Dr Scott Hollier talks affordable access at ACCAN 2015 National Conference

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Tuesday, 25 August 2015 10:24am

Media Access Australia’s Dr Scott Hollier will be presenting at next week’s Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) National Conference, Dollars and Bytes: Communications affordability now and tomorrow.

ACCAN Dollars and Bytes: Communications affordability now and tomorrow. National Conference: 1st & 2nd Sept 2015

The core focus of this year’s conference, which will be held on 1-2 September 2015 at the Aerial UTS Function Centre in Sydney, is affordability and its implications for all consumers—from young people to families, people with disabilities and seniors.

Dr Hollier will be presenting on Wednesday, discussing the topic Communications Affordability, the Way Forward. This session brings together thought leaders and experts in telecommunications, financial counsellors and educational institutions to propose new and innovative solutions to remove affordability barriers to consumers in accessing telecommunications. Australia's leading telecommunication providers will also have an opportunity to outline their plans for closing the affordability gap now and into the future.

Having recently secured an ACCAN grant for an affordable access project, Dr Hollier will be speaking about the need to consider how affordability interacts with accessibility across the mobile and tablet space.

He will discuss how the issue of communications affordability goes beyond the cost of mobile devices and data plans and extends to the integration of accessible applications and technology. The opportunities presented now and in the future by cloud infrastructure and the Internet of Things create a world where a person could drive almost their whole life from their mobile device. This could have an even greater impact on the lives of people with disabilities who rely on such technology in much of their daily life.

The inclusion of accessible applications in low-cost telecommunications technology, and the affordability of data plans that can make it easier for everyone to connect, will become of greater significance to future telecommunication solutions.

Speakers in the panel session include:

  • Fiona Guthrie, Executive Director, Financial Counselling Australia
  • Dr Scott Hollier, Manager, Major Projects, Media Access Australia
  • Dr Justine Humphry, Lecturer, Cultural & Social Analysis, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, University of Western Sydney
  • Paul Budde, CEO, BuddeComm
  • Dr Peter Gerrand, Hon Professorial Fellow, Melbourne School of Engineering, University of Melbourne

The session will be on Wednesday 2 September at 11 am.


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