Vanessa Cooper

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) (https://cpow.org.au/) 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. (https://www.fujitsu.com/au/about/resources/news/press-releases/2011/20110920-01.html) 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” (https://cpow.org.au/digital-work-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. (https://ltr.edu.au/resources/SD14_4225_Von%20Meding_Report_2016.pdf) This project will provide students across disciplines the opportunity to learn via dynamic disaster system simulations.

Industry Experience:
Systems Engineer (Finance and Insurance Industry in Australia and UK)

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.