The Way Forward >>>
Higher Education Action Plan for the Information Economy

This paper is part of the Education and Training Sector Action Plan for the Information Economy prepared by the EdNA Reference Committee, an information technology policy body that reports to the Australasian Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA).

It was developed in 1999 by the Higher Education I.T. Consultative Forum (an advisory group to the ERC), and approved by the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee and its Standing Committee on Information Policy on behalf of the Australian higher education sector.

The paper has been considered by the cabinet of the Australian Commonwealth Government. In March 2000, MCEETYA supported the broad directions of the Education and Training Sector Action Plan for the Information Economy, and noted The Way Forward as part of that Plan. Various higher education I.T. policy bodies are now exploring ways of taking its recommendations forward.

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The Challenge

Given the flexibility and means to do so, universities will be the fundamental drivers for the Australian information economy, which is largely knowledge-based. Today's higher education students will become tomorrow's leaders, innovators, managers and researchers. They will shape Australia's place within the world economy.

In recent years higher education institutions, along with government and the rest of the community, have strained to come to grips with new issues arising from rapid developments in information technology and communications (IT&C). Time and resources to explore the new issues have been limited. Further policy work is required on technical and policy options that will enable universities to give students access to cutting edge information technology, research training and advanced applications that are essential for the information economy. Without this Australia runs the risk of:

significantly reducing direct export earnings from education earnings and indirectly from other industries;
becoming a major importer of skills, intellectual knowledge, IT infrastructure and computer applications;
being less attractive to investors and industry seeking affordable, advanced information technology infrastructure and skilled people to work within and take advantage of this infrastructure;
losing its reputation as an advanced economy with highly developed research skills, institutions and workforce; and
losing its best minds to other countries.

Within this context this paper seeks to:

briefly describe the background to higher educational involvement with information technology and communications;
demonstrate the initiatives currently being undertaken by Australian universities to maximise their participation in the information economy; and
identify strategic directions that would enable Australia to be at the forefront of developments in the information economy.

Background

Historically, Australian higher education institutions have been fundamental drivers in the development of information technology in Australia. Universities have combined high-level technical skills with advanced research, pioneering technologies and high-quality infrastructure. In 1989 AARNet was one of the first academic computer networks in the world and its existence and the skills of its technicians enabled Australia to be an early adopter of Internet technologies and applications. Australia is renowned for its software programming skills and for innovative niche hardware.

Australian higher education institutions have also made a major contribution to Australia's broader research and development effort. Many of the innovations that have created the information economy in Australia originated either from higher education institutions or from people with advanced research skills and intellectual capacity trained by them.

In recent years universities have experienced severe resource constraints, but despite this universities have endeavoured to provide students and researchers with access to the cutting-edge tools and infrastructure that allow for further knowledge creation.

Existing Initiatives

Universities are early adopters of commercial computer applications, using them for administrative, research and teaching purposes. E-mail was used by academic staff well before its broader acceptance. Spreadsheets and office applications are widely used, and statistical and other packages are frequently tested within universities at an early stage.

Australian universities are using the Internet to deliver quality distance education to students within Australia and overseas. In some Australian universities a majority of students take courses through distance education, which increasingly involves using the Internet for tutorials, lodgement of assignments, delivery of course material and communication between students and their lecturers. Such students are increasingly being drawn from professional organisations and industry.

Administrative systems within universities are complex, covering academic, financial, administrative and legal matters. Australian universities have some of the most advanced systems in the world and initiatives are being made to extend these and to test new technologies. For example, Adelaide University and the Australian Defence Force Academy (University of NSW) are both working with Telstra to trial the use of rechargeable telephone card technology for multiple purposes, including student ID, library borrowing, photocopying, security, and student payments.

Industry has drawn on universities both as a source of skilled staff and to provide training and further education to existing staff as the need for life-long education increases. Such training includes management courses and specially-tailored industry-based courses. Partnerships are emerging for the delivery of specific programs where industry has neither the skills nor means to deliver high-quality education programs to its employees.

Higher education institutions have also been incubators for new technologies, products and applications, as well as testbeds for these as they move towards the marketplace. Sydney University academics have developed software relating to share transactions for the Australian Stock Exchange. Sydney University, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of NSW have been involved in the Australian Technology Park, which provides complex design and modelling using small advanced computers for a range of industries, saving time and development costs in the transition from prototype to final product.

Higher education institutions provide students, research professionals and academics with the skills to exploit and advance new technology more quickly than any other sector of the economy as they are constantly seeking to apply new technologies to the work at hand.

Strategic Priorities

Although higher education institutions continue to make major commitments to new information technologies, significant opportunities are going untapped, and critical issues of a technological and policy nature need addressing by universities, by industry and by policy makers in order for Australia to remain an internationally competitive economy. These strategic priorities can be addressed under the five interrelated Action Areas outlined in the Education and Training Sector Action Plan for the Information Economy: