Optus Signs as Exclusive Sponsor for CIO's New Telecommunications Magazine and Events

15 July 2003 - CIO magazine announces the launch of CIO Connect, an integrated programme dealing with telecommunications issues for CIOs and other senior IT&T executives. CIO Connect comprises a magazine and a series of seminars.

CIO Connect magazine will be independently published by CIO magazine and sponsored exclusively by Optus. The CIO Connect seminar series will be organised by the magazine.

As a magazine, CIO Connect will be published three times a year and included as a supplement to CIO and CIO Government magazines.

The CIO Connect events will be held three times a year in Sydney and in Melbourne, typically in the month following the print edition.

"The convergence of IT and telecommunications has created an exciting and challenging world for CIOs and other top corporate executives," said Linda Kennedy, editor of CIO magazine and president of the IDG Enterprise division.

"We have addressed these issues numerous times in CIO and CIO Government, and we feel it is now time to dedicate resources to producing a magazine and information events dealing specifically with telecommunications. We are delighted that a prestigious company such as Optus has chosen to sponsor our programme and work with us to promote it."

The first issue of CIO Connect magazine will be included with the September issues of CIO and CIO Government magazines. The first CIO Connect seminars will be held in Melbourne and Sydney in October.

---------------

CIO Connect, CIO and CIO Government are published by the Enterprise Division of IDG Communications. IDG's Enterprise division is Australia's leading print and online publisher and conference organiser serving the information needs of senior IT executives. It publishes CIO, Computerworld, CIO Government, Information Age (under contract to the Australian Computer Society) and the annual Enterprise Buyers Guide. The Enterprise division publishes web sites for CIO, Computerworld, CIO Government and CSO, as well as more than 15 e-mail newsletters. In addition to CIO Connect seminars, the Enterprise division produces two CIO conferences annually in Sydney and has announced Converge 2004 in Canberra.

The Enterprise division is a business unit of IDG Communications Pty Ltd, celebrating 25 years in Australia in 2003. IDG Communications is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research and event company. IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers and offers online users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net (www.idg.net), which comprises more than 330 targeted Web sites in 80 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168 computer-related expositions worldwide, and provides IT market analysis through 51 offices in 43 countries worldwide. Company information is available at www.idg.com.

For further information, contact Linda Kennedy at (02) 9901 0700 or via e-mail at linda_kennedy@idg.com.au.