Progress toward establishing community networks in regional Queensland

There can be no doubt that the Internet, which is the current building block for the information age, has unprecedented implications for society at large to the stage of fundamentally changing many aspects of human existence. Even societies seemingly untouched by the Internet today will be affected by the changing nature of those segments that are inextricably embedding it into many facets of their commercial, organizational, and societal lives. The uneven adoption of Internet technologies across the world is great cause for concern to international collaborative bodies whose efforts are related to global inequity (ITU 2002; UNDP 2001; DOTforce 2001). The societal base for application of information technology represents the next stage in the development of the information systems discipline which until recently has been largely confined to an organizational focus

Community informatics: A role in emancipatory learning in distance education context

This chapter addresses the role of online approaches for distance education from a theoretical stance. It exposes the dangers of unitary approaches that IT can promote and outlines an approach, which can assist local communities in benefitting from a wider interpretation of knowledge available through online distance education

Refereed papers from the 5th International Conference on Information Technology in Regional Areas (ITiRA), Caloundra, Queensland, Australia, 15 - 17 December 2003

ITiRA Conference 2003 comprised nine tracks within the emerging areas of Community Informatics: IT for Developing Countries, Indigenous Voices on IT for Indigenous Peoples, IT for Regional Media, Culture and the Arts, IT for Regional Education and Training, IT for e-Democracy, IT for Regional Health, IT for Regional Industry and e-Commerce. and IT for Tourism in Regional Areas

Community informatics - a role in emancipatory learning in distance education

It is well documented that the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in the context of teaching and learning can increase the possible use of a greater range of teaching and learning options for on-campus and distance education modes of course presentations, through open learning, online and resource based learning etc. Furthermore, in the provision of distance education the use of learning centres, small groups or individuals can bring new learning opportunities into local community advantage. This can assist in the development to ëlearning communities by widening access in local communities to education and training opportunities, increasing interpretation of knowledge in a local context and supporting existing educational systems (Longworth,1999). The use of ICT by regional (territorial) communities as a technology strategy or discipline is defined in this paper as community informatics (CI). As indicated by Gurstein (2000), CI can link ICT at the community level with emerging opportunities in community development and life long learning. As such, this term brings together the concepts of ICT and that of community development based on individual growth within a framework of shared learning, sharing experience across cultural and geographic boundaries and interpreting information from within a community context to create applicable knowledge. In conjunction with the developments in the use of ICT to improve equity of access for distance education, there has also been an increasing realisation of the need for educational institutions to provide a leadership role in society for democratic process and to address issues of equity (Harkavy, 1998). This paper addresses role of online approaches for distance education from a theoretical stance. It exposes the dangers of unitary approaches that the use of ICT can promote and outlines an approach, which can assist local communities benefit from a wider interpretation of knowledge available through online distance education

Collaboration: The key to establishing community networks in regional Australia

Despite the promise of community involvement, cohesion and empowerment offered by local community networks (CN) using Internet Technologies, few communities in regional Australia have been able to demonstrate sustainable and vibrant CN which demonstrate increased social, cultural or self-reliance capital. The Faculty of Informatics and Communication at Central Queensland University (CQU) and a local council have established a formal alliance to establish the COIN (Community Informatics) projects to research issues around this topic. This paper presents the initial findings from this work and draws conclusions for possible comparison with other international experience. The research focuses attention on community understanding and cohesion, local government priorities in a community with relatively low diffusion of the Internet and the competing demands in a regional university between traditional service provision in an increasingly competitive market and the needs of establishing outreach research for altruistic, industry establishment and commercial rationale

The role of SME's in promoting EC in communities

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the literature on electronic commerce (EC) in the local arena as a means for understanding the role that small and medium size enterprises (SME's) can play in the promotion of electronic commerce in their communities. Based on the analysis of the literature the Action, Reaction and Interaction (ARI) model is presented. We conclude with an outline of the major directions for future research, with particular emphasis on research on the role of SME's in promoting EC in communities outside North America

Community informatics: Building learning communities from the inside out

Community Informatics is an emerging area which examines issues related to the education of the community about the use of Internet technologies for social and economic development. As such, community informatics projects are examples of lifelong education. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the emerging literature on community informatics as a basis for our model of community informatics. We start by presenting the major themes in the research to date. The review is intended to highlight the variables that have been outlined by previous research as determinants of successful or unsuccessful diffusion of information technologies in organisations. We conclude this discussion by outlining the variables from the diffusion literature that can be used as the building blocks for a theoretical model of community informatics. We end the paper with an outline of the major directions for future research emanating from our model

Home internet adoption : an analysis of factors affecting non adoption in Central Queensland, Australia

The use of Internet technologies at the societal level is being seen as a fundamental driver for economic, social and cultural sustainability in both developed and developing situations. Experience to date suggests that despite the provision of expensive infrastructural access,adoption of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) for local community benefit has been relatively slow. In ontextualising this issue for wider application in other situations,particularly in developing countries, this paper examines the level of non-adoption of the Internet from their home in Central Queensland, Australia, when access has been easily available for more than five years. In a population where home adoption of the Internet is 44%, this research found that there were wide variations in reasons for non-adoption across the socio-economic parameters. The findings from this research support the proposition of discontinuous adoption based on psychographic profiles. The implication is that higher adoption of ICT in homes which is intrinsically linked to the demand for IT products and services equires targeted programs to address the concerns of different societal subsets

The promise of wireless enabled electronic community networking: Background and early lessons in a regional area in Queensland

This paper examines issues surrounding the adoption of wireless enabled electronic community networks in a regional area in Queensland, Australia. It briefly examines the history of electronic community networks and their setting in creating social capital in geo-communities. It then reviews the application issues for a pilot project for wireless enabled electronic community network in the regional location and proposes base issues to be considered for a participative research project

Community informatics : enabling emancipatory learning

In this chapter, a philosophical framework used in the development of an online course is provided. This philosophical framework is largely based on sociological theory that argues the need for a student-centered approach to learning in the modern age. The authors argue that this is an appropiate approach for the present and the future, which they consider will increasingly need to address changing learner needs and demands. A learner-centered approach can provide for self-paced learning, peer assessment, and opportunities for interactions with fellow students, work colleagues, and other peers. To date, there have been few examples of the integration of information technologies with emerging trends in distance and lifelong learning