The Way Forward >>>
Higher Education Action Plan for the Information Economy
Notes
1. Managing the Introduction of Technology in the delivery and Administration of Higher Education, Evaluation and Investigations Program, Higher Education Division, DEETYA, 1997, p. 21. <<<
2. Bandwidth Requirements for the Australian Education and Training Sector, Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, August 1999, pp. 11-12. <<<
3. High Performance Computing and Communications in Australia, Higher Education Division Occasional Paper Series, 1998, p. 39. <<<
4. The Abilene Project is named after a railhead established in Abilene, Kansas during the 1860s. In its time the ambitious railhead of the 1800s staked a claim on what was then the frontier of the United States; the Abilene Project establishes a foothold from which to explore and develop pioneering network technology. The links of last century's railway changed the way people worked and lived. The Abilene Project will transform the work of researchers and educators into the next millennium. <<<
5. The AARNet Board of Management is responsible to the AVCC for the development and implementation of relevant AARNet service policy, within the parameters set by the AVCC and CSIRO. The scope of this body includes the provision of networking services to the individual AVCC member institutions and CSIRO, managed under the auspices of the AVCC. <<<
6. Numerous models exist. For example, the United Kingdom's academic and research network, JANET, is funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils for England (HEFCE), Scotland (SHEFC), Wales (HEFCW) and the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI). JANET is managed and developed by UKERNA under a Service Level Agreement from the JISC. SuperJANET is the broadband, or high speed, part of JANET. The name was coined in 1989 for a new initiative aimed at providing an advanced optical-fibre broadband network for the higher education community at an affordable price. The SuperJANET projects (I-III) have transformed the JANET network from one primarily handling data to a network capable of simultaneously transporting video and audio as well as data. Another example is DANTE (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe Limited), a not-for-profit company established by the national research networks in Europe. Another European example, the TEN-155 network, is co-funded under a joint initiative of the ESPRIT, Telematics for Applications and ACTS Programmes of the European Commission and is a direct result of the Quantum project. CANARIE and UCAID offer other models, but all have external government funding in common over and above normal operational budgets for universities. <<<
7. National Bandwidth Inquiry - A Submission to the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Committee of the Australian University Director's of Information Technology, 1999 (CAUDIT). <<<
8. 'Australian Universities to Connect to US Internet2,' Media Release, AVCC, 17 September 1999. <<<
9. High Performance Computing and Communications in Australia, Higher Education Division Occasional Paper Series, 1998, p. 39ff. <<<
10. http://www.canarie.ca/eng/outreach/publications/news/CommSept99.pdf <<<
11. CANARIE Inc. is Canada's advanced Internet development organisation. It was established in 1993 and has been working with government, industry, and the research and educational communities to enhance Canada's advanced Internet infrastructure, applications development and use. <<<
12. High Performance Computing and Communications in Australia, Higher Education Division Occasional Paper Series, 1998, p. 13ff, indicates that Australia has fallen well behind other developed and developing economies in recent years. <<<
13. The Technology Diffusion Program conducted by DISR has the potential to provide funds for high-performance computing. However, in the past, DISR has been reluctant to allow the hardware purchased with program funds to be used for research, even though there is evidence that better hardware could be purchased and improved results obtained if collaboration with DETYA/ARC funding programs was allowed. This could potentially save the Commonwealth funds, allowing APAC or its members to better target applications and make more effective use of all funds. <<<
14. Further examples of government support for advanced information technology and communications developments are the Next-Generation Internet, VBNS and Information Technology for the Twenty-First Century (IT2) initiatives of the US Government. IT2 is a proposed $366 million FY 2000 multiagency Federal information technology research and development initiative. The IT2 initiative has three components: (1) Long term IT research; (2) Advanced computing for science, engineering, and the Nation; (3) Research on economic, social, and workforce implications of the Information Revolution. The IT2 initiative will be coordinated jointly with the High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) programs and the Next-Generation Internet (NGI) initiative. <<<
15. The issue of ownership of copyright in monographs and journal articles written by university staff in the course of their employment, and the related issue of paying copyright royalties to copyright owners for the use of journal articles in teaching, is a difficult one on which to obtain consensus across the higher education system. It is acknowledged that, to prevent staff from being exploited by publishers, it is desirable that academics not assign their copyright to publishers without obtaining advice or guidance from the university. However, it is also acknowledged that it would be difficult to gain support from academics for such a policy, as their tenure and promotion depends on their being published in top journals. <<<
16. New Knowledge, New Opportunities: A Discussion Paper on Higher Education Research and Research Training, The Hon. Dr David Kemp MP, Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, June 1999. <<<
19. Ibid., Section 7.23, states that the "funding available under the RIBG programme will be transferred to granting agencies with the expectation that those infrastructure overheads formerly funded through RIBG will be covered by grants." In Section 7.4 the paper also says "the Linkage element will provide support for the development of research ventures involving national and international collaboration between institutions and/or collaboration between institutions and other parties, such as industry partners and the CSIRO. Funding will primarily be of a seeding nature. The programme will also support strategic investment in the collaborative use of infrastructure." <<<
20. 'National Bandwidth Inquiry-Terms of Reference,' Media Release, Senator Richard Alston, 9 December 1998. <<<
21. The Australian Information Economy Advisory Council (AIEAC) is a new advisory group created to provide high level industry and community input to Government decision making on information industries and information economy issues. <<<
22. The Online Council (OC) is a Commonwealth, State and Territory ministerial body created to address a wide range of issues affecting the development of the information economy and to promote consistency in the use of information and communication services in government. The Council is chaired by Senator Alston, and includes senior ministers from State and Territory governments and a representative from the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA). <<<
23. The Ministerial Council for the Information Economy (MCIE) is a high-level Commonwealth body established by the Prime Minister to coordinate a whole-of-government action agenda for Australia's participation in the information economy. <<<
24. Details of the Terms of Reference and membership of CCST can be found at http://www.science.gov.au/ccst/ <<<
25. Terms of Reference for CCST Major Research Facilities Working Group can be found at http://www.science.gov.au/ccst/mrf.html and University-Industry Interaction Working Group Terms of Reference at http://www.science.gov.au/ccst/univ.html <<<
26. Exploiting Information Technology in Higher Education: An Issues Paper, AVCC, October 1996. <<<
27. High Performance Computing and Communications in Australia, Higher Education Division Occasional Paper Series, 1998. <<<
28. Bandwidth Requirements for the Australian Education and Training Sector, Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, August 1999, pp. 11-12. <<<
29. The Determinations in regard to eligible tertiary education institutions cease to have effect on 31 December 1999 or on such later date as is determined by the Minister. The explanatory notes to the legislation state that:
The 'sunset' clause(s) will enable the operation of the exemption to be reviewed after some period of operation, following which its continued operation (either as drafted or in a revised form) can be considered by the Minister. It is expected that, depending on the outcome of such a review, options before the Minister may include letting the exemption lapse, enabling the exemption to continue for a further specified period, and enabling the exemption to continue either in a widened or more narrow form. The Minister may also consider whether the definition of tertiary education institution is appropriate. <<<
