What a year!

From esports to the World Economic Forum – 2018 has proven to be the biggest year yet for ACS.

Things got serious in April, when then Federal Treasurer (now Prime Minister) Scott Morrison launched the ACS Technology and Innovation Hub in Barangaroo, which has already hosted in excess of 50 events.

But that was only the beginning.

In September, ACS acquired one of Australia’s leading start-up catalysts and incubators, Steve Baxter’s River City Labs. The move now sees ACS playing a hands-on role in assisting the growth of Australia’s flourishing start-up sector.

There were also global items on the agenda. In a historic first, ACS became the first professional association in the ICT sector to be admitted as a member to the World Economic Forum.

In terms of certification, a unique new accreditation scheme for SMEs will help Australian businesses to gain an edge in terms of displaying best practice principles.

It was a year that focused on government engagement for ACS, with a number of important submissions tabled and a plethora of state and federal politicians in attendance at various events.

There were also some world-renowned guests that stopped by in 2018. Tesla Project Manager Jay Manley shared his journey from Western Sydney to Silicon Valley, while the creator of Scratch, Mitch Resnick, described the relationship between technology and creativity for children.

Reimagination was back for another memorable year, moving from NSW to Victoria for the first time.

A new indigenous information technology scholarship with Charles Darwin University was developed, with the intention to support and showcase indigenous talent in the space.

ACS teamed up with Deloitte Access Economics for another year to deliver ACS Australia’s Digital Pulse 2018, which found another 200,000 tech workers will be needed to make Australia a world leader in ICT employment.

Another report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) highlighted the $308 billion IoT opportunity that Australia has been presented with.

Additional reports on blockchain, artificial intelligence, e-government, cyber security and data sharing were all also released in 2018 – cementing ACS' thought leadership in the technology space.

Information Age was thrilled to see the Cyber Experts Series compiled into a publication, which featured 15 in-depth interviews with some of Australia’s foremost cyber security professionals.

The booming popularity of esports was recognised, with ACS entering into a partnership with the Australian Esports League.

And finally, it was with great sadness that ACS said farewell to former President, Brenda Aynsley, who passed in August.

Until next year!