Postgrad scholarships on offer

Global services company EDS Australia has introduced a $700,000 Australia-wide program to provide special training to IT entrepreneurs at the National University in Canberra over the next four years. Fully funded university scholarships will be available to seven candidates in the first year of the program in 2001. To qualify, candidates must be Australian citizens, hold an undergraduate degree and have a minimum of three years business experience.

Federal Court trials Internet

The Family Court of Australia is trialling a new online service which will enable the electronic lodgement of court documents using digital signatures. More than one million documents are lodged with the court each year and the Web-based filing solution known as CourtLodgement is currently undergoing a four-week trial. Web application developer and digital signature consultancy Internet Solutions Australia (ISA) owns the CourtLodgement technology and intends to market the product throughout the Australian legal system.

Arbitration gets an e-lift

In a joint venture Auscript and Counsel's Chambers Ltd have set up a hosted electronic arbitration room, a networked and Internet-ready facility called The Hearing Room. Located next to the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney's CBD, The Hearing Room is available to the corporate and legal community for use in negotiations, arbitration, dispute resolution and legal hearings.

Federal IT pilots B2B, hub

The Department of Communications, IT and the Arts will pilot an e-procurement hub over the next two months to test the feasability of moving purchasing trans-actions online. The trial is part of the federal government's Commonwealth Electronic Procurement Implementation Strategy, which aims to conduct 90 per cent of simple buy-side transactions online by the end of 2001. B2B e-trading solutions provider Online Advantage will implement the electronic exchange. UK e-commerce software developer Infobank International's InTrade e-Hub B2B technology will power the exchange.