Tech website The Register is attempting to fund independent research into both Labor’s and the Coalition’s competing National Broadband Network (NBN) plans, by asking readers to open their wallets and make a contribution. [ + ]

CIOs have a unique perspective across the entire organisation and an opportunity, if not a mandate, to play a leading role in supporting executive team decision-making. To be effective, however, CIOs must understand that each executive views business slightly differently based on his or her current role and past experiences. [ + ]

Legislation for mandatory data breach reporting in Australia has failed to make it through the Senate and, unless the upcoming federal election date is changed, will not be enacted into law until after the next election. [ + ]

Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken the mantle of Communications Minister, after Stephen Conroy stepped down in last week’s Labor leadership spill. Analysts say there will be no big changes between now and the election. [ + ]

German computer scientist Volker Roth is working on a system to allow whistleblowers to disclose confidential information without being observed or traced. [ + ]

The stereotype of the geeky male nerd is turning many women off from joining the computer science field, but challenging this preconception is relatively simple, a new report says. [ + ]

If you believe the hype, a ‘password pill’ could save you from remembering passwords. But don’t hold your breath for this technology - better alternatives are already available. [ + ]

Business intelligence systems and analytics have leapt forward in recent years. Gone are the days of retrospective reporting and data warehouses that were updated each day. We are now in the era of using data to make real-time decisions with live data from many sources. [ + ]

Facebook has revealed that it inadvertently leaked the contact information of about six million of its users since last year. [ + ]

The ACCC has fined ISP iiNet $102,000 for failing to “prominently” display the total minimum cost of its Naked DSL service in an advertisement on a Sydney bus. [ + ]

The Australian Government has dropped its plans to require ISPs to retain customer metadata for up to two years - at least for now. [ + ]

After playing a key role in the successful launch of multichannel IT media brand Technology Decisions, Anthony Caruana will hand the editor role to colleague and former Voice+Data editor Andrew Collins, starting next month. [ + ]

Dubbed the ‘Linux of the cloud’, OpenStack is an important element of cloud interoperability. [ + ]

We live in a world where digital information is exploding. Some 90% of the world’s data was generated in the past two years. The obvious question is: how can we store it all? [ + ]

As business cycles get crunched and we’re more connected with our stakeholders, businesses need to adapt to a world where decisions can have far-reaching and unexpected effects. [ + ]