Good morning, hope you had a lovely weekend. One quick tech news briefing before we get another day off – let’s jump straight in.
1. Scam-busting tech gets some of the Budget
Ahead of the Federal Budget next month, the government has announced that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will receive more than $10 million over four years to launch and maintain an Australian SMS sender ID Registry. The Registry will help prevent scammers from imitating industry or government brand names (such as Linkt or myGov) – in text message headers. The Registry will sit alongside the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC), a partnership, first talked about back in 2021 that’s aimed at disrupting and stopping scammers in Australia.
2. A win for Tesla
Over to Reuters and it appears a California state court jury handed Tesla a sweeping win, finding the electric vehicle maker’s Autopilot feature did not fail in what appeared to be the first trial related to a crash involving the partially automated driving software. Per the report, Tesla has been testing and rolling out its Autopilot and more advanced “Full Self-Driving (FSD)” system, which boss Elon Musk has touted as crucial to his company’s future but which has drawn regulatory and legal scrutiny.
3. NBN Co looks to wind as a backup
The company responsible for rolling out the National Broadband Network is looking to harness wind power during emergencies. In an announcement, NBN Co said early results from a trial underway indicate the potential for using wind power to help communities and emergency services stay connected to the NBN network. The proof-of-concept trial began in January, using three micro wind turbines to assess the use of wind as an alternative renewable energy solution to help extend the battery life of NBN’s temporary
network infrastructure in an environmentally sustainable way.
4. Bard can now code
Google has updated its Bard AI with the ability to help with programming and software development tasks, across more than 20 programming languages. In addition to code generation, Google said in a blog post that Bard can also explain snippets of code. “Bard is still an early experiment, and may sometimes provide inaccurate, misleading or false information while presenting it confidently. When it comes to coding, Bard may give you working code that doesn’t produce the expected output, or provide you with code that is not optimal or incomplete. Always double-check Bard’s responses and carefully test and review code for errors, bugs and vulnerabilities before relying on it,” Google adds.
5. Women alienated from STEM careers
Women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and maths are still fighting an uphill battle in Australian workplaces, despite a spike in girls studying STEM subjects in schools and universities, new report released by the University of South Australia says. The report details a lengthy list of obstacles that women and non-binary people face in the STEM workforce, including: An unsupportive or hostile work culture, entrenched, pervasive attitudes that associate STEM careers with only men unconscious bias perpetuating gender stereotypes, and a lack of female role models in senior leadership positions. It’s up to all of us to do better.
BONUS ITEM: Something to be mindful of ahead of tomorrow.
We’ll see you Wednesday.