The University of Ballarat Research Team held a number of meetings, both internal as well as with the Ballarat ICT Steering Committee to confirm the workshop structure, activities and requirements. Once a suitable workshop date and methodology were identified, the team organised a centrally located venue (University of Ballarat SMB campus) and catering for the workshops.
Email invitations were extended to members of the Ballarat ICT Steering Committee, survey participants and other interested stakeholders. The goal was to ensure that a suitable mix of participants would be in attendance. Two 3-hour workshops were scheduled for 22 November 2005, one morning workshop and one afternoon workshop. Nine participants attended both the morning and afternoon sessions. This included members of the UB research team.
The workshops commenced with an overview of the Ballarat ICT Cluster project activities to date. Participants were then asked to provide input into identifying what they considered to be the key strengths and weaknesses of the ICT industry in Ballarat.
In undertaking a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis with participants, the Research Team aimed at extrapolating participants' views on what they saw as the key threats to the ICT cluster; what they saw as the core opportunities for the future; and what core imperatives needed to be addressed to enhance the ICT industry in Ballarat in general and the development of an ICT cluster in particular.
Participants were provided with a set of coloured sticky notes and asked to identify and then write down strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats on individual sticky notes and subsequently post them on one of four sheets of butcher's paper (labelled strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) which were set out on a table near the tea and coffee making facilities. By combining of individual inputs in this way participants were able to gain a collective view of the Ballarat ICT cluster strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Following this exercise participants were asked to identify core imperatives to improve the ICT industry in Ballarat. Participants were asked to identify what their key concerns were; why these concerns were important; and how these concerns would best be addressed.
Participants were then asked to start thinking about the future in terms of how to progress the development of the cluster. They were asked to consider what key activities were needed; what they could do themselves and what additional resources or support would be required.
As part of the SWOT analysis undertaken during the workshops, participants in both workshop sessions identified the following strengths in the ICT cluster:
- Infrastructure:
- Education
- Communications
- Technology park
- Local and state government support
- Broad spectrum of ICT businesses
- Dynamic core ICT group
- Innovative, experienced
Participants in both workshop sessions identified the following weaknesses in the ICT cluster:
- Poor access to skills and capability/know how
- Lack of interaction between existing companies
- Engagement
- Cohesion
- Knowledge of capabilities
- Size
- Marketing
Participants in both workshop sessions identified the following threats in the ICT cluster:
- Failure to build relationships with large IT firms
- Losing opportunities to companies outside the region (particularly Melbourne)
- Other IT clusters in Victoria (shift focus from Ballarat)
- Globalisation
- Doing nothing
- Continued 'escape' spending
- Regulation and compliance with standards
- Ongoing product support
- Lack of personnel with time, energy and focus to generate results for cluster members
- Lack of trust between firms
- Local organisations who prefer not to engage with cluster
Participants in both workshop sessions identified the following opportunities in the ICT cluster:
- Joint collaborative work (hardware, software, marketing, export, strategic management)
- Capture information on new and existing firms
- Attract more businesses to the cluster
- Bridge between demand and supply of skills and labour
- Find new ways of communicating existing and new capabilities
- Open regional offices representing the larger IT providers
- Economies of scale
- Service for scanning tenders, building consortiums, etc.
- Joint collaborative work
- Complementary businesses
- Leveraging to achieve scale
- Joint ventures for large projects
- Cluster group to actively engage and encourage inter-firm collaboration
- Enticement of regional location
- Increasing reliance on ICT (e-commerce, etc.)
Participants in both workshop sessions identified the core imperatives to be addressed in the ICT cluster as:
- Leadership
- centralised body or person to drive cluster; access to opportunities; matching services; sales, marketing, branding
- Business development
- accessing metropolitan, interstate and global markets; commercialisation; skills augmentation
- Sustained communication
- networking, breakfasts; website; newsletters; SMS; best practice forums; new technologies and trends
- Information and knowledge flows
- knowledge of new firms; local capabilities; competition versus collaboration
Participants in both workshop sessions identified the best approach to addressing the core imperatives as a:
- Stage-based approach
- Short-term: capture information on firms; find new ways to communicate; stimulate cluster activities and improve latent cluster conditions
- Longer term: establish sustainable cluster governance model; build the cluster culture; build Ballarat brand; achieve and collaborate on larger projects; function as an active cluster
Based on workshop outcomes and subsequent consultation with members of the Steering Committee the Ballarat ICT cluster vision and mission were then formulated.
Prev
Next