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Hotwire Headlines #2

From Australia: The latest in tech and innovation.

In recent news, the tech industry responds to Australia’s 2020-2021 Federal Budget, the AFR reveals its 10 most innovative technology companies, and the NSW government has been criticised for failing to provide adequate cybersecurity.

Winners and losers from budget 2020-1

In Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s 2020-2021 Federal Budget, business comes out a major winner in multiple areas including R&D, retraining and up-skilling employees, and employment incentives. On the flip side, some sectors emerged as ‘losers’, including the big banks, JobSeekers, and future generations.

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Federal budget 2020: Praise for digital economy focus

Australia’s technology industry welcomed the federal budget’s focus on the digital economy which saw millions of dollars in fresh funding for cybersecurity and STEM skills training, as well as extra support for the R&D tax incentive scheme.

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‘Once they see your grey hair, that’s it’: How the federal budget ignored women

The downside of this year’s budget was the lack of focus and support for women, particularly those aged over 35. University of NSW professor of economics Richard Holden said it was “striking there was so little in the budget for women.”

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All the tech in the 2020 federal budget

Millions of dollars’ flows into IT with government agencies securing funding for a range of projects in this year’s pandemic-dominated federal budget. The biggest tech boost was a half a billion-dollar investment for Services Australia to complete its massive Centrelink IT overhaul, which began more than five years ago.

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Budget reply: Anthony Albanese targets women, families and workers

In his first budget-in-reply speech as Opposition Leader, Mr Albanese unveiled a $26.7bn pre-election manifesto targeting women, families and blue-collar workers. His stance positions the Labor party as the champions of female workforce participation through a $6.2bn childcare plan aimed at getting mums back to work.

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The 10 most innovative technology companies

The Australian Financial Review BOSS Most Innovative Companies list recognises the most innovative organisations in Australia and New Zealand, and the top 10 innovations in the technology category has been unveiled. Split Payments took out the top spot for its Instant Account Verification innovation.

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NSW govt blasted for failing councils on cyber security

Local Government NSW has criticised Australia’s state government for failing to provide councils with adequate support to address increasing cybersecurity threats. The peak body said there had been a “complete lack” of support for IT security in recent years, despite the sector providing vital infrastructure.

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ATO wants an enterprise-wide BI platform to democratise its data

The Australian Taxation Office is set to introduce a new enterprise-wide business intelligence visualisation platform with the aim of democratising its vast data holdings for 20,000 staff. The rationale behind the upgrade came after the impact of both the pandemic and Black Summer bushfires led to shortcomings in effective access and use of data.

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