The event's major sponsors - the Government of South Australia, Australia's incumbent telco Telstra, and EDS - have been working together with the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) to put together a program which covers both the opportunities and threats facing companies throughout the world.
"The idea," Gygar explained, "is to cover the way technology is integrated with the rest of the business community, as well as look at some of the social ramifications of technology, in dealing with issues such the digital divide and how to make sure we all have the opportunity to participate in the technological revolution."
To this extent, the event will begin with a day focussing on the role played by IT within increasingly globalised economies, with a panel looking at ways to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor countries. Day two is set to focus on issues surrounding communication technologies such as wireless, information security, and emerging areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnologies and optics. Day three is set to focus more on how emerging technologies will effect communities and lifestyles, and focus specifically on how certain governments have approached IT development.
However, delegates will be in for more than a talk fest at Adelaide in February 2002. Thanks to a consortium called m.Net North Terrace, the precinct in which the congress is to be held, is to be equipped with state of the art wireless network infrastructure. Running through the heart of Adelaide, the city network will enable delegates to get a taste of the future they are discussing by logging on to the Internet through a high-speed broadband wireless connection.
The installation will consist of a 3G cellular network, supplemented by a high-speed wireless LAN focussing on selected buildings, and while it will enable congress goers to dabble with the latest in 3G technology, it will also leave South Australia well positioned in the race to develop wireless applications.
-While we are focussing on the infrastructure itself, that is ultimately a small part of the larger role of m.Net," said company CEO Andrew Ekiert. -We are providing the necessary backbone to make Adelaide the capital of wireless application development. There are few places where you can find such a wide variety of industries in the one place, so applications developers have the perfect test bed for new developments."
When it comes to representation a full list of speakers is available via the WCIT 2002 Web site. With bookings already rolling in from all parts of the globe including Ghana, Meixco and Taiwan, congress organisers say they are well on the way to signing up the 1700 delegates they expect to attend the event.
In the mean time, on those rare occasions when event organisers get the chance to stop for breath, a whispered reminder is enough to send them back into frenzied activity.
-Sometimes we stop and wonder whether we really want to show Adelaide to the rest of the world," says Noel Browne, project director savouring a drop of South Australia's renown Claire Valley wines. -But then we realise that it is probably time everyone else found out just what we have to offer."
