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The State of IS in Australian Universities – New South Wales Report
Get PDFThis paper, examining Information Systems in New South Wales universities, highlights the significance of New South Wales as the most populous state in Australia. Rather than offering a comprehensive coverage of all Information Systems courses in the state, the paper gives a broad overview of Information Systems in the state’s universities while seeking to highlight the distinctive characteristics of some of the universities, deemed to have particular significance in the state. The view portrayed is of an environment threatening the continuing existence of Information Systems in some of the state’s universities. Again, the state of Information Systems research in the state’s universities is characterised by diversity and limited collaboration
The State of Information Systems in Australian Universities – South Australia Report
Get PDFThis paper examines the status of Information Systems (IS) at the University of South Australia (UniSA). On a broad scale this study is part of a larger Case Study regarding the state of the IS Academic Discipline in Australasian Universities but, in view of the face that Information Systems degrees are offered only at one university within the State, the South Australia study, by definition, becomes a study of that university. The paper clarifies the role of IS within UniSA, with particular reference to the degree of professionalism and the impact of local contingencies on IS teaching and research. Data were gathered by means of qualitative surveys with present and former academics of the institution, as well as via statistical information. The results suggest that the State of South Australia’s IS offerings were heavily influenced during the 1990s by the soft systems and critical systems approaches to the discipline, a situation which began to change at the turn of the century; and that the curriculum is depends more heavily on industrial than political factors
Information Systems in Western Australian Universities
Get PDFSystems (IS) teaching and research within Western Australia (WA). A brief overview of the WA environment is followed by an exploration of teaching and research in the four main Universities. This is examined against the framework for the study and, in particular, the impact of social processes (Ariav et al, 1987; Klein et al, 1991) and local contingencies (Culnan et al, 1993; Checkland and Howell, 1998), which are found to be of relevance to historic developments
Case Studies of E-commerce Adoption in Indonesian SMEs: The Evaluation of Strategic Use
Get PDFThe use of e-commerce in small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has become an important topic in information systems research. At present, there is a large number of well-documented benefits derived from e-commerce for small-medium enterprises (SMEs) both in theoretical and practical literature. Despite the enormous attention given to encourage SMEs to adopt e-commerce both by academics as well as governments, little research has been carried out in identifying strategies of e-commerce adoption for SMEs in developing countries, especially Indonesia. It is, therefore, the aim of this paper to understand the factors and combinations of factors that SMEs need to be considered before embracing e-commerce into their business by providing a closer look at actual experience of Indonesian SMEs. Case study research was carried out to analyse and explain the underlying factors that are likely to determine the varying extent of e-commerce adoption in SMEs, especially the service sector. The findings of the case studies have further extended into the development of proposed practical framework to illustrate how e-commerce adoption should be carried out from a strategic perspective
The 2005 Survey of Information Systems Research in Australia
Get PDFAs part of a study to investigate the state of Information Systems research in Australia, a survey of the heads of all IS discipline groups in Australian universities was conducted in mid 2005. The study revealed a wide range of topics researched (with rapid growth in Electronic Commerce and Knowledge Management), a range of foci, a balance between positivist and interpretivist research, survey was the most frequently used research method, and most research was directed at informing IS professionals. A SWOT analysis identified the growing importance of industry relevance and collaboration
The F@ Framework For Designing Awareness Mechanisms in Instant Messaging
Get PDFThis paper presents our research on awareness support in Instant Messaging (IM). The paper starts with a brief overview of an empirical study of IM, using an online survey and face-to-face interviews to identify user needs for awareness support. The study identified a need for supporting four aspects of awareness—awareness of multiple concurrent conversations, conversational awareness, presence awareness of a group conversation, and visibility of moment-to-moment listeners and viewers. Based on the empirical study and existing research on awareness, we have developed the F@ (read as “fat”) framework of awareness. F@ comprises of an abstract level and a concrete level. The former level includes an in-depth description of various awareness aspects in IM, whilst the latter level utilises temporal logic to formalise fundamental time-related awareness aspects. F@ helps developers gain a better understanding of awareness and thereby design usable mechanisms to support awareness. Applying F@, we have designed several mechanisms to support various aspect of awareness in IM
Accessing Data: methods for understanding mobile technology use
Get PDFMobile devices, applications and services have become integrated into people’s daily lives on a personal and professional level. Although traditional research methods are being used to understand the use of mobile devices and applications, methodological challenges still exist. Researchers have responded to these challenges in a variety of ways, with an emphasis on developing methods that enable new ways of accessing, making available and collecting data about mobile technology use. This paper identifies, defines, describes and presents, a preliminary framework for understanding the methodological responses emerging in current Mobile Human Computer Interaction (Mobile HCI) researc
Computer Simulations, Disclosure and Duty of Care
Get PDFComputer simulations provide cost effective methods for manipulating and modeling 'reality'. However they are not real. They are imitations of a system or event, real or fabricated, and as such mimic, duplicate or represent that system or event. The degree to which a computer simulation aligns with and reproduces the ‘reality’ of the system or event it attempts to mimic or duplicate depends upon many factors including the efficiency of the simulation algorithm, the processing power of the computer hardware used to run the simulation model, and the expertise, assumptions and prejudices of those concerned with designing, implementing and interpreting the simulation output. Computer simulations in particular are increasingly replacing physical experimentation in many disciplines, and as a consequence, are used to underpin quite significant decision-making which may impact on ‘innocent’ third parties. In this context, this paper examines two interrelated issues: Firstly, how much and what kind of information should a simulation builder be required to disclose to potential users of the simulation? Secondly, what are the implications for a decision-maker who acts on the basis of their interpretation of a simulation output without any reference to its veracity, which may in turn comprise the safety of other parties
Stakeholder Safety in Information Systems Research
Get PDFInformation Communication Technology (ICT) researchers adapt and use tools from reference and cognate disciplines. This application of existing tools outside the context of their development has implications beyond the immediate problem context. ICT researchers have access to a wide variety of data sources including newer ones, such as the Internet, that may bring unexpected outcomes. ICT research can impact on researchers, their institutions and the researched in unexpected ways. People so affected are the stakeholders in ICT research activities. Reputations, welfare and property may be put at risk by unplanned events described in this paper. Legal aspects of ICT research are broadly identified and linked to the tort of negligence. The Social Research Association’s Code for researcher safety is described and its application extended to include the Internet as a potential data source. A common set of underlying ethical principles is identified suggesting that the ICT researcher can refine particular research protocols for specific social contexts
Characterising Information Systems in Australia: A Theoretical Framework
Get PDFThe study reported in this volume aims to investigate the state of the Information Systems academic discipline in Australia from a historical and current perspective, collecting evidence across a range of dimensions. To maximise the strategic potential of the study, the results need to be capable of integration, so that the relationships within and across the dimensions and geographical units are understood. A meaningful theoretical framework will help relate the results of the different dimensions of the study to characterise the discipline in the region, and assist in empowering the Australian IS research community. This paper reviewed literature on the development of disciplines, before deriving a theoretical framework for the broader study reported in this volume. The framework considered the current and past state of IS in Australian universities from the perspective of the development of a discipline. The components of the framework were derived and validated through a thematic analysis of both the IS and non-IS literature. This paper also presents brief vignettes of the development of two other related disciplines. The framework developed in this paper, which has been partly guided by Whitley’s Theory of Scientific Change, has been used to analyse data collated from the Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory. The degree of variation in Australian IS as an indication of its “professionalisation”, the nature of its body of knowledge and its mechanisms of control, will be used to frame the analysis. Research reported in several of the papers that follow in this volume has drawn upon the theoretical framework presented below