Industry training will pay dividends

Welcome to 2019! It seems the years do go faster and faster; it feels like only a short while ago that we had the 2018 planning days, and now we are starting a fresh new year. Last year ended with a bang — the Annual Gala Dinner was well attended, with more than 500 people enjoying the atmosphere and celebrating the winners of our industry awards. Our regular networking events all over Australia are effectively our shopfront, and are a great way for members to meet, discuss the industry and catch up with old friends. Over the years we have also had some excellent guest speakers who often provide insights into new technologies. So for 2019 make sure you keep an eye on your local state event and save the date in your calendar.

We also tried a new ARCIA-led workshop on multi-coupling as part of Comms Connect Melbourne. We had 34 participants, each of whom will receive an ARCIA certificate of completion. For 2019 we really want to have something similar in conjunction with each Comms Connect or ARCIA event, and we encourage all members to send their staff for industry lead training. We hope that over time we will have a number of short courses that are focused on segments of the industry that are useful to our members, and which extend the capabilities of staff. So please let our committee know what you would like to have training on, and get involved. ARCIA thanks RFI Technology Solutions for presenting the multi-coupling workshop; their long-term staff members really made a difference.

One of the items we have also discussed over time, is finding senior members of the association who may be in a position to lead training sessions on areas they are passionate about or expert in. Passing on generations of knowledge can be very rewarding and can be an excellent way to give back to the industry. Again, let your local state committee members know if that sounds like something you are interested in doing.

Sometime in 2019 we expect that the much-anticipated new Radcomms Act will arrive and come into law. There will no doubt be a lot of work required to bring this into operation, and ARCIA expects to work with the ACMA on behalf of members and all apparatus licence holders to make the transition as smooth as possible. ARCIA will also engage with the ACMA on other items such as the application of frequency re-use and adjacent channel licensing. New digital equipment now common in the marketplace have different emission masks compared to analog standards. The industry needs to find a sensible solution that protects users from interference and also ensures that adequate spectrum is available in high-density locations.

We’re also delighted to announce that ARCIA has signed a memorandum of understanding to share information with the Public Safety Communications–Europe (PSCE) organisation. This step will extend the ability for ARCIA to bring international news and public safety information to our members and industry.

ARCIA will begin 2019 with a two-day planning meeting in Brisbane for members and partners. One of the key discussion points will be the retirement of our executive director, Ian Miller, and finding someone who can take on key administration tasks. What can we say about Ian? — passionate, dedicated, knowledgeable and respected are just the start. Ian has put so much into this industry and we all owe him a great deal. As we move forward, he will maintain his work on spectrum matters; however, we will be looking for a new executive administrator — so if that is of interest to you, please get in touch.

Hamish Duff

President

Australian Radio Communications Industry Association

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