communicate that information. If, in the near future, any or all non-trivial devices are to some extent able to know, think and communicate, the potential for object autonomy will be realised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and deployment of technologies for delivering broadband services to homes in Australia are investigated using the ‘social shaping of technology’ (SST) approach. The focus is on the period from 1993 to 1998 when there were five main technological options for delivering residential broadband services: ‘hybrid’ fibre coaxial (HFC) cable; direct broadcast satellite (DBS); multipoint microwave distribution systems (MDS); ‘Integrated Services Digital Network’ (ISDN); and ‘Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line’ (ADSL). The main broadband services planned for delivery to homes over this period were pay television and fast Internet access. A sequence of snapshots of sociotechnical relationships at critical times during the study period, termed ‘sociotechnological configurations’, is used to track the evolutionary pathway of the broadband technologies. The mapping technique assists in identifying key features and explaining the driving factors of the pathway, including why HFC cable emerged as the predominant technology, and two competing HFC cable networks were rolled out in capital cities at an additional cost of over $2 billion when a single network would have had ample capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a research paper for Silicon Luddite studio, a studio case for utilising digital media by Sue Anne Ware, a senior lecturer in landscape architecture at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University in Australia. The central aim of the studio is to liberate students from conventional landscape representation techniques. The studio also positioned representation as a generative, form-giving device. It also explored and tested student design work in virtual space using an array of current software available in RMIT Faculty and commonly available computer hardware. Moreover, the studio began by exploring the potential of virtual technologies to enhance representation strategies and spatial inquiries through the use of digital media.

The existing paradigms governing the management of personal data glo-bally are under pressure from rapid technological and social change. This article examines recent proposals for modernizing information privacy law in the USA the European Union, Australia and New Zealand. It finds significant areas of commonality and critically explores points of differ-ence, notably innovations such as the de-coupling of previously linked privacy principles, dichotomies between consumer-facing companies and third parties and new rights such as the right to be forgotten and to erasure, the right to data portability, privacy by design and default and privacy impact assessment. The article argues that the proposals ought to draw on each other's strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operation in a bistatic configuration not only offers various advantages over its now well-established monostatic counterpart but also poses various challenges. As part of a research programme into the potential benefits and challenges of bistatic SAR, the Ingara fully polarimetric X-band airborne imaging radar system, developed and operated by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation, was upgraded to conduct experimental SAR data collections in a bistatic geometry. Initial trials of the new bistatic SAR system were conducted between December 2007 and April 2008: these involved operation of the existing airborne radar in a fine-resolution (600 MHz bandwidth) circular spotlight-SAR mode, in conjunction with a newly developed fully polarimetric stationary ground-based bistatic receiver. These experimental trials produced a set of fully polarimetric simultaneously collected monostatic and bistatic SAR data, collected over a wide range of bistatic angles. Results from a preliminary analysis of the data have been encouraging: focussed fine-resolution imagery has been obtained, indicating the successful maintenance of synchronisation and phase stability between the independent airborne and ground-based systems. Furthermore, interferometric coherence has been demonstrated between single-pass simultaneously collected monostatic and bistatic images from the airborne and ground-based receivers, and between repeat-pass bistatic images from the ground-based receiver collected some 100 min apart. This study gives an overview of the Ingara bistatic SAR system, discusses the experiments and data processing and presents initial experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practices in seven key areas from requirements engineering (RE) good practice guide are examined via in-depth interviews with ten Australian software development organisations. Our objective is to provide a better understanding of the relative perceived value of the RE practices investigated and to provide an initial assessment of the appropriateness of Sommerville and Sawyer's three classification levels. We used in-depth interviews as our main approach to collecting data. We assessed practices as either standardised use, normal use, used at the discretion of project manager or never used. We found that the single most standardised, or valuable, practice for 1) documentation, was making a business case of a project, for 2) elicitation, it was assessing system feasibility, 3) for analysis and negotiation, it was defining system boundaries, 4) for requirements description, it was to specify requirements quantitatively and to define standard templates for requirements, 5) for system modelling, it was to use a data dictionary, 6) for validation, it was to propose test cases, and 7) for management, it was to define a change management process. We suggest Sommerville and Sawyer's classification of basic, intermediate and advanced practices needs some reconsideration to bring his list into alignment with current industry practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: 'Good animal welfare' has evolved in recent decades to recognise behavioural, physiological and health factors, acknowledging that an animal may have good clinical health and be productive, though their welfare may be poor. The five freedoms and domains of animal welfare provide internationally recognised frameworks against which to evaluate practices to shape evidence-based standards which recognise both the physical and mental health needs of animals to provide a balanced view of an animal's ability to cope in its environment. Whilst there are many techniques to measure animal welfare, the challenge lies with how best to align these with future changes in definitions and expectations, advances in science, legislative requirements and technology improvements. Substantial literature discusses the use of technology for improving animal monitoring, management and productivity on and off farm, though little has been published in relation to using such technologies to support legislative compliance and drive overall improvements in animal welfare. This article discusses the current legislation around animal welfare (with a focus on the Australian red meat sector); the impact of public expectation of welfare standards and production practices; and the current and future opportunity for on-animal sensors to support animal welfare, monitoring, management and compliance. The five freedoms and, more recently, the five domains of animal welfare provide internationally recognised frameworks to evaluate animal welfare practices which recognise both the physical and mental wellbeing needs of animals, providing a balanced view of their ability to cope in their environment. Whilst there are many techniques to measure animal welfare, the challenge lies with how best to align these with future changes in definitions and expectations, advances in science, legislative requirements, and technology improvements. Furthermore, enforcement of current animal welfare legislation in relation to livestock in Australia and the reliance on self-audits for accreditation schemes, challenges our ability to objectively measure animal welfare. On-animal sensors have enormous potential to address animal welfare concerns and assist with legislative compliance, through continuous measurement and monitoring of an animal's behavioural state and location being reflective of their wellbeing. As reliable animal welfare measures evolve and the cost of on-animal sensors reduce, technology adoption will increase as the benefits across the supply chain are realised. Future adoption of on-animal sensors by producers will primarily depend on a value proposition for their business being clear; algorithm development to ensure measures are valid and reliable; increases in producer knowledge, willingness, and trust in data governance; and improvements in data transmission and connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical analytics is a rapidly developing area of informatics and knowledge mobilisation which has huge potential to improve healthcare in the future. It is widely acknowledged to be a powerful mediator of clinical decision making, patient-centred care and organisational learning. As a result, healthcare systems require a strategic foundation for clinical analytics that is sufficiently directional to support meaningful change while flexible enough to allow for iteration and responsiveness to context as change occurs.Methods: In New South Wales, the most populous state in Australia, the Clinical Analytics Working Group was charged with developing a five-year vision for the public health system. A modified Delphi process was undertaken to elicit expert views and to reach a consensus. The process included a combination of face-to-face workshops, traditional Delphi voting via email, and innovative, real-time iteration between text re-formulation and voting until consensus was reached. The six stage process engaged 35 experts - practising clinicians, patients and consumers, managers, policymakers, data scientists and academics.Results: The process resulted in the production of 135 ideas that were subsequently synthesised into 23 agreed statements and encapsulated in a single page (456 word) narrative.Conclusion: The visioning process highlighted three key perspectives (clinicians, patients and managers) and the need for synchronous (during the clinical encounter) and asynchronous (outside the clinical encounter) clinical decision support and reflective practice tools; the use of new and multiple data sources and communication formats; and the role of research and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]