1. Introduction

1. Society is undergoing a fundamental transformation from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. This transformation is characterised by explosive growth in the generation of information, exponential demand for its use and a continually shrinking life cycle of information. It is a global phenomenon with very significant local implications affecting all people, organisations, societies and nations, although not at the same pace or to the same degree. It brings with it new challenges and opportunities for higher education. Further change is inevitable and there is scope for Information Technology (IT) and Systems¹ to play an increasingly important role in the development of higher education. The sector will continue to be at the forefront in the innovative use of information technology both by building on current facilities, to ensure they are properly exploited, and by continuing to take part in far-sighted and imaginative research and development.

2. The Standing Committee on Information Resources (SCIR) of the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee seeks to promote the exploitation and use of information technology to the benefit of the higher education sector by supporting leading edge IT and providing advice to the Universities. This paper has been produced by Associate Professor John Winship of Curtin University of Technology on behalf of the Committee as an issues paper to encourage discussion and help decision-making regarding the issues. It is based largely on the issues paper "Exploiting Information Systems in Higher Education", published by the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in April 1995 with additional material from the clarifying report "The Future of Post-Secondary Education and the Role of Information and Communication Technology", restricted report, OECD, December 1994, which was co-authored by Associate Professor Winship, and other sources. The use of material from these sources is gratefully acknowledged.

3. The paper attempts to help Universities meet the challenges ahead by:

• identifying possible trends in higher education over the next ten years;
• describing how IT can support the achievement of this vision in a cost effective manner;
• clearly defining the issues ahead.

4. Before attempting to identify trends in IT that will influence the higher education community in the year 2005, it is useful to consider the current environment. The removal of the binary divide has yielded a greatly expanded sector rich in diversity. Political and economic pressures are leading to considerable efficiency gains and improvements in the quality of processes in institutions. This challenge is being met by new modes of teaching, modularisation and semesterisation and more efficient use of assets, such as: longer teaching days; increased consultancy; exploitation of patents and intellectual property; and conference use of residences. There are growing demands for post-experience adult education to meet the increased skills needed by industry, as well as a healthy demand for higher education from school leavers. Demographic factors and the current employment climate are relevant and will vary over time requiring institutions to be flexible and speedy in their response to change. As students pay more towards the cost of their education they will adopt the role of paying customers and their demands for relevant courses, delivered in a convenient manner, with clearly focused career earning potential will increase. The higher education market place will become more competitive; attracting students of the right calibre will be paramount. Some parts of it may move closer to the USA model.

5. There are a number of components to consider in deploying IT initiatives: technology, funding, cultural factors and the management of change. These factors have to be correctly balanced and synchronised.

6. After a brief review of existing and likely developments in information technology and systems over the next ten years the paper will concentrate on the following opportunities where they have much to offer:

• The teaching and learning experience with a particular emphasis on open and flexible learning both on campus and in the home and workplace to meet the demands for continuous on and off campus education.
• The role of Universities in the local, regional and global environment.
• Research techniques especially collaborative distance research and the virtual laboratory.
• Exploiting IT in running "the business" and campus.

7. Any attempt at a full prediction of the IT market ten years hence would be bound to fail as technology moves so fast. A strategy written in the 1960s was unlikely to have predicted the growth of personal computing and a strategy written before the war would not have predicted the electronic computer at all. It is therefore considered sensible to highlight some of the important shorter term issues initially.

8. It does not follow that SCIR will be involved in all these areas although it will seek to facilitate relevant IT developments and good practice. The purpose of this Issues Paper is to start a debate focused on the ways in which IT can help meet the challenges facing the academic and research community; for this reason there is deliberately no chapter of recommendations at this stage. SCIR will consult with the community and other interested bodies and then seek to produce a set of development opportunities and suggest ways of promoting appropriate initiatives.

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