CHEMISTRY

CSIRO today welcomed the announcement of the allocation of $15m for the establishment of an ICT Centre in Tasmania as part of the reallocation of remaining funds from the Australian Government Intelligent Island program. CSIRO will invest an additional $15m in the Centre and will develop a research program in consultation with the Tasmanian ICT industry. Dr Alex Zelinsky, Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre, says that work would commence immediately on a detailed proposal for the new Centre so that a final decision on its funding can be made by February 2006. "We are looking forward to working very closely with DCITA, the Tasmanian Department of Economic Development, and the Tasmanian ICT industry to develop a research program that will support the growth of new industries and deliver the enabling power of ICT to existing Tasmanian industries," says Dr Zelinsky. "Tasmanian industry will benefit not just from CSIRO's ICT research expertise, but from access to the full range of CSIRO capabilities and commercial opportunities from our intellectual property." Part of CSIRO's proposal involves developing an ultra-high speed network as an enhancement of the Tasmanian fibre network. CSIRO will also aim to forge closer links with Tasmanian universities to promote opportunities for PhDs and post-doctoral research in the new Centre.