STAFF PROFILE
Professor Vanessa Cooper
Research
Vanessa’s research in information systems examines the impact of technology in complex contexts such as environmental sustainability, emergency management and the future of work. Vanessa’s research has attracted over AUD ~$1.5M in funding, has been published in leading information systems outlets and won multiple awards including best paper awards at international conferences and from the Australian Computer Society. As part of the Green IS research cluster within the Centre for People, Organisation and Work (CPOW) she partnered with colleagues and industry to develop the first model to measure the “G-readiness” of organisations which has been adopted in global benchmarks of sustainable ICT capabilities. Vanessa has also applied an analytical approach to connect information systems and knowledge management to a cross-disciplinary research program in emergency management. This body of work has resulted in a series of research publications for the Bushfire CRC, Emergency Management Victoria and Country Fire Authority. Vanessa currently co-leads the “Digital Work and Society” research program in CPOW where she focuses on issues in digital ethics and the future of work including topics such as how technology shapes flexible, remote and distanced work (e.g. co-working hubs), the impact of technology on the information behaviours of workers (e.g. disclosure of information on social media) and the experience of underrepresented groups in the IT industry.
Scholarship of Learning and Teaching
Vanessa’s focus in the scholarship of learning and teaching centres on inclusive teaching via the design and implementation of communities of inquiry. She concentrates on developing industry relevant, research-informed curricula which combines her industry experience and expertise in information systems, knowledge management, sustainability, emergency management and the future of work. For example, she is currently partnering with academics at the University of Newcastle on a project funded by a grant the Office of Learning and Teaching that will develop the conceptual model for a virtually distributed computer-based teaching and learning tool RES-SIM. This project will provide students across disciplines the opportunity to learn via dynamic disaster system simulations.
Teaching
Vanessa has taught a wide range of information systems, accounting and management courses at the University of Tasmania, Deakin University and RMIT University. She brings her industry experience as a Systems Engineer within the finance and insurance industries in Australia and the United Kingdom to her teaching activities. Vanessa is a Senior Fellow of AdvancedHE and has won numerous prestigious teaching awards from multiple institutions including the RMIT Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and a citation from the Australian Government’s Office of Learning and Teaching.
Current Teaching Responsibilities
- BUSM4610 Business Project Management
- ISYS3300 Business Ethics for a Digital Society
Internal Academic Roles and Responsibilities
- Co-leader, Digital Business Work and Life research program in the Centre for People, Organisation and Work
- Representative on RMIT’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group
External Academic Roles and Responsibilities
- Co-chair Association of Information Systems Women’s Network (AISWN)
- Senior Editor of the Information Systems Journal (A* AIS Basket of 8).
- Chair and Co-Chair of Green IS and Sustainability tracks at international conferences including the Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Americas Conference on Information Systems, European Conference on Information Systems, International Conference on Information Systems and the International Conference on Sustainability, Technology and Education.
- Reviewer for journal publications such as Communications of the Association of Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, Journal of Association of Information Systems.
- Bachelor Applied Computing (UTAS)
- Bachelor Information Systems (hons) (UTAS)
- Master of Education (RMIT University)
- Doctor of Philosophy (Deakin University)
Systems Engineer (Finance and Insurance Industry in Australia and UK)
Professional Memberships
- Member of the Australian Computer Society (MACS)
- Member of the Association of Information Systems (MAIS)
- Member of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA)
Invited Industry Presentations
- ‘Knowledge management education and research’, Invited Presentation at the Strategic Industry Research Foundation’s KM Roundtable, Melbourne, 3 September 2014.
- ‘Green IT organisational learning’, Workshop for Green IT Master Class, National Science and Technology Development Agency, Ministry of Science and Technology (Thailand), Melbourne, 30 July 2014.
- ‘Knowledge management’, Invited Presentation at National Australia Bank, Melbourne, 28 February 2013.
- Cooper, V.,Kranz, J.,Mathew, S.,Watson, R. (2023). Introduction to the Research Handbook on Information Systems and the Environment In: Research Handbook on Information Systems and the Environment, Edward Elgar, United Kingdom
- Karanasios, S.,Adrot, A.,Hayes, P.,Cooper, V. (2023). The interplay of logics and social media: An organisational field perspective In: Information Systems Journal, , 1 - 45
- Patabandige, G.,Black, S.,Naseer, H.,Cooper, V.,Dias, M.,Yapa, S. (2023). Building Trust in Data through Data Governance to Enable Self-Service Analytics In: Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Information Systems, Wellington, New Zealand, 05/12/2023 - 08/12/2023
- Cooper, V.,Hayes, P.,Karanasios, S. (2022). Building Social Resilience and Inclusion in Disasters: A Survey of Vulnerable Persons’ Social Media Use In: Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 26, 1 - 41
- Yew, M.,Molla, A.,Cooper, V. (2022). Behavioural and environmental sustainability determinants of residential energy management information systems use In: Journal of Cleaner Production, 356, 1 - 10
- Whiteside, N.,Cooper, V.,Vo-Tran, H.,Tait, E.,Bachmann, B. (2022). Digital Literacy Programs in Support of Diverse Communities–An Australian Public Library Approach In: Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, 71, 388 - 407
- Arnoldi, S.,Cooper, V.,Greenfield, C.,Bosua, R.,Ch'ng, H. (2021). Entrepreneurial Needs for Outer Urban Co-working Hubs: An Exploratory Study of A ‘Pop-Up’ Co-Working Hub In: Anywhere Working and the Future of Work, IGI Global, United States
- Lokuge, K.,Sedera, D.,Cooper, V.,Burstein, F. (2021). Digital Transformation: Environmental Friend or Foe? Panel Discussion at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems 2019 In: Communications of the Association of Information Systems, 48, 616 - 634
- Trieu, V.,Cooper, V.,Pallegedara, D. (2021). Employee’s Unauthorized Disclosure of Organizational Information on Social Media: The Role of Emotions and Boundary Permeability In: Proceedings of the 42nd International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2021), Austin, Texas, United States, 12-15 December 2021
- Vo-Tran, H.,Whiteside, N.,Tait, E.,Cooper, V.,Bachmann, B. (2021). Digital Literacy Programs for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: Developing, facilitating and enhancing digital literacy programs in Australian Public Libraries In: Australian Library and Information Association Melbourne, Australia
2 PhD Current Supervisions4 PhD Completions and 1 Masters by Research Completions
- Evaluation of the Victorian LGBTIQ Leadership Program 2020. Funded by: Department of Premier and Cabinet Research Project from (2020 to 2021)
- The role of information and digital literacy programs in support of newly settled refugees – an Australian public library approach. Funded by: Australian Library and Information Association Grant 2018 onwards from (2020 to 2022)
- LGBTI Leadership Program Evaluation. Funded by: Department of Premier and Cabinet Research Project from (2018 to 2020)
- Building resilience and inclusion amongst vulnerable populations through social media. Funded by: National Disaster Resilience Grant 2017 from (2017 to 2018)
- Modelling disaster resilience: enhancing student learning through trans-disciplinary simulation of wicked scenarios (RES-SIM) - Administered by University of Newcastle. Funded by: Office for Learning and Teaching Grant 2015 from (2015 to 2016)