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Unit of study_
INFO5992: Understanding IT Innovations
2025 unit information
An essential skill for an IT manager is the ability to keep up-to-date with emerging technologies, and be able to evaluate the significance of these technologies to their organisation's business activities. This unit of study is based around a study of current technologies and the influence of these technologies on business strategies. Important trends in innovation in IT are identified and their implications for innovation management explored. Major topics include: drivers of innovation; the trend to open information ("open source") rather than protected intellectual property; and distribution of innovation over many independent but collaborating actors. On completion of this unit, students will be able to identify and analyse an emerging technology and write a detailed evaluation of the impact of this technology on existing business practices.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Engineering
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Computer Science |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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18 credit points of units at 5000-level or above |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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INFO4444 or PMGT5875 or OINF5992 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Define innovation and differentiate between innovation and invention
- LO2. Outline and discuss the importance of innovation to a country
- LO3. Explain the concept of general-purpose technology and assess whether certain technologies are general purpose technologies
- LO4. Discuss and apply frameworks relating to the diffusion, adoption and maturity of innovation
- LO5. Discuss and apply the concept of dominant design and any related framework(s), and evaluate the key drivers which contribute to the emergence of dominant design (or lack-thereof)
- LO6. Explain key research on disruptive innovation and related concept(s), apply the Disruptive Innovation Model on specific case studies and discuss the concept of the Innovator's Dilemma
- LO7. Discuss, apply and evaluate open innovation, closed innovation and the eight open innovation methods
- LO8. Discuss, apply and design the commercialisation process and business strategies for IT innovation, comprising of concepts and frameworks such as the customer development process, lean startups, agile development, value proposition canvas and business model canvas
- LO9. Outline and evaluate the capital and fundraising pathways for IT innovation in Australia and abroad
- LO10. Outline and evaluate the innovation ecosystems in Silicon Valley and Australia
- LO11. Discuss and evaluate organisational cultures and structures that support innovation
- LO12. Analyse, compare, contrast and judge IT innovation based on various methodologies
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2024
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Normal evening | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney | |
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Semester 2 2024
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Normal evening | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2025
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Normal evening | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Semester 2 2025
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Normal evening | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
