5 September 2024, Cr Anna De Villiers, The Carisbrook Mercury

Just when you think you know it all, you are challenged when attending a training session.

My Monday morning was spent attending a Zoom webinar on ‘Privacy and Data Storage for Not-for-Profit Organisations’.

It is amazing how quickly things change. It is difficult to keep up with all of the new legal requirements we are confronted with as smaller organisations in the community. Being able to attend information and training sessions from the comfort of your own home, or an office in town, and not having to travel to Melbourne or other big centres are options made possible with the development of technology.

To think that it is only 17 years since the first smart phone made an appearance. How the advent of technology has changed our lives! To think that you can now communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world at any given time. The easy access to information – the wealth of information available with the push of a button – compared to looking for information in the Encyclopaedia Britannica! What a clunky, and often impossible process that was!

I often find it an interesting thought to consider how much is still out there. Things that are in the process of being developed now – such as Artificial Intelligence! Who would have thought it possible?

Incredible to think it is almost four years since the previous Local Government Elections. So this will be my last contribution to The Carisbrook Mercury as this term is drawing to a close. Thank you for all the support I have received as your elected Tullaroop Ward Councillor.