ACS participation (and funding) of the project was conditional on extensive consultation being carried out. This had to include making drafts of the report available on the Internet; providing an e-mail discussion group; and forums at IT conferences. The ACS offered to assist with these.
A number of forums have been held. However the impression I have from informal remarks from participants is that there has been good participation by academics, but not from industry.
The project has a useful web page working and a discussion forum. However, it does not appear to have reached out, either on-line or via the conventional media to its intended audience. I don't recall reading any postings in the newsgroups and lists I subscribe to, apart from the ones from the ACS. The project has also only issued one media release and appears to have issued no discussion or background papers.
Preparing this report is an opportunity to showcase and "sell" Australian IT research. The ACS issued a media release asking researchers and business leaders to be involved in the project. However the real obligation is on IT researchers, who are the ones who want resources (money) and need to justify why this would be a worthwhile investment. Otherwise the community could ask why it should continue to fund IT R&D through government research grants and tax breaks.
There are useful proposals for the project to consider in previous reports, including Australia's Science and Engineering Base for Information and Communications and Chapter 5.2 of "Developing Long-Term Strategies for Science and Technology in Australia", by ASTEC.
A problem, due to the devolved nature of the Australian Government, is the number of separate enquiries and committees. Currently there are the: National Information Industries Strategy, by the Information Industries Taskforce for DIST, the Information Industries Competitiveness Study, by a consortium of The Allen Consulting Group Pty Ltd, Roger Allen & Associates Pty Ltd and Cutler & Company Pty Ltd for DIST and the Information Policy Advisory Council, chaired by Dr Terry Cutler for DoCA. These are working on aspects of IT which overlap with each other and with the IT R&D project.
A similar problem of proliferating enquiries was encountered a few years ago with InfoBahn policy. The ACS responded by preparing one report to all enquiries and conducting a public discussion of all the issues, particularly via the Internet. Something similar may be required now.
In November I will be meeting with the Presidents of IT societies from around the world in the UK. I hope to be able to discuss some of the issues of the current project there.