[primitur]

Hi! I'm from Perth (Subiaco) but have been an ex-pat for over 20 years. The reason is, I've always considered Perth a mining town, and have managed to live in many other big cities around the world during an active professional life, working as a systems software developer. I'm quite ex-pat, but fondly dream of days in the sun..

So I take this opportunity to ask someone, sensibly: Is there a thriving tech scene in Perth? Software businesses, catering to a local market, that sort of thing? Like most major cities, there is probably an 'IT sector', consisting of hardware and systems support companies, probably -and of course the Uni's of WA are all very well connected in the F/OSS/Academic systems software departments. But, whats the local software economy like? Much custom, Business to business, software?

I imagine that with the Perth Mint and the Mining banks involved in all this, its going to be a solid way to do business in that part of the world, as well as Internationally. I'm, anyhow, off to get my family to set up their Pin Payments accounts asap .. :)

[thejosh]

The tech scene here is quite thriving. We have "Port 80" meetups[1], as well as many other meetups for a vary of topics. As you said the universities here and quite tech-focused (Curtin, Murdoch, UWA) which is great, and the TAFE courses are usually full (for IT/Web/Programming).

There is quite a lot of businesses who want customised web solutions (not just in mining, but would account for a large portion), so as a result there are quite a few web companies here in Perth who do anything from small business websites all the way up to customised systems. The industry does go quiet sometimes, however it's usually pretty busy especially as more people over east bring business over to Perth thanks to the thriving web market here :).

[1] - port80.asn.au

[primitur]

Hey, thanks for the info about port80, perfect way for me to get some intel done .. so next time I'm in Perth I'll be sure to include a Wednesday meeting in the schedule.. alas, it'll be a year or two yet (young un's) but the time will come .. ;)