Obama Digital ‘Kingmaker’ Addresses Local University CIOs Through AARNet
Sydney,
AUSTRALIA – 17 February 2009 – US digital communications guru and Barack
Obama technology director, Ben Self, addressed university CIOs from around
Australia and New Zealand at the Australia's Academic and Research Network
(AARNet) Ozeconference.
On
his visit to Australia as a special guest of the Internet Industry Association
(IIA), Ben Self outlined the power of social media channels such as YouTube,
Facebook and email in driving participation and feedback from local communities
and grassroots organisations during the recent US Presidential
campaign.
Ben
Self is founding Partner and Program Director of Blue State Digital (BSD).
Through Blue State Digital (BSD) Ben has helped empower the online presence of
the largest and most prominent Democratic candidates. During the 2008 election
cycle, Ben served as the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Technology Director
for Senator Barack Obama, where he supervised the technology projects of the
national party —focusing specifically on the website, computer infrastructure,
compliance software, and a national voter file
database.
Chris
Hancock, CEO of AARNet said, “The AARNet Ozeconference allows participants to
collaborate and discuss the strategic direction and application of emerging
Internet technologies and the transformative impact they may have for
Australia’s Research and Education sector. We are delighted that Ben has been
able to share his knowledge and experience with our local university
CIOs.”
The
Ozeconference is a series of video conferencing events which connects
participants and enables them to discuss a broad range of ICT, network
applications and service issues and developments.
Ben
Self’s address was broadcast in High Definition live over the Internet on
AARNet’s network to a record number of CIOs at 21 universities across Australia
and New Zealand. Participating universities included
:
·
Auckland
University
·
Australian Institute of Marine
Science
·
Australian National
University
·
Central Queensland
University
·
Curtin University
·
Edith Cowan
University
·
Flinders
University
·
Griffith
University
·
La Trobe
University
·
Lincoln
University
·
Murdoch
University
·
Queensland University of
Technology
·
RMIT
University
·
Southern Cross
University
·
University of
Queensland
·
University of
Sydney
·
University of
Tasmania
·
University of Technology
Sydney
·
University of the Sunshine
Coast
·
University of Western Sydney
·
University of Wollongong
The
Ozeconference is run on AARNet’s National Video Conferencing Service, a standard
and high definition video conferencing service for AARNet members who have
access to a pool of Codian Multipoint Conferencing Units (MCU) for audio and
video conference calls over both IP and ISDN networks. The dedicated AARNet MCUs
support up to 60 available ports (video conferencing endpoints) and a customised
web booking engine works with other member resources to provide even further
capacity when it is most needed. Other features
include:
·
Live streaming video for
participants who wish to view the conference from a web browser
·
Real time transcoding and rate
matching of video conferences from standard to high
definition
·
ISDN Video conferencing multipoint
bridging for mixed ISDN/IP environments
·
Content inclusion using H239
standards for PowerPoint or VNC screen sharing
sessions
·
Recording and archival of video
conferences allowing playback of content at a later
date
- ENDS
-
About
AARNet
AARNet Pty Ltd
(APL) is the company that operates Australia's Academic and Research Network
(AARNet). It is a not-for-profit company limited by shares. The shareholders are
37 Australian universities and the CSIRO. AARNet provides high-capacity leading
edge Internet services for the tertiary education and research sector
communities and their research partners. AARNet serves more than one million end
users who access the network through local area networks at member institutions.
For further information, please visit: www.aarnet.edu.au.
For
further information, please contact:
Gabriel
Wong
Max
Australia
(02) 9954
3492
gabriel.wong@maxaustralia.com.au
