The Internet Special: Media, Minister’s and Metrics.

The Internet Special: Media, Minister’s and Metrics.

The Internet dominated Q4. Enex TestLab were right in the thick of it – testing as always.

In December Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy announced that the Federal Government intends to pursue mandatory internet content filtering at the ISP level. The announcement quickly made headlines, not only in Australia, but across the UK and US – it seems considerable interest is taken in any Government exercising control over internet content.

Enex (in partnership with ISPs) conducted the content filtering technical trial for Department. Our wholly independent findings were considered in the Government’s assessment of feasibility for the program. Our report was detailed, scientific, and impartial. It provided a clear indication of the technical challenges and impacts such a policy would elicit.

Enex’s openly published results were subject to intense analysis and assessment by the world media – not to mention stakeholders, pundits, industry experts and analysts. Amid all of the controversy and the debate over the issue, Enex’s role, our report and results, our methodology, our transparency and our process were consistently recognised to be reliable and thorough. Whatever your views – Enex delivers facts! You can access the report at: http://www.dbcde.gov.au/.

The Internet Industry Association’s (IIA) Family Friendly Filter program continued on in the latter half of 09. Enex conducts all accreditation testing on behalf of the IIA. A good many Filters have now completed testing and amid all of the December Christmas parties, certificates were presented to successful filter vendors afloat on Sydney Harbour. For more information about getting your Filter accredited as Family Friendly, check our website.

December also was occasion for a new product (also highly relevant to the internet). For some time now Enex has been developing a tool known as eMetric – designed to measure and report on networking performance, and in particular broadband speeds. Through the latter half of 09, in partnership with the Department for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Enex has commenced an exciting pilot program to test a compact, hardware version of eMetric with 40 participating ISPs. This unit is the world’s first mass-producible, independent, broadband performance testing device, and it has been very positively received.

Enex is preparing to take eMetric further to market and has introduced the product to a number of organisations both locally and internationally. A number of major telecommunications companies in Korea, Japan and the UK have already expressed interest in the possibilities the units offer. As a result, eMetric is likely to be implemented in some interesting ways over the coming period. Stay tuned for more.

In the UK, despite more gloomy economic conditions, Enex has continued to grow a steady base of customers - adding IT security accreditation testing for the UK Government and penetration testing for a local authority. Also of note was ZDNet.uk publishing a review of SME malware/security products, which was very well received and highlighted another of Enex’s products - eThreatz. More fine articles can be expected out of our UK offices in 2010.

During Q4 ‘09 Enex UK has also been successful in gaining not one but two ISO accreditations: 17020 and 9001. This brings Enex UK in line with its sister lab in Australia and we are pleased to have gained both in such a short time since establishing operations in the UK.

Q1 ’10 is the start of an exciting phase for UK operations. As part of our growth in the UK, we are bringing on board a new manager who compliments our business with a strong focus on software and testing.

2010 is already looking busy and as we move through Q1, building our gaming/wagering team and expanding our software testing division remains a focus. Also worth noting is that by Q2 our long established media and communications division may also be making new noises, but more on that next time.