Case Study: The State of Information Systems in Queensland Universities

Abstract

nature of the state. Relative to its population, Queensland has a large number of universities, each of which is engaged in Information Systems teaching and research. The study reveals little evidence of a distinctive Queensland-flavour of Information Systems. Rather, there is a diversity of curriculum approaches and an equally broad range of research foci and approaches to research. Two of the state’s regional universities are notable for the relative strength of their IS presence, in terms of number of IS staff, number of IS students and range of campuses across which IS is taught. The breadth of topics and approaches to IS in Queensland is evidenced by the existence of separate, competing IS groups in two of the largest universities; in each case, one of the IS groups is highly technical in orientation while the other is Business oriented. Across the nine Queensland universities there is wide variability in terms of the administrative location of the Information Systems academic staff in the university structure. The study assesses the state of IS in Queensland universities in relation to criteria indicative of the maturity of a discipline. Measured against these criteria, Information Systems in Queensland universities cannot be considered a mature, distinct academic discipline.