Academics are heading back to the pub tonight to shout yahoo about web portals!

Dec 10, 2003

Tonight's "University in the Brewery" series (Wednesday 10 December) will be another event where the public can hear prominent researchers and private sector practitioners explain their ideas and research in a relaxed and participatory environment over a few foaming ales.

The topic will be "Get Excited and Shout Yahoo about Web Portals - Gateways to your Community".It's all part of a good cause to help bring the University of Wollongong and the wider community even closer together.

The Decision Systems Laboratory at the University of Wollongong is working on a project to design and develop web portals that will serve the needs of local communities and remain sustainable in the long term. There are two types of portals being developed:

* A community portal that will serve the needs of, and bring together, all members of the Wollongong community and provide an online space for them to interact and

* A portal to support the needs of small businesses in the region

Presenters will explain what web portals are, show some interesting examples of how they are being used (beyond the obvious - "Excite" and "Yahoo") and demonstrate how they can facilitate community interaction or support small business needs.Speakers will include:

* The CEO of the Illawarra Business Chamber, Tim Lewis, who will compere the event. [Tim has extensive experience in developing portals for various vertical industries through his company PortalTech

* Ms Lejla Vrazalic who is a Lecturer in Information Systems at UOW, who will explain portal basics and community portals

* Dr Peter Hyland, Senior Lecturer in the School of Information Technology and Computer Science at UOW who will speak about community portals and

* Professor Aditya Ghose, School of Information Technology and Computer Science at UOW and Director of the Decision Systems Laboratory, who will speak about how portals can support businesses, including resource optimisation and electronic marketplaces

The Research and Development Manager at UOW, Dr Troy Coyle, is keen to hear from any businesses interested in any way in either starting up a linkage with the University, expanding on an existing one or with ideas for her "brewery" series. She can be contacted at 4221 4420 or email tcoyle@uow.edu.au

Where: Five Islands Brewery, Eastern end of the WIN Entertainment Centre (corner of Harbour and Crown streets) Wollongong

When: 5.30pm until 6.30pm, Wednesday 10 December

Cost: Free

Further information: Contact Dr Troy Coyle on 4221 4420

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128