The MobiCert Mobile Information Community for Organic Primary Producers: a South Australian Prototype

Mobile technology and m-Commerce are transforming our digital economy to a mobile one, with new markets and mobile services worldwide. Today, the importance of communication and information access in a timely and efficient manner is critical for many industries: particularly those in rural and regional areas, due to their often limited Internet access and mobile coverage. This paper presents the findings of the MobiCert project, which investigated the use of mobile technology to improve communication and information access within one of these rural industries using a Rapid Appraisal approach. As a proof-of-concept project, MobiCert focused the development of a mobile information community for organic primary producers in rural South Australia to improve their stakes in the Mobile Revolution. The extremely positive acceptance of the MobiCert solution by organic primary producers illustrated the significant potential mobile technology has to improve rural farm life in Australia

Linking eCommerce and human resource strategies: a case study in a large Australian retail bank

The implementation of eCommerce technologies has considerably changed how employees in the banking industry interact with customers. For example, some customers use electronic banking applications to such an extent that they find little or no need to go into a branch. This change has had a significant impact on the way that jobs are designed and the way that employees are being managed. The preliminary findings from the case study of a large bank in Australia indicate that moving customers out of the branch to an online environment has created unforeseen issues for the way employees interact with customers and this in turn has changed the way that they do their jobs. The key challenge for banks in the future is how to form effective relationships with customers without some kind of face-to-face interaction. This impacts how organisations recruit and retain their staff as well as the level and type of skills required for jobs redesigned after the implementation of eCommerce applications. It is also an important factor in employee satisfaction.<br /

Standing on the shoulders of giants : Are ERP success factors relevant for EDRMS implementation?

Records management has been a central concern for organisations in both private and public sectors since the beginning of the 21st century. This new focus is due both to the introduction of laws, regulations and standards affecting corporate information management; and to the way records are changing from paper-based to &ldquo;born-digital&rdquo; and &ldquo;made-digital&rdquo;. The need for an effective automated system to manage records is now greater than ever, with Electronic Document and Records Management Systems (EDRMS) being the most likely solution. Despite their increasing popularity, however, successful uptake of such systems is not yet widespread and research into their implementation is still limited. This paper investigates the possibility of applying existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) models to EDRMS by analysing the substantial body of literature on success factors for ERP implementation, both qualitatively and quantitatively; and then comparing these with the still relatively limited literature on EDRMS.<br /

Australian public sector adoption of EDRMS : a preliminary survey

Governments around the world are placing increasing emphasis on effective corporate recordkeeping within both private and public sector organisations, with some governments mandating such approaches: for example, The State Government of South Australia has required all its agencies to have \u27an adequate records management program\u27 in place by the end of 2009 (State Records of South Australia 2007). These demands are often met through the implementation of centralised electronic records management solutions &ndash; frequently, Electronic Document and Records Management Systems (EDRMS) &ndash; but not all implementing organisations adopt an EDRMS solution in the most optimal way; and many such systems fail to meet organisational needs, or gain acceptance form all (or even most) users. This paper reports on a Web-based survey of Australian public sector EDRMS implementation at three levels (federal, state and local government) and forms the first component of a multi-part investigation of Australian public sector records management. This preliminary survey was designed to identify the EDRMS solutions adopted by government agencies, as well as any guidelines or frameworks used in designing and implementing those solutions.<br /

Implementing Information Management Strategically: An Australian EDRMS Case Study

Organisations in both private and public sectors are increasingly becoming aware of the need to take a strategic approach to the management of corporate information and records. In this paper we present a case study of a successful Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) implementation within a major Australian capital city council. Guided by Ward and Peppard’s strategic systems framework (2002), the case study highlights a set of strategies which were responsible for the successful outcome of the implementation – and shows just how crucial it is for any organisation to bring with it the people and the processes involved in the creation, management and maintenance of records and information, if a centralised approach is to work over the longer term

e-Learning Readiness of Hong Kong Teachers Teddy So

Hong Kong is trying to transform itself into an Information Society. Reforms have been introduced in many aspects of life and, in particular, education over the past few years. The latest reform requires all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong to implement their own e-learning platform, and teachers from all disciplines are encouraged to integrate elearning in their own discipline in the coming years (EMB, 2004). The Economist ranks the overall e-learning readiness of Hong Kong as 19 th out of 60 countries surveyed (The Economist, 2003). As the methods of delivering an online curriculum are new and very different from those used in traditional teaching, instructors must be trained to make the most of updated teaching methods. A significant body of literature (see, for example, Heinrich, 1995; Fullan, 1994 or Wang, 2002) suggests that the way teachers teach is a product of their own schooling, training and experiences. It is unfair to ask teachers to change their pedagogical approaches if they have not been given sufficient and appropriate training program on how to integrate new ICT technologies in their teaching. Adopting a pilot survey method, this research studies the readiness of Hong Kong teachers for e-Learning. Results indicate that teachers in Hong Kong are not yet fully prepared to use e-learning technologies for teaching and learning. Differences in readiness were perceived between male and female teachers, secondary and primary school teachers; and teachers from different secondary school ‘bandings’. Finally, factor analysis was applied to identify those factors affecting the e-learning readiness of Hong Kong teachers. Based on the factors identified, some recommendations are made to assist in solving the problems teachers face. 1