Interact, an initiative of the Victorian Government, is now six years old. It was established to organise an annual multimedia festival (when multimedia was buzzword-of-the-day). The events were pretty impressive and attracted many international visitors, but did not catch the eye of the general public. After the first-and singularly successful-program, Interact was associated with the PC show (now called 'IT', which is today's buzzword). Each year a team was formed to organise and promote the Interact events, and then dispersed. 

Last year the Government reorganised things. Interact has a permanent staff, albeit small, and a three-year budget to carry it through the development of a permanent organisation with substantial corporate support. The concept is to have 'Interact Partners' and "to support research and development initiatives and to promote programs that reward Australian IT innovation and business development from year to year". For information about Interact events visit http://www.interact2001.com.au. 

One of Interact's initiatives has been the encouragement of RoboCup competitions in Victoria. Last year a regular international event was staged in Melbourne. This year the RoboCup Junior 2001 Australia finals will be held 6-8 September. For some months Interact has been proactively involved in the establishment of training sessions in secondary schools in both metropolitan and regional areas of Victoria. 

The program is an ideal way for country students to participate using cutting-edge technology. A web site, http://www.robocupjunior.org.au provides a link with others with similar interests.