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Media Release

December 4 2006

Taming the business information overload

Businesses suffer from information overloadInformation demand for businesses today is growing to overwhelming proportions – both in responding to requests for information, and in managing their own existing information stores.

But business information overload may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to research being done by UniSA’s Professor Paula Swatman and a number of industry partners here and abroad.

The inaugural State Records of SA/Fuji Xerox/State Library of SA Professor of Business Information Management, Prof Swatman heads a number of projects looking at resolving business information overload by creating effective electronic documents which minimise the need to process information requests.

“While there doesn’t appear to be a ‘one size fits all’ solution to information overload, our work is identifying common characteristics of both the problems, as well as the solutions, as a precursor to developing a framework of solution approaches,” Prof Swatman says.

Some of the projects currently underway include:

• Using electronic support for medication management, in partnership with a number of Adelaide hospitals and private medical practices, to help pharmacists and GPs work together to avoid medication-related adverse events – so that patients with complex medical conditions (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or blood cholesterol problems) can be treated in the community;

• With the organic certifying body NASAA, m.Net Corporation and two German companies (E-Cert GmbH and the Fraunhofer Institute), evaluating the benefits of mobile support for virtual organic farming communities via the development of a mobile information portal for organic farmers – enabling them to access organic certification related information, keep records electronically and communicate with other farmers in a mobile community;

• Supporting the development of online case-based learning in a virtual classroom environment, using the virtual classroom product Centra.

Prof Swatman will discuss the research in Supporting information management with electronic documents: taming the information overload at the UniSA ICT Innovation Expo on Tuesday December 5, Sebel Playford Adelaide.
 

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