GAP Congress on Regulatory Affairs 2008
Global and national regulations are changing the way we do business. Each new law has a direct impact on the environment in which a company operates. As industries struggle to comply with the increasing amount of red tape, many see regulation as a threat that reduces profitability, discourages investment and damages competitiveness. The GAP Congress on Regulatory Affairs 2008 will make a case for the benefits that Australian businesses can gain by taking a fresh look at Regulation as an opportunity. It will bring Government, business and industry experts together to discuss how companies can adapt and respond to new regulation by embracing the commercial opportunities it provides.

February 2007
GAP Congress on Wellness & Ageing 2007
Prevention, early detection and management of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes were the focus of the GAP Congress on Wellness & Ageing - "Breaking the Barriers: The role of Government, Industry, Providers & Consumers", held in Parliament House of Victoria on 16 February 2007 in Melbourne. Jointly hosted by Global Access Partners and the Australian National Consultative Committee on Electronic Health, the Congress brought together leading figures from Commonwealth, State and Local Governments, Industry and Academia in an attempt to find solutions to the management and long term funding of chronic disease in an increasingly ageing Australian population. Keynote speakers the Hon. Tony Abbott MP, Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, and the Hon. John Brumby MP, Treasurer of Victoria and Minister for Innovation, contributed to the debate.

The Congress encouraged a holistic patient-centric approach to chronic disease management, examined the role of technology in delivering the quality of care and reviewed existing regulatory barriers and industry policy reforms. A post-Congress report will summarise the conclusions of the Congress and will provide an agenda for the Australian National Consultative Committee on Electronic Health in terms of developing public and commercial solutions and forming a platform for co-operation with Government and businesses.

Sponsorsof the GAP Congress on Wellness & Ageing 2007 were:
• The Victorian Government
• Roche Diagnostics Australia
• Cisco Systems
• Australian Unity
• Intel Australia

The GAP Congress on Wellness & Ageing was held on 15 and 16 February 2007 in Melbourne, Australia.
 

Virtual Opportunity Congress IV on Identity & Access 2006
In December 2006, Global Access Partners and the National Consultative Committee on Security and Risk (NCCSR) hosted Virtual Opportunity Congress IV on the issues of identity management, access, security and privacy in the online environment. The event brought together over 100 delegates from government, banking, finance, health, transport, education, defence, social services and other sectors of the economy where identity management has vital implications.

<< VIRTUAL OPPORTUNITY CONGRESS IV report [PDF 869KB]

The Congress focused on cross-sectoral responsibility in developing systems to curb cyber crime and fraud targeting passwords, pin numbers and computerised finances. It spotlighted notable Federal and State Government identity management initiatives and emphasised the importance of public-private partnerships in addressing online crime. The need for individuals to control access to their own data took centre-stage in the debate.

Virtual Opportunity Congress IV was supported by:
• Australian Government Information Management Office
• Queensland Department of the Premier & Cabinet
• Microsoft Australia
• Symantec
• Baycorp Advantage

Virtual Opportunity Congress IV on Identity & Access was held on 1 December 2006 in Parliament House, Brisbane.

GAP Forum on Commercialising Nanotechnology in Water 2006
The Forum, supported by three major sponsors, Victorian Government, Nanotechnology Victoria and Qantas Airways , was held on 15 and 16 June 2006 at the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development in Melbourne. It featured internationally recognised nanotechnology and water experts. The keynote speakers over the two days of the Forum were Mr Keith Blakely, Chief Executive Officer of NanoDynamics, Inc. - one of the major private sector nanotechnology firms, with important activities in both water and energy nanotechnologies, and Prof John Langford AM, Director of the Melbourne Water Research Centre - a recognised authority and expert in water issues for over 30 years. The Forum sought to identify Australia's most pressing water problems, the nanotechnologies that could address them and aid the development and commercialisation of water nanotechnologies.

<< COMMERCIALISING NANOTECHNOLOGY IN WATER 2006 report [PDF 1MB]

GAP Forum on Leveraging Networks in Business 2006
The GAP Forum on Leveraging Networks in Business was held on 10-11 April 2006 at the NSW Trade and Investment Centre in Sydney. Convened by Global Access Partners in partnership with Qantas Airways, IMS Australia and ICAN Research at UTS, the Forum brought together 62 participants from 47 organisations and featured a host of distinguished speakers including Dr John Finnigan, Director of the CSIRO Centre for Complex Systems Science, the Hon. Sandra Nori MP, NSW Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, and Prof Miguel Centeno, Director of the Princeton Institute for International & Regional Studies at Princeton University. The Forum offered participants a unique opportunity to explore 'small world' economics in the global marketplace and learn about the forces and laws of complex networks.

<< LEVERAGING NETWORKS IN BUSINESS 2006 report [PDF 661KB]

GAP Congress on Knowledge Capital 2005
The Congress on Knowledge Capital, held in Parliament House of Victoria, brought together over one hundred experts and leaders from academia, government, business and not-for-profit sectors to discuss the important issue of managing, measuring and reporting 'intangibles'. Hosted by the Australian Government Consultative Committee on Knowledge Capital (AGCCKC) and Global Access Partners , the Congress focused on how Australian businesses can reinvigorate their knowledge management practices.

<< KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL 2005 report [PDF 1.96MB]

Congress delegates welcomed the formation of the Australian Society for Knowledge Economics, which, through the development and implementation of the 'Australian Guiding Principles on Extended Performance Management', will promote the strategic management of knowledge capital and be a forum for further discussion. The principles summarised in the 'Melbourne Protocol', a petition of support for the activities of the Australian Society for Knowledge Economics, signed by Congress delegates, lay the foundations for identifying and describing intangible assets and their relevance to improving performance.

Partners and sponsors of the GAP Congress on Knowledge Capital were:
• Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)
• Department of Innovation, Industry & Regional Development, Victorian Government
• Westpac Banking Corporation
• Microsoft Australia
• Qantas Airways

The GAP Congress on Knowledge Capital was held on 3 and 4 November 2005 in Melbourne.

Better Health Care Through Electronic Information
Illegible and incomplete hand written medical records may soon become a thing of the past, removed by a comprehensive and accessible national electronic health record system. To support the Australian Government on their way to develop e-Health standards and foster national collaboration, GAP convened a roundtable debate of stakeholders to look at new, preventive models of care and to identify digital technology that enable the safe collection, storage and exchange of consumer information between general practitioners and authorised healthcare providers.

<< BETTER HEALTH CARE THROUGH e-INFORMATION 2004 report [PDF 1.1MB]

The Forum featured Dr Allen Ausford from Canada as a keynote speaker. Dr Ausford has been involved in the design, building and implementation of the Alberta Electronic Health Record - a system that is now expected to be used by almost all health professionals in the province by early 2005. His direct experience in the development and test-driving of the first Canadian EHR gives Dr Ausford a practical understanding of the system, its power, challenges and benefits. <<

Sponsors of the GAP Forum on "Better Health Care Through Electronic Information" were:
• Australian Government Department of Health & Ageing
• IBM Australia
• NSW Department of Health
• Citrix Systems Asia Pacific
• Health Services Association of New South Wales
• Qantas Airways
• TCG Group of Companies

The Forum was coordinated by Global Access Partners (GAP) and took place on 14 & 15 September in Sydney.

GAP Forum on Ecological Sustainability
Sustainable development is a global issue. Driven by the imperative of consumer-led environmental improvement, GAP organised a Forum that looked at "Moving Beyond the Rhetoric" to find "Practical Outcomes in Sustainability for Australian Business & Government".

The Forum brought together Australian suppliers, policy makers and political leaders to address future directions in the Sustainable Built Environment. The participants identified business opportunities and market development issues in this key environmental area, with a particular focus on energy, water, resources and climate change adaptation. The two days of discussion, guided by Bjorn Stigson, President of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development and a renowned expert in the field, were unique, relevant and outcome driven.

<< ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY 2004 report [PDF 996KB]
 
<< PRESS RELEASE [PDF 98KB]

Sponsors of the GAP Forum on Ecological Sustainability were:
• Australian Government Department of the Environment & Heritage
• Department of Environment & Conservation (NSW)
• NSW Department of State & Regional Development
• Green Pacific Energy
• TechComm Simulation
• Insurance Australia Group
• HydroCon Australiasia
• Qantas Airways
• TCG Group

The Forum was organised by Global Access Partners (GAP).

Virtual Opportunity Congress III: "Security & Risk. Challenges & Opportunities"
On 16 and 17 December 2003, GAP brought together a selected group of thought leaders in a unique tri-continental event to address the issues of Security and Risk as engines of global economic activity and policy change.

<< VIRTUAL OPPORTUNITY CONGRESS III report [PDF 2.05MB]

The topic of security and risk has been debated long and hard, but it is always in the context of applying remedies to a retrospective agenda, it is "akin to defusing the bomb after it has exploded" (Peter Fritz, Chair Steering Committee). Virtual Opportunity Congress III proposed to change this dynamic by developing an anticipatory model for security and risk issues - a model which will prepare us to handle new challenges.

This year's Congress was supported by senior world figures in Government, Business and Academia from Australia, Europe and the USA, and was attended by 106 delegates from 70 organisations. Participants discussed the current status of on-line security, perceptions of the virtual world, barriers that stand in the way of developing a culture of security and the cultural and social implications of change.

Sponsors of the Virtual Opportunity Congress III were:
• Cisco Systems Australia
• Deloitte
• Department of Lands, NSW Government
• Microsoft Australia
• National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE)
• Qantas Airways
• Westpac Banking Corporation

The Congress was organised by Global Access Partners (GAP).

GAP Forum on Informatics in Biology & Medicine 2003
The emerging field of informatics in biology and medicine was the focus of this GAP Forum which took place in Melbourne on 4 and 5 December last year. It involved stakeholders from four key stakeholder groups - public research organisations, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms and Government.

<< INFORMATICS IN BIOLOGY & MEDICINE FORUM report [PDF 881KB]

The driving force of the Forum was to generate business for those involved and to build an informatics capability for Australian biological science and health sectors. Unlike many events, which are introspective, this Forum had a multi-disciplined approach to its planning, discussions and outcomes, and aimed to encourage Government, research, industry and the vendor community to develop a strategy to drive a sustainable and value creating life sciences business model in Australia.

The keynote speaker at the Forum was Dr James Edwards, Executive Secretary of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) - the global, intergovernmental organisation devoted to making biodiversity data freely and openly available via the Internet. An international perspective on what is required to drive commercial outcomes at a national level, and an overview of emerging trends in the life sciences industry landscape, were presented by Dr Caroline Kovac, General Manager, IBM Life Science USA.

Sponsors of the GAP Forum on Informatics in Biology & Medicine were:
• Department of Industry, Tourism & Resources, Australian Government
• Department of Innovation, Industry & Regional Development, Government of Victoria
• IBM Life Sciences
• Department of Communications, Information Technology & the Arts
• Telstra Research Laboratories

The Forum was organised by Global Access Partners (GAP).

Australia/Central Europe Entrepreneurial Study Mission
This mission focused on real opportunities for development and expansion of business relationships between the European Union, Central European Countries and Australia, particularly in IT&T, the Environment, infrastructure development and Business Accelerators & Technology Parks.

<< AUSTRALIA/CE ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDY MISSION report [PDF 1.04MB]

Participants met with key officials in the European Commission (Brussels) and attended the opening ceremony of CeBIT, the world's largest exhibition in Hannover. Part of the Mission was the inaugural meeting of the Australia/Central Europe Business Leaders Forum (ACE BLF) in Sopron, Hungary, with participation by a select number of invited senior government and industry leaders and Prime Ministers of Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Romania and the Slovak Republic. A number of tangible outcomes of the ACE BLF included a protocol for a new think tank, a Memorandum of Understanding for a Central European Investment Fund, and plans and agreements for establishing business accelerators in Hungary and Romania.

The Mission took place from 8 to 16 March 2003
Coordinators: Global Access Partners (GAP), Management Frontiers

Vendor Management & Outsourcing Forum 2002
The Forum was held on 4 and 5 November at the NSW Trade & Investment Centre in Sydney, gathering 80 participants from 37 organisations of both public and private sectors. The objective of the event was to gain a better understanding of current issues in outsourcing and progress Australian vendor management practices by developing an ongoing strategy and continuing dialogue with those involved.

<< VENDOR MANAGEMENT & OUTSOURCING 2002 report [PDF 699KB]

The Forum brought to Australia Paul Strassmann, a world expert and renowned author on the subject of vendor management and outsourcing. Mr Strassmann guided each session, presenting his last work "Justification of investments in IT in an era of scarce funding".

The major outcome of the Vendor Management & Outsourcing Forum was the creation of the Australian Government Consultative Committee on Knowledge Capital (AGCCKC) . Knowledge Capital is the concept developed by Paul Strassmann and others that provides the tool enabling the valuation of the knowledge capital of a business, i.e. the value of the knowledge of employees to that business. The AGCCKC comprises public and private interests, and aims to have Knowledge Capital recognised, and to develop reporting standards, which would be universally accepted and implemented as part of normal financial reporting by government and private enterprise.

The Forum was organised by Global Access Partners (GAP)