QUT to offer Australia-first esports scholarship
The Queensland University of Technology is extending its elite athlete scholarships to esports and will offer five $10,000 scholarships to League of Legend gamers for 2019. The scholarships come just three years after QUT established its esports club, the QUT Tigers. “Esports at QUT has just exploded – we’re so excited to have these new scholarships. It’s going to be really competitive and completely merit based. Our current team can apply and so can anyone else who’s coming to QUT next year and think they have what it takes to play in the OCS,” said founder of the club, Dylan Poulus. Current and prospective students at QUT are welcome to apply.
Australia and New Zealand enter Pacific Island cyber pact
Australia and New Zealand have joined forces to partner with Pacific Island nations in enhancing collective cyber resilience. Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, announced a $9 million expansion to Australia’s Cyber Cooperation Program over four years. “We will continue to work with regional partners to strengthen cybercrime prevention, prosecution and cooperation; and enhance cyber incident response capability,” said Payne. CERT NZ from New Zealand will also work closely with cyber security teams from across the region.
CSIRO invests $35m into space technology and AI
CSIRO has announced it will invest $35 million into “frontier research” in space technology and artificial intelligence. The investment falls under the Future Science Platforms (FSP) portfolio. “Our Future Science Platforms aim to turn Australia’s challenges into opportunities where new science can break through seemingly impossible roadblocks to give Australia an unfair advantage on the world stage,” said CSIRO Chief Executive, Dr Larry Marshall. The funding will go towards advanced imaging of Earth from satellites and cutting-edge data science.
Facebook crashes
Facebook users around the world were left stranded on Sunday afternoon, with the social media site displaying a “something went wrong” message when users tried to access their news feed. Users quickly turned to alternate social media sites and #FacebookDown was soon trending on Twitter. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
