Google and ACCAN partnered again in 2015 to offer a paid internship opportunity with ACCAN. Applicants were invited to submit a brief proposal outlining a research project on an emerging communications consumer issue.

The winner was recent law graduate, Alexander Vulkanovski, who tackled the hot topic of the Internet of Things. "Home, Tweet Home": Implications of the Connected Home, Human and Habitat on Australian Consumers is a first-class piece of research by a talented up-and-coming lawyer. 

The report examines the complex world of possibilities opened up by the emerging Internet of Things, where everything from light bulbs to parking spaces are monitored, connected and available to the consumer via the internet.

 Vulkanovski argues that consumers need to be selective in what they choose to adopt, be conscious of privacy and security, and look for devices that can inter-operate conveniently; that suppliers need to adopt privacy by design and security by design; and finally that governments "innovate, wait, then regulate" and support an innovation friendly environment without course to pre-emptive regulation, become early adopters and market leaders, and clarify the application of consumer guarantees to telecommunications services.

Download: HomeTweetHome_IoT_Report-v2.pdf4.97 MB

Download: HomeTweetHome_IoT_Report-v2.docx12.79 MB