The government has set up a new expert panel that will help the government seek to futureproof Australia's financial services sector by ensuring Australia becomes the leading FinTech player in APAC. [ + ]

We speak with Michelle Fitzgerald, Melbourne's chief digital officer, to find out how the city aims to use technology to provide improved experiences for residents, visitors and businesses. [ + ]

Australia's approach to government digital transformation is winning praise, but there are ways in which it can be improved, say experts. [ + ]

Ricochet, an open source tool for helping human rights activists and whistleblowers pass on information anonymously, is ready for prime time after passing a security audit. [ + ]

A previously unidentified virus was to blame for an IT systems shutdown at WA parliament last week, with technicians pulling the plug as a precaution to conduct diagnostics. [ + ]

Australia has the opportunity to build a smart network to safeguard the country's most precious resource — water. [ + ]

After publishing a damning report, the WA Auditor General has turned over an investigation into the handling of the WA Department of Health's centralised computing contract with Fujitsu to the state's anti-corruption authority. [ + ]

Gravitational waves have been a hot topic in science recently, and a new supercomputer at The University of Western Australia is anticipated to help further research in the area. [ + ]

The Queensland government has allocated $12.5m to set up a whole-of-government cybersecurity unit to help agencies prepare for and defend against emerging threats. [ + ]

In years to come, we will look at transactional processes, scratch our heads and ask why anybody would have bothered with such a restrictive construct. [ + ]

The majority of Australian teachers agree that using technology to help teach saves them time and brings them closer to their students, but they are also concerned that technology in the classroom causes distractions. [ + ]

The University of Adelaide is deploying a HPC system based on Lenovo's System x NeXtScale platform to help support its thousands of research staff and students. [ + ]

University of Melbourne has secured a $9.1m loan from the government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. [ + ]

Angus Taylor's appointment to the Cities and Digital Transformation portfolio may be an opportunity to reinforce smart city agendas emerging as drivers for improvement of government services. [ + ]

The WA Department of Water is replacing its legacy IT water management system with a platform based on Microsoft software being delivered by NEC Australia. [ + ]