ARC Research Centre to empower Australian workers in the digital age

L-R: University of Melbourne Chief Investigators of the new Centre of Excellence for Quality Work in a Digital Age Associate Professor Wafa Johal, Professor Jeannie Paterson and Professor Frank Vetere.
L-R: University of Melbourne Chief Investigators of the new Centre of Excellence for Quality Work in a Digital Age Associate Professor Wafa Johal, Professor Jeannie Paterson and Professor Frank Vetere.

University of Melbourne experts will help lead research in the new $94.6 million Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quality Work in a Digital Age (QWiDA).

QWiDA will drive pioneering research on how new technologies can be integrated to create and sustain productive, inclusive and healthy work. Led by Curtin University, it will bring together researchers from across Australia and overseas, alongside industry and government partners.

Professor of Human-Computer Interaction Frank Vetere and Associate Professor Wafa Johal, both from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, and Melbourne Law School Professor Jeannie Paterson, who is Co-Director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics (CAIDE), will all be QWiDA Chief Investigators.

“Digital technologies are radically disrupting the way we work in all sectors,” Prof Vetere said. “By bringing together experts from industry and academia, across social and technical disciplines, we aim to create work practices that are productive, inclusive and healthy.”

Of the three research streams, Professors Vetere and Patterson will focus on Stream One, Augmented Working, investigating how they work with technologies to ensure safe, productive human–machine partnerships.

Associate Prof Johal will focus on Stream Two, Networked Workplaces, exploring the impact of ‘when’ and ‘where’ people work and reimagining work where people collaborate across vast geographic and temporal boundaries. Stream Three, Future-Ready Workforce, will focus on equipping Australians with the skills and leadership needed to thrive in a digital world.

Professor Paterson said “good research and strong research partnerships take time to develop but are always worth their capacity for impact”.

“I am looking forward to contributing to QWiDA’s work on regulatory design for accountability and governance in technologies deployed to work with humans, and to providing research mentoring to the early-career researchers involved,” she said.

QWiDA will be leveraged by more than $59.7 million in cash and in-kind contributions from partner organisations, plus a $34.8 million investment from ARC.