1997 Swinburne Higher Education Handbook

Centre for Information Systems
Research
Director
Associate Professor Paul Swatman
v, Research Administrator
1.
3 Ms Desiree Pretorius
0-
5 Telephone: 9214 5249 Fax: 9819 0129
3
'D Email: cisr@swin.edu.au
6
2 Internet: http://www.cisr.swin.edu.au
The Centre for Information Systems Research (CISR) was
established in November of 1994 as a focus for basic and
applied research into Information Systems within an
~r~anisational or social context. Although its members
were originally drawn primarily from the School of
Information Systems, the projects undertaken by the Centre
have attracted researchers from a wide range of backgrounds
including Sociology, Philosophy, Economics, Multimedia
communications and Software Engineering. The CISR has
strong links with other researchers and research centres in
Australia and overseas, including the Centre for Object
Technology and Research (COTAR) at University of
Technology, Sydney and at Swinburne University of
Technology; Centres for the Study of Electronic Commerce
at the University of Maribor in Slovenia and at the
University of Denver and the University of Baltimore in the
USA; researchers at Monash University and the University
of Queensland
Major projects at present include:
FOOM - A Method for High-Quality IS Development:
FOOM was developed by synthesis and logical argument,
drawing on research in a number of largely independent
areas across the breadth of the information systems and
software engineering domains. Our research has
demonstrated that the FOOM approach can be used
beneficially in a typical IS environment. FOOM is
currently ;ndergbkg evaluation and enhancement, support
tools are being designed. The FOOM project also forms a
basis for collaboration with COTAR on the OPEN project.
Virtual Communities and Organisations:
Modern telecommunications enable the emergence of new
organisational forms (virtual organisations) and is
encouraging existing organisations to restructure internally.
In turn, these changes to organisations and organisational
forms enable electronic commerce (EC). We focus on the
potential impact of telecommunications on rural
communities; and (in collaboration with the Centres for the
Study of Electronic Commerce at the University of Maribor
in Slovenia and at the University of Denver in the USA) on
Modelling the EC-capable Organisation.
Electronic Commerce for small and medium enterprises
(SMEs).
The Social Dimensions of Information Technology:
The aim of this project is to undertake a thorough survey of
the literature on the social implications of the impact of
information technology enabled ~r~anisational change. It is
already clear that most studies of business process
reengineering are conducted from an implicit economicrationalist
philosophical standpoint. It is clear, however,
that one could also legitimately view the social engineering
involved from a subjective perspective.
Application-Oriented Conceptual Modelling: The aim of
the AOCM project is to contribute to the goal of an
improved approach to conceptual modelling. The use of the
term "Application-Oriented" in the name is intended not
only to indicate the comprehensive nature of what is being
sought, but also to emphasize that a practical outcome is
required.
ED1 Research Agora:
The aims of this project are to provide a resource for
researchers in Electronic Commerce - especially EDI.
IS Management for the 90s:
The impact of quality on the management of IT is addressed
in a number of research projects
Information Technology Induced Organisational Change:
The focus of this programme of research is on organisational
change induced by Information Technology, primarily but
not exclusively as a result of formal Strategic Information
Systems Planning (SISP).
The Design and Evaluation of Hypermedia-based Systems:
We are investigating measurement of the quality of
Hypermedia products, especially those used for training and
educational purposes.
Innovation and Technology:
The focus is on the industrial use of Intelligent Systems,
which comprise expert systems, artificial neural nets, case
based reasoning systems, constraint based languages, etc.
CISR has compiled and maintains a data base of intelligent
systems.
The Telecommunications Policy Dimension of
Information Svstems:
including:
The use of International Benchmarks of Performance to
Assess Telstra's performance Against Best Practice.
Australia's Telecommunications International Business
Prospects in the Indian Telecommunications Markets.
Licensing in the Field of Telecommunications: A Cross
Country Analysis of Principles, Policies and
Experiences.
The Philosophical Implications of Computing:
This project considers the philosophical implications of
theory and practice of Artificial Intelligence, Expert
Systems, Neural Nets and connectionist models of thought.