The Eckermann-TJA Prize 2008

1. Entries are invited for the Alcatel Lucent Broadband Environment Challenge for the best paper offered to the Telecommunications Journal of Australia on the theme of applying broadband telecommunications to deliver significant benefits to environmental sustainability. The paper must describe original work carried out by the authors, and must not have been previously published in a refereed publication. The deadline for submissions is 12.00 noon Eastern Australian Time on Monday 6 October 2008.
2. Entries will be judged on the extent to which they either:
   1. demonstrate the benefits that an existing use of broadband technology is delivering in terms of environmental sustainability; or
   2. propose innovative new uses of broadband telecommunications technology that could deliver significant benefits in terms of environmental sustainability.
3. For the purposes of the Challenge, the following definitions apply:
   1. broadband will be defined as high performance, low-latency always-on network connection; and
   2. environmental sustainability means any measure that conserves natural resources, reduces energy consumption or limits the impact of human habitation on the natural environment.
4. The paper(s) judged best overall will win the Eckermann-TJA award including a prize of $10,000. The judging panel will reserve the right to split the $10,000 prize money if two or more papers are found to be of equal merit, or to postpone awarding either prize to the following year if no paper is found to have sufficient merit this year.
5. Prize winners are responsible for any tax liability that may be associated with the award of prize money.
6. Any intellectual property vested in entries will remain the property of the contributor(s) submitting the entry. However, it is a condition of the Challenge that the contributor(s) grant the Australian Computer Society (ACS), incorporating the activities of the Telecommunication Society of Australia ( TSA), a non-exclusive licence to publish and distribute the paper in electronic, digital and print form worldwide, and an exclusive licence for 12 months to publish the paper in the Telecommunications Journal of Australia and/or on the TSA or ACS web sites. A copy of the Contributors’ agreement can be obtained from TJA’s Managing Editor. Re-use of the contents of the paper for teaching and research purposes will be granted upon application to the Managing Director, TJA.
7. Entries should comprise the following elements:
   1. a title (maximum 10 words);
   2. a brief Abstract (maximum 100 words) that provides an overview of the entry; such Abstracts would be used in citations, and with links on a web-site to help interested parties identify entries that may be of particular interest;
   3. the body of the entry (maximum 6,000 words) setting out more detailed explanations, supporting information, calculations and any other material pertinent to the entry, in a format complying with the TJA Guide to Authors. Contributors are advised to send an email tp TJA’s Managing Editor in advance of writing their papers to receive a copy of the TJA Guide to Authors and the TJA Contributor Agreement by return email..
   4. A signed copy of the TJA Contributor Agreement (the Single Author or Multiple Author agreement, as relevant) – see 8. below.
8. Entries, other than the TJA Contributor Agreement, should be submitted electronically by email to ”Managing Editor, TJA” pgerrand [at] gmail.com in both PDF and Microsoft Word document format. In publishing any entry, the Managing Editor of TJA reserves the right to adjust the layout of the entry and include an endorsement such as: “This paper was an entry in the Alcatel Lucent Broadband Environment Challenge 2008, a competition conducted under the auspices of the Telecommunication Society of Australia and the Australian Computer Society. The challenge was conceived by Robin Eckermann and the prize is sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent”. The signed TJA Contributor Agreement should be faxed to: The Managing Editor, TJA (Fax: +61 3 9326 7001)
9. Entries will be judged by a Panel of not less than three persons appointed by the Telecommunication Society of Australia, convened by the Editor-in-Chief of TJA or his nominee. The judging panel reserves the right to reject any paper that it deems to be non-compliant with the rules of the competition, in bad taste or otherwise inappropriate given the theme and objectives of the Challenge. Any decisions made by the judging panel will be final / not subject to appeal.
10. Close relatives of members of the judging panel and officials of the ACS and TSA are not eligible to enter the Challenge.
11. In the event that no acceptable entries are received, the sponsors of the prize kitty may in their sole discretion decide to repeat the Challenge in 2009 or withdraw their sponsorship.

12. Entries may be lodged from 1 October 2007 and must be lodged by 12.00 Noon, Eastern Australian Time, Monday 7 October 2008. A decision will be made and winner(s) notified in November 2008. Prizes will be awarded at an appropriate event on a date to be determined following notification.