Jamie Gabriel, Macquarie University
Audience: Beginner
Abstract:
We have all seen it before – strangely implemented and fragile Filmmaker-Pro and Access Databases, VB Scripts and Excel macros tacked onto the enterprise software providing the critical decision making data, strange software incarnations because someone in the office had a family friend or neighbour who could do it on the cheap – and a decade later that solution is still in place. Throughout the Australian university sector at least, it’s often the “quick hack” that underpins many core operations in the organisation. And despite the push toward enterprise software and the big IT investment within many Australian universities, for a long time now the high risk “quick hack” approach has been embedded as part of the business as usual.
But is this risk being mitigated? Are the changing frameworks in which software is developed, deployed and experienced fundamentally changing the way in which developers interact and provide solutions in their organisation? And has the widespread participation in web 2.0/social-media technologies fundamentally changed the way that the non-IT folk conceptualise how IT solutions can value-add, taking it for granted that these solutions be bespoke and highly intuitive?
This talk will explore how Apple’s software development technology and mobile applications are fundamentally changing the way developers and other university staff can interact and innovate in their organisations. It will pay particular attention to the game changing nature of “App-store model” as providing business solutions; it will examine how Apple tools are allowing software developers to play far more strategic roles in their organisations and explore the challenges this poses for reward, recognition and intellectual property.
Speaker Bio:
Jamie is the Student Administration Manager in the Faculty of Science at Macquarie University, which is responsible for managing all the student coursework related processes. He has developed a number of software solutions to assist in this role that are now used across the campus. He also teaches and is completing a PhD in Macquarie’s Department of Music, Media and Cultural Studies. Part of his PhD will be involve developing an iPad application that can be utilised as a tool for high level music analysis and teaching music improvisation.