Investors & shareholders and the equities market rule the roost in most business & industry sectors. The IT industry is no different. In Tech List we'll keep you up to date about the fate & future of the 182 publicly owned ICT companies listed on the ASX. Who knows, you may find a bargain. At least you'll be able to make a better informed decision about companies in this sector which is under-reported in the mainstream media.

Canberra-based workflow software vendor, TASKey, has appointed Paul Dunkley as general manager, sales. Dunkley was previously regional account manager with Civica a software supplier to local councils. Prior to that, he was MIS manager for Cairns City Council where he managed the implementation of a new corporate information system following the amalgamation of Mulgrave Shire and Cairns City. Dunkley has also worked at Leichardt Council where he managed the implementation of a new corporate information system.

Microsoft Australia has appointed Greg Stone to the role of National Technology Officer. Stone formerly held the position within Microsoft Australia of director of enterprise technologies. Prior to this role, Stone established the first .NET architecture practice for Microsoft Australia. Stone joined Microsoft in 2001 from a multinational office supplies company where he was general manager of eBusiness architecture.

The Beer Files had a decent little discussion with the Shadow ICT Minister, Senator Kate Lundy, last week and we discovered a couple of interesting things.

I'm not backward in coming forward about issues affecting the IT industry. In My Shout you'll hear about anything & everything that gets my back up. So, don't rile me. My Shout is about me digging deep into what really goes on in the IT industry and telling it as it is. If you want to have your say, you can't have it here. Go, instead, to the Your Shout link here on The Beer Files.

Finally, the world just maybe has seen the introduction of a GPRS mobile communications device that is actually a usable blend of voice and messaging. The device, the Blackberry 7100v, developed by Canadian vendor RIM (Research in Motion), was launched around the world today by mobile carrier Vodafone.

In its latest assault to win the hearts and minds of technology SMEs, the ALP, if its wins office, has promised to introduce a policy enabling local companies to be competitive on bidding for Government contracts.

Both home entertainment and computer technology have taken great strides in the past 25 years. In that time, we have seen the proliferation of PCs, VCRs, DVDs, CDs, PDAs, mobile phones, broadband internet and wireless communications, among other things.

NetComm has been named as a preferred supplier of broadband ADSL equipment to national ISP Pacific Internet.

About half of the IT jobs filled in the 12 months up to February 2004 were sourced through online job advertisements, while print media is no longer a significant source of IT jobs, according to a survey commissioned by Multimedia Victoria (MMV).