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The education and training sector has an additional challenge raised as a
consequence of greater reliance on e-commerce. That is to produce
people with the set of skills and abilities that will be needed in the future
economy. The greater challenges and opportunity were summarised by
Professor Alan Gilbert of the University of Melbourne:
‘…modern internationalised economies will need the support of advanced
educational and training institutions [as] demand for the advanced human skills,
operating more and more in an international marketplace, greatly outstrips the
supply. In a knowledge—based economy, ‘knowledge workers’ are the most
valuable resource, and nations unable to produce and re-produce them are ipso
facto resource poor.’
Professor Alan D. Gilbert, 1997
R J White Services Lecture, p. 6
10.6 External dimensions
The impact of e-commerce to the Australian education sector will depend
on how successfully it can compete in this increasingly global arena.
As distance education goes online, massive changes will occur in the education
sector. This will be a refinement of existing services and improved provision of
these services, with all the world as a market. The international implications are
both positive and negative. On the plus side, more overseas students will be able
to study with Australian institutions, but more Australians will be able to study
with overseas institutions.
Interview: Stewart Marshall, Central Queensland University,
IRG member, 21 July 1999
Australia has been a significant exporter of education in recent years
(i.e. an importer of foreign students). To date, Australia has not suffered
significant loss of revenue offshore. As the risk has increased of that
revenue being competed away by other countries (including the students’
countries of origin), universities in particular have adapted their strategies
by establishing strategic relationships in key overseas markets, and
acquiring or building offshore campuses.
For some degree programs, high-prestige institutions could use their
reputation to attract students who would otherwise attend a local facility.
However, fears that information technologies may adversely affect
education date back to the radio and surfaced again with the advent of
television and video cassette recorders. Such fears were groundless, and
the same may be true for the Internet growth of e-commerce. 26
Instead, owing to the Internet’s ease of access and convenience for
distance learning, overall demand will probably expand, leading to
growth in this segment of e-commerce but little displacement of existing
programs. Nevertheless, competition should increase as geographical
constraints subside. Once the domain of somewhat unconventional
educational institutions, distance learning is now offered by a wide
number of prestigious institutions.
26 OECD 1999, p. 46.
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