A few days ago, I had the privilege of being invited to attend a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Internet in Australia. The event was held in Sydney and was organised by Peter Coroneos, the former CEO of the Internet industry association, and was supported by the “who’s who” of the Australian Internet industry.
As a former director of the association it was great catching up with past colleagues and journeying down memory lane together as we recounted how the Internet has transformed our lives. For the first time in Australia’s history we were no longer isolated by our geography as the Internet brought us within one hundred milliseconds of everywhere in the world.
I chatted with a director of the association who is now running a university business incubator program. He asked me what he should say to the budding entrepreneurs under his charge. I said to him, “Get them overseas as fast as possible and open their eyes to the fact that Australia is no longer geographically isolated.”
Amongst many other things, the speech made by Paul Fletcher, who is the Minister of Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, picked up on the point that Australians had embraced the global marketplace. They had done this not only as consumers but also from businesses investing in reaching overseas markets via the Internet. So watch out world, here us Aussies come!
Paul Fletcher - Ministry for Communications, CyberSafety and the Arts
During the evening, many industry luminaries were highlighted for their efforts, either as entrepreneurs, technical experts or from a policy perspective. It was also sad to hear of the passing of others who had contributed so much to not just the Australian Internet industry but played valuable roles on the global stage.
Wherever you are in the world, the Internet didn’t just happen. It was built upon the sweat and toil of visionaries who believed that connecting the world together would make it a better place. I think that in many respects these individuals would be proud of how they contributed to what is still unfolding.
Peter Coroneos - former CEO of the IIA
Does the global Internet have problems with cyber-crime, privacy and net neutrality (to name a few issues)? Yes…..but I’m confident that there are people like the group that I was with the other evening that believe in the Internet being a force for the good of humanity.
I would like to highlight the work of Peter Coroneos. Despite being involved in many other projects it was through his tireless efforts that the event I attended was so successfully supported. He has been an incredible force for the positive declaration of the Internet in Australia and should be honoured appropriately.
I would also like thank my wonderful wife who supported me for the many years I was on the board of the association. During this time, I had the privilege of working with both the industry and government to develop policies around online privacy, advertising industry standards, streaming and cybercrime to name a few. Being part of a the association was a wonderful and exhilerating time in my life. Thank you to one and all.
Have a great weekend!
Michael