EXPERTS PANEL

The fourth panel session in the 'Our Future Information and Communications Technology Needs' panels was facilitated by Prof Julian Lowe, Director of the Centre for Regional Innovation and Competitiveness (CRIC) with assistance from Sasha Ivkovic and Kathleen Keogh of the School of Information Technology and Mathematical Science at the University of Ballarat. This event was held between 4 pm and 6 pm on 30 November 2006 at the Conference Room, Greenhill Enterprise Centre on the University of Ballarat Technology Park.

Background

Ballarat has sought to position itself as a regional centre for the ICT industry in Australia. It has ICT employment a little above the average for similar regional cities but lags behind the larger metropolitan areas in ICT employment and the production of ICT goods and services.

The fourth and final panel is specifically concerned with the evolution of ICT into the future, and the opportunities and points of intervention that arise from this for Ballarat. This session is a precursor to the research team developing scenarios for the ICT industry in general and Ballarat in particular.

A taxonomy of ICT for the purposes of these workshops includes:

• Software, Hardware, Data, E-Business

By:

• Users and producers
• Maintenance and technical support
• Research, design and development
• Training, sales and vendor support
  • In large, medium, small, public and private organizations

Looking forward to 2030 we seek to answer the following:

How will the structure of the industry evolve over the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years?

• Dominance of existing and development of new ˜players ™
• Barriers to entry
• Competition between ICT enterprises
• Embeddedness of providers in user organizations
• Convergence of industry standards
• Regulatory regimes
• Speed of adoption by customers
• Fundamental changes in business models and processes

How will technology change over the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years?

• Radical new technologies
• Role of lead users
• Incremental development of existing technologies
• Functionality and prices
• New players dominate innovation
• Old players dominate innovation
• Innovation focused in specific geographic locations
• Innovative activity dispersed

How will the market and customers change over the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years?

• Price sensitivity
• Knowledge of ICT
• Specific requirements

Which technical areas are likely to see the most innovation?

What effect will economic growth have on ICT development?

What is the potential for major ICT disasters?

What impact would those have on growth and development of ICT?

What is the ONE thing you think needs to happen for Ballarat to prepare for and benefit from the evolving ICT future?

Click here to find out more about Panel Members