ARCIA: Industry's viewpoint

The end of 2013 will be dominated by the Comms Connect 2013 show in Melbourne and we are very pleased to be part of this event. ARCIA has been working with the event organisers to add more value and I believe 2013 will be the best event yet.

Of course the gala dinner is a highlight and will again showcase the depth of the industry, with many different aspects represented from all over Australia. It will be tremendous to see so many people - from individual business owners, public safety organisations, consultancy groups, end-user companies and global suppliers - all under one roof.

The industry awards presented during the gala dinner will celebrate the efforts of many professionals and are a great way to recognise those who are at the forefront of service delivery, engineering or in some cases have dedicated a large part of their working life to the communications field. I would encourage all members to nominate our silent achievers through the ARCIA website.

Being on the ARCIA committee, you come to realise the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to bring all this together. We should all be very grateful to the many people that are passionate about the Australian radio communications industry.

The ARCIA committee has also started work on a number of items for 2014 in a number of areas that we believe are very important to our members. Industry training remains a focus and we are looking at new ways to engage with the ARCIA membership. There will be a session on training needs at Comms Connect and I encourage all members to participate and make their views known.

Our industry also faces a number of key spectrum challenges with the implementation of the 400 MHz plan, the impact of the 900 MHz on many areas of business, as well as the decision by ACMA to increase high-density UHF apparatus licences by 15% per annum. It is very important that ARCIA continue to advocate on the industry’s behalf to all levels of government. When you consider what radio or SCADA systems are used for and the repercussions were they to stop working, it is clear that our industry is under-represented in the thinking of governments.

New developments such as LTE for public safety also need to be considered by all stakeholders. Our industry has a role to play to ensure that critical public safety needs are met and that the crucial importance of existing technology options are not lost. Our industry is seeing a convergence of technologies and we must all adapt to best serve our clients.

Finally, the ARCIA website continues to be updated and improved with new content being added all the time. Make sure you use this valuable source of information regularly and give feedback to ensure it becomes even more valuable.

Hamish Duff
President
Australian Radio Communications Industry Association