A draft, "Discipline Research Strategy for Information Technology", was released 8 August 1997 by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
This is one hundred page report by government, industry and academic experts has been a full year in the making. It was funded by the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, with additional funding and expertise from the Australian Computer Society (ACS).
I am a member of the project steering committee while Dr Bernard Robertson-Dunn is the ACS nominee on the working party. The draft report and background material is available from the ACS home page at: http://www.acs.org.au/president/1996/drsit/
However, a one hundred page report by IT experts doesn't make for light reading. Also the report is currently in PDF format, which is very difficult to browse on-line. Therefore I will be preparing easier to read summaries of the highlights of the report over the coming days. The fist instalment is this document, which provides the Recommendations, Executive Summary, Terms of Reference, Table of Contents and Preface in a format suitable for browsing on-line or printing.
You may notice that the recommendations are not listed in numerical order. The numbering comes from the order they appear in the body of the report. The first draft of the report had them listed from 1 to 25 at the front of the report. However, this was difficult to grasp and I suggested they be grouped by topic, under a set of headings:Please note that this guide was prepared from the PDF version of the draft report, as issued 8 August 1997. There may have been subsequent updates and there may be transcription errors in this guide.
I am preparing a presentation on the report, to be delivered live, or pre-recorded (with sound and synchronised slides). Please contact me if you are interested in a live presentation, either in person at your venue, or delivered via video/audio conference from here in Canberra.
One of my contributions which did not make it into the report was that, after some research in the UK and Australia, what researchers really needed to do their work was: better coffee. ;-) What was accepted was the importance of informal contact in research collaboration, the need for research resources not to be too thinly spread, and the need for industry collaboration to count in the reward schemes of academia. I would like to thank the directors and staff of the Olivetti & Oracle Research Laboratory, ARM and the University of Cambridge Computer Lab in the UK, and CelsiusTech, Motorola Software Centre, and the Co-operative Research Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing in Adelaide for their assistance.
The ACS made a very substantial submission to the Information Industries Taskforce in February. That submission was also made available for this Discipline Research Strategy. The ACS is currently preparing a submission to the Review of Higher Education and contributions would be welcome.
Tom Worthington
ACS President & member of the project steering committee
10 August 1997
Recommendation 6 : In view of the economic significance of IT and given the size of the IT research sector, it is essential that the ARC clearly identify this category in its assessment panel structure and consider making the following changes:
Recommendation 8 : The relevant government agencies should establish better promotion and coordination of government funding programs for IT Research.
universities must establish procedures which encourage high achieving school leavers to enter IT courses at the tertiary level.
Secondly, it shows that the present situation falls short of this vision in a number of respects. The scale of IT research in Australia is much less than is warranted by the importance of the discipline. The balance of research in Australia is noticeably different from the situation in USA, Japan and other successful economies. We are leaders in research in agriculture and medicine, while those countries are paying much more attention to engineering and information technology. The industries which have served us well in the past, and which still need support, are being overtaken in economic importance by new activities related to the knowledge economy.
Finally, a number of recommendations are made which, if implemented, would become the foundation block in bringing our performance in IT research closer to its desired state.
The group of disciplines which constitute IT are relatively young, but now have a profound effect on our economy and on our lives. Every indication is that countries which are leaders in IT will gain in prosperity, while those which simply import their technology will suffer relative decline. National governments around the world, including those in our region, are competing strongly in the arena of IT activity. Some have already gained an advantage by attracting multinational IT companies to set up production facilities. In the long term, the greatest benefit will be achieved through industry strongly supported by local research and development.
IT is an enabling discipline. IT research spreads across three dimensions: It supports the IT industry, which is growing and changing as a result of the convergence of the giant telecommunication industry, computer hardware and software industries, and broadcast media. Currently, much attention is being paid to the new possibilities arising from the Internet.
Along with the pharmaceutical industry, the IT industry is a heavy investor in research and development. Ten to twenty percent of revenues needs to ploughed back into innovation if a company is to have a chance of remaining competitive. Unfortunately the multinationals which operate in Australia generally spend these research dollars elsewhere.
IT supports other industry by providing new or enhanced products and services. Some of these are general purpose products, for example those used in the office. Other research is directed at specific needs in a particular industry, such as health or some branch of manufacturing.
Much IT research is multi disciplinary, since much ground-breaking work in other disciplines can only proceed by applying IT in new ways, requiring the collaboration of researchers from two or more disciplines.
xii By supporting these activities, IT benefits society as a whole in the new services it provides, in the benefit to social prosperity through employment opportunities, access to knowledge and information, enhanced communication and in improvement in the balance of overseas trade.
The national benefit which comes from local investment in IT research principally comes in two ways, both of which may be somewhat surprising. The first benefit comes from the pool of skilled and knowledgeable people which it provides. Transfer of knowledge into industry comes more from personal contacts and movement of personnel than it does from published information. Industry gains more benefit by employing highly trained individuals to carry out research and development than it does by reading the research literature.
The second benefit comes from the ability to use research taking place in other countries.
Australia will always carry out only a small proportion of international research in any discipline. But unless Australia is making a credible contribution in IT research activity then its research institutions and its industrial IT R&D personnel will lack access to international networks which is so important for leadership in today's fast moving technical scene.
Currently, Australia's performance both in the IT industry and in IT research have fallen behind both international leaders and emerging nations. We have a large trade deficit of about four to one in IT products and services. While it might be both impractical to completely redress this balance, we will be remiss in our responsibility to the nation if we simply let the gap widen in a sector which is an increasing component of world trade.
Australia needs to strengthen its IT research both in quantity and quality. This is particularly true in the industrial sector, where our lag behind so many nations is most pronounced.
Additional financial support is necessary but other changes are needed as well.
We need a continual supply of top quality graduates entering research programmes. The current supply is insufficient.
The government support of research in both private and public institutions needs to be better coordinated.
We need better incentives to encourage industrial R&D.
We need better mechanisms for developing cooperation between academic researchers and industry.
The government was responsible for initiating this review, and many of the recommendations are directed to the federal government. Other recommendations are directed to university administrators, to IT researchers and to the industry and its affiliate bodies
To prepare a strategy for the development of research in information technology (IT) in Australia over the next 10-15 years.
To evaluate the benefits of Australian IT research for Australian industry and for the well-being of Australian society, and to develop strategies to increase its contribution to both.
1. Introduction: 1
1.1 Background: 1
1.2 Vision: 2
1.3 Definitions: 3
1.4 Context of the
Report: 4
1.5 Overview of Report: 5
2. Importance of IT: 6
2.1 An Enabling Technology: 7
2.2 National Attitudes: 8
2.2.1 Americans
are in the forefront: : 8
2.2.2: along with the Canadians: 9
2.2.3: and
the Europeans: : 10
2.2.4: and the Malaysians…: 10
2.2.5: and in New
Zealand: 11
2.2.6: which brings us to Australia: 11
2.3 The Future: 12
3. Importance of IT Research: 16
3.1 Outputs from IT Research: 16
3.1.1 IT Research and People: 16
3.1.2
Products and Services: 18
3.2 Stakeholders: 18
3.2.1 IT Research and
Industry: 18
3.2.1 IT Research and Industry: 18
3.2.1.1 The use of
overseas research: 19
3.2.2 IT Research and the Community: 20
3.2.2 IT
Research and the Community: 20
3.2.2.1 IT research and trade: 20
3.2.3
Interdisciplinary Research: 22
3.2.3 Interdisciplinary Research: 22
3.2.4
The History of Government Intervention in IT Research: 24
3.2.4 The History
of Government Intervention in IT Research.: 24
3.3 IT Research Support:
26
3.4 Picking Winners: 26
3.5 Summary: 26
4. Current Situation: 27
4.1 State of the Information Industries: 27
4.1.2 IT and Changing Trends in
Employment: 29
4.1.3 Balance of Trade: 33
4.1.4 Market Failure: 35
4.2
The State of IT Research in Australia: 35
4.3 The Balance of IT Research:
37
4.3.1 Comparative Analysis: 37
4.3.2 Trends in Comparative Advantage:
39
4.3.3 Funding: 40
4.3.4 Collaborative Mechanisms in IT: 42
4.3.4.1
Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs): 42
4.3.4.2 Partnerships for
Development (PfD): 43
4.4 Participants in IT Research: 44
4.5 Funding
Mechanisms for IT Research: 47
4.5.1 Ministerial Responsibility: 49
4.5.2
State Government Initiatives: 50
4.5.2.1 Victoria: 50
4.5.2.2 South
Australia: 51
4.5.2.3 Queensland: 51
4.6 Education and Training for IT
Research: 51
4.6.1 Community Perceptions: 51
4.6.2 Present and Future
Industry Requirements: 52
4.6.3 The Structure of IT Research Training:
52
4.7 The Relationship Between Private and Public Sector Research:
54
4.8 Industry Investment in IT Research: 56
4.9 Observations - A Global
Outlook: 57
4.9.1 Ireland: 57
4.9.2 Taiwan: 57
4.9.3 Malaysia:
58
4.10 Summary: 60
4.11 Key Observations: 60
5. The Way Forward: 61
5.1 Structural Changes: 61
5.1.1 Ministerial Responsibility: 61
5.1.2
Increased Funding for IT Research: 62
5.1.3 Facilitating Collaborative
Research: 65
5.2 Raising the Priority of IT Research: 66
5.2.1 IT-related
Cooperative Research Centres: 66
5.2.2 Processing of Large ARC Grants for
IT: 66
5.3 Funding Mechanisms: 68
5.3.1 Government Funding Programs:
68
5.3.2 Basic Research: 68
5.4 Education and Training: 70
5.4.1
Relationship between IT discipline areas: 70
5.4.2 Attracting the Best
Students: 70
5.4.3 Industrial Experience for IT Academics: 71
5.4.4
Experimental Paradigm for IT Research: 72
5.4.5 Funding Parity: 73
5.4.6
Research Training for Industry: 74
5.5 Promotion and Awareness: 74
5.5.1
Government Policy: 74
5.5.2 Forums on Importance of IT: 76
5.5.3
Professional Associations: 77
5.6 International Relationships: 77
5.6.1
International Interactions in Research Training: 78
5.6.2 International
Collaboration in Research: 79
5.6.3 International Visitors: 80
5.6.4
International Networking Infrastructure: 80
5.6.5 Partnerships for
Development Program: 81
5.6.6 Regional R&D Headquarters for MNCs: 81
Appendix 1 Committee Membership: 82
Appendix 2 Methodology: 83
Appendix 3
Submissions: 84
Appendix 4 Consultations: 85
Appendix 5 Forum
Participants: 89
Appendix 6 The Ontario Model: 94
Appendix 7 Government
Funding Mechanisms for IT Research: 96
Bibliography: 99
The aim of each review is to identify goals for the discipline in Australia for the next ten to fifteen years and to suggest strategies for reaching these goals.
The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering has been commissioned to undertake this study into Information Technology Research in Australia and it has formed the Working Group and the Steering Committee for the task.
Although the subject matter of this report is research, the primary audience for this report is not the academic research community. IT research is too important and far reaching to be left solely to its practitioners. Although some of the recommendations are directed to the university and research community, many significant directives are directed towards other stakeholders, many of whom have contributed to this review.