Research from MasterCard suggests that 64% of Australian consumers prefer to use contactless payment to cash for transactions under $100. [ + ]

Dr Lachlan Blackhall, the Australian founder of a company developing the first advanced energy storage control systems capable of trading distributed solar energy, has won ATSE's first Batterham Medal. [ + ]

This week: Solving Rubik's cube in 5 seconds, billion-dollar banking blunder, ACT drivers hit with old fines, and IT blooper forces Irish drivers to re-sit tests. [ + ]

When your website's performance is on the line, it's important to gain the intelligence and visibility needed to optimise traffic routing, performance, costs and availability of your internet assets. [ + ]

The ACS has published a series of recommendations for improving female participation in Australia's ICT workforce, which remains at a level significantly lower than the average for all professions. [ + ]

Internet Australia has expressed a concern that the proposed new telecom sector security reforms amendment could have major unintended consequences if not carefully handled by the government. [ + ]

Tyro Payments, the Australian EFTPOS provider seeking to disrupt the banks with its payment platform, has secured $100m in new investment funding. [ + ]

High-profile incidents of hackers compromising connected devices have given some CIOs pause when it comes to embracing the Internet of Things. [ + ]

Facebook will offer all new parents on its payroll up to four months of paid parental leave, regardless of the employee's gender or the country in which they live. [ + ]

Twitter users get cat-spammed, Dell says it "unintentionally introduced a security vulnerability", and dangerous texting on campus. [ + ]

An Estonian start-up is working on the first commercial application for Li-Fi, a Wi-Fi alternative that uses light rather than radio waves to transmit data and promises a 100-fold speed boost. [ + ]

CHOICE has welcomed the government's decision to accept 44 of the recommendations of a review into Australia's competition policy, including a move to give consumers greater access to their own data. [ + ]

With a new air of bipartisanship breezing through Canberra, there should be no reason why Australia cannot take the lead in the next, internet-driven, industrial era.

NSW Minister for Innovation Victor Dominello is showing his support of ICT development by accepting the role as the first patron of the ACS Foundation in NSW.

After a flat year for IT salaries in Australia, a survey indicates that nearly two in three Australian IT professionals expect a pay bump next year, with 70% looking to change roles. [ + ]