Abstract
The authors of this chapter examine the current state of the development of information systems (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 Holwell 1998), which are found to be of relevance to historical developments.
Table of Contents
Western Australia is the largest state in Australia, spanning 2400 km from north to south and encompassing more than 2.5 million square kilometres. The state is fairly isolated from the rest of Australia and still maintains something of a ‘frontier’ mentality. This is compounded by the low population, with only two million inhabitants, approximately 73 per cent of whom live in the capital city of Perth, which has a current population of 1.5 million. The rest of Western Australia is populated by small country towns, which are typically remote from other centres and many of which lack basic infrastructure such as health and education services. In particular, broadband access is variable and information and communication technology (ICT) services can be poor.
The capital city of Perth has the dubious reputation of being the most remote city in the world, being as close to Singapore as it is to Sydney and a five-hour flight from either. This has compensations since Perth is on the same time zone as the Asian centres of Hong Kong and Singapore and hence is attractive for international collaboration in business and, indeed, in education. The remoteness of the state has, however, meant that few businesses headquarter in Western Australia and, as such, collaboration with local industry becomes a problem since they tend to favour states where they are headquartered. The state also derives most of its revenue from the minerals and oil industries, with the majority of large companies associated with mining in some form.
These location factors have impacted on the development of WA universities, since, while all four public universities are based in Perth, they all have a remit to service the whole state and so typically have remote campuses across Western Australia. Additionally, all universities have substantial external offerings, which initially targeted the distant WA population but now recruit from a global community. The WA population has remained fairly stable but is now forecast to grow; however, the growth in university students has come largely from out-of-state enrolments and, specifically, from Asia.