Introduction
The use of information and communications technologies in higher education is pervasive. A recent DEST survey indicates that about 54 per cent of the more than 90,000 units of study available at Australian universities are web-supported. Online delivery of courses and the provision of online support services are now common for domestic students and increasingly important in supporting international offshore students.
There is increasing use of modelling and data visualisation in research, which is dependent on the availability of high performance computing and advanced networks to facilitate the manipulation and exchange of very large datasets.
The availability of accessible and affordable bandwidth is a major issue facing the Australian higher education sector in general and a number of regional universities and campuses in particular.
The then Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson MP established an expert committee to report on:
- the short term needs of disadvantaged institutions or campuses; and
- what bandwidth Australian universities will need in the future to undertake high end research; including
- a strategy by which current and future needs of universities, over the next five years, can be assisted by the Government in a structured way.
Members of the Higher Education Bandwidth Advisory Committee
Terms of Reference
Final Report