Technology

From the historic streets of Bathurst to the outback city of Broken Hill, people across regional NSW will be empowered with knowledge about how to keep their identity secure as ID Support NSW visits eight regional communities from 30 May until 28 June. Following a successful roadshow along the Northern NSW coast last year which saw more than 400 people attend, ID Support NSW is engaging more communities to help improve their identity, privacy, and cyber security awareness.

A Charles Sturt University researcher has developed a mobile phone app that provides information about NSW river levels in a 50-kilometre radius from the user. The ‘RiversNearMe’ app was developed by Dr Darren Yates, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Charles Sturt School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering and in the Charles Sturt Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment.

The state’s peak agricultural body says mandatory electronic identification tags for sheep should cost no more than $1 per tag, setting a clear target for state and federal governments ... farmers were still worried about how much the scheme might cost their businesses, and made it clear there must be financial support to implement traceability reform.

A new technology has been made available to Australian farmers to help reduce the risk of stock theft ... James and Bec learned about the tags at a gathering organised by another victim of stock theft, Kevin Butler.

A group of the United Kingdom’s most influential business figures were presented insights into South Australia’s growing global investment opportunities at a premier industry event in London recently ... The event highlighted the State’s economic priorities to some of the UK’s most influential business figures, focusing on key initiatives such as renewable energy, food and wine, digital skills, space and defence.

Ulladulla local David Doyle returned to study at TAFE NSW after almost 30 years to improve his literacy skills and switch his career from property development to mental health counselling. Last year’s Adult Literacy Inquiry finding almost half of Australians are living with literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy gaps which limit their life choices.

As Australia looks towards exploring new export markets, the MENA region presents a wealth of trading and investment potential for Australian regional businesses ... This inaugural event on 4 May 2023 will be co-hosted by the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Regional Development Australia in Central Coast, with a guest speaker and participants joining from the MENA region and Australia.

Pastoralists and land managers can have complete confidence the information they record about wild dog activity, control and livestock attacks entered on FeralScan® (including WildDogScan®) is kept confidential and managed securely.

The uptake of genomic technology among the commercial beef industry is on the rise as producers understand the power of taking their breeding decisions to the next level. Neogen Australasia NSW Genomics Territory Manager Hannah Powe said the utilisation of genotyping had exceeded expectations with 79 per cent of Angus bulls listed in catalogues in 2022 carrying genomic predictions...

If Australia is to continue to grow its economy and increase individual prosperity, productivity policy should focus on key emerging trends like the shift towards service industries, according to the final report of the Productivity Commission’s 5-year Productivity Inquiry ... “Concentrating on five key themes can make a real difference”: Productivity Commission Chair, Michael Brennan.

Geoscience Australia Geophysical Survey Using magneto telluric (MT) technology ... the program is about contributing to a sustainable, long-term future for Australia through an improved understanding of the nation’s groundwater, mineral and energy resource potential.

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has launched an online, web-based greenhouse gas (GHG) calculator based on the Sheep and Beef Greenhouse Accounting Framework (SB-GAF) tool for Australian sheep and beef producers. The digitised version of the SB-GAF tool is based off the freely available excel version of the tool available on the Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre (PICCC) website to ensure consistency across the sector.

The latest in cutting edge agritech is catering to a tiny but mighty important customer – bees. US-based company, Beewise brought the world’s first robotic beehive to Australia for the first time, unveiling it at evokeAG 2023.

A Charles Sturt University academic has led multiple research projects that have produced new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that will save lives, homes and livelihoods by reducing bushfires. The research was conducted between 2018 and 2022 and can assist in fire management and reduction, including disaster management for a range of natural disasters and events related to climate change.

A safety tracking and alert solution developed by a northeast Victorian agtech start-up is giving farming families peace of mind, whilst protecting loved ones and their assets. Brothers James and Paul Diamond, of Mansfield, operate AirAgri and have launched a mobile app which works in conjunction with a pocket-sized iOT (Internet of Things) tracking device.

SwarmFarm Robotics announced it has raised a $12 million AUD Series A ($8.3 million USD) to develop and grow the Integrated Autonomy category in agriculture through the versatile SwarmBot platform and a breakthrough operating system network, SwarmConnect, that enables developers to create an array of innovative applications for users of the autonomous platform ... The team at SwarmFarm defines Integrated Autonomy as a new approach to autonomy on-farm that unlocks the full potential of driverless technology by providing specialty robotics solutions with an open platform to develop on.

Allora man Ken was all smiles after being the first patient to receive a diagnostic angiogram at the Toowoomba Hospital earlier this month ... A coronary angiogram uses x-ray imaging and contrast dye to diagnose heart artery blockages.

Queensland Police is preparing to launch two new high-tech Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) in the state’s north as part of ongoing trials in assisting frontline officers. The advanced Teledyne FLIR SkyRanger R70, used by militaries across the globe, has joined the QPS fleet and is undergoing testing ahead of its deployment to Townsville and Cairns.

The innovative use of drone technology combined with coding software is helping to improve the accuracy of waterbird monitoring across the Murray–Darling Basin ... "Collecting accurate data about waterbird numbers is vital to building our scientific knowledge and assessing the impacts of the Basin Plan": MDBA’s General Manager of Applied Science, Dr Matthew Coleman.

Candidates for Clarence in the upcoming state election have expressed their disappointment in the NSW Electoral Commissions decision to scrap the iVote online voting system. Launched in 2011 by the Labor party, iVote provided eligible voters with the opportunity to cast their vote online or over the telephone in state elections and more recently local government elections.