President's Report to Council 14/12/02
Status: Accepted at Council Meeting 021214
Firstly, my apologies for missing the previous Council meeting, but due to my inability to keep my diary in sync with our changing meeting schedules, I was unavoidably double booked.
TUANZ BROADBAND CONFERENCE
I attended the conference in Nelson in early November. Points from the conference:
- Very well attended with most of the significant voices in broadband / telco / ISP / PROBE / IT / Govt sectors in attendance.
- This really, really should have been an InternetNZ initiative, or at the very least, we should have been a major sponsor of the event TUANZ got significant kudos from organising this event, with impeccable timing.
- The InternetNZ NGI presentation was excellent, handled by Neil James, John Hine and Simon Riley and was well received as a concept by those present who understand broadband. Congratulations to Neil, John and Simon, and the NGI team for their work and also for their successes in turning the outcomes of the NGI report into actual commitments from many organisations to a real NGI project.
- The outcomes of the conference have not yet been circulated and while the purpose of the conference was attempting to define the "killer app" for broadband, it is doubtful that the conference got close to the objective.
- This event reinforces the need for InternetNZ to hold a summit - something we really need to start progressing on in the short term.
- This event also reinforces the need for InternetNZ, TUANZ, ITANZ, Computer Society etc, as sibling organisations, to have joint meetings occasionally.
COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS
It appears, with one or two exceptions, that Council's sub committees have settled down and are making solid progress in terms of meeting their objectives. I'd appreciate input and suggestions from Councillors into any refinements in the structure and purpose of the committees and working groups, to assist me in planning for next year.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S DEPARTURE
I would like to add my personal endorsement of the resolution from last Council's meeting: "THAT in the interim, the Council record a huge vote of thanks to Sue as the first staff member of InternetNZ, thanking her for all the work to transform the Society into something almost unrecognisable from when she came onboard, and that Council looks forward to working together over the next few months." and to record my thanks to Sue for her excellent efforts, support and endorsement of the Society over the years. I also believe it appropriate that we should accord Sue our collective best wishes for the future, and extend an invitation for Sue to consider standing for Council at some point in the future, so we do not lose the expertise and information amassed by Sue in the past.
