Rural realities: digital communication challenges for rural Australian local governments

Purpose – This article explores challenges for rural Australian local governments during the transition to high-speed broadband infrastructure. Despite the National Broadband Network’s promised ubiquitous connectivity, significant access discrepancies remain between rural and urban areas.Methodology – Empirical findings are drawn from a full-day workshop on digital connectivity, which included participants from seven rural local governments in New South Wales, Australia. Thematic analysis of the workshop transcript was undertaken in order to extrapolate recurring nuances of rural digital exclusion. Findings – Rural communities face inequitable prospects for digital inclusion, and authorities confront dual issues of accommodating connected and unconnected citizens. Many areas have no or poor broadband access, and different digital engagement expectations are held by citizens and local governments. Citizens seek interactive opportunities, but rural authorities often lack the necessary resources to offer advanced participatory practices. Research limitations/implications – While this research draws from a small sample of government officials, their insights are nonetheless heuristically valuable in identifying connectivity issues faced in rural Australia. These issues can guide further research into other regions as well as civic experiences of digital inclusion. Practical/social implications – There is a need to reconceive Australia’s current policy approach to broadband. Greater rural digital inclusion may be achieved by focusing on connectivity as a public interest goal, targeting infrastructure developments to suit local contexts, and implementing participatory digital government practices. Originality/value – The actions suggested would help ensure equity of digital inclusion across Australian municipal areas. Without such changes, there is a risk of rural citizens facing further marginalisation through digital exclusion

Faunistic data of micromoths (Lepidoptera) in North Korea

AbstractIn a study of material of microlepidoptera in North Korea that was collected during the zoological expeditions (1970s–1980s) conducted under a scientific agreement between Polish and North Korean academies of science, 17 species belonging to the superfamily Gelechioidea are recognized. Of the total, 11 species of Gelechiidae, two species of Oecophoridae, and two species of Coleophoridae are newly reported from North Korea. Scrobipalpa atriplicella (Fisher von Rölslerstamm, 1841) of Gelechiidae is reported for the first time from the Korean Peninsula. Images of adults and genitalia of all species are given

Structural linearity and the hierarchy of online discussion participation

Due to accessibility and ease of use, the public is now able to engage in political discourse in the online space. However, the open space has been criticised for the lack of lively debates because most online message boards contain one‐sided views. The disparity among the readership and authorship – where the spiral of silence is amplified – is another point of criticism. The ongoing concern is whether this new environment leads to consensus through deliberation or whether it aggravates fragmentation and polarisation between clashing viewpoints. In this paper, I examine how the participatory behaviour in online discussion sites are related to the structure of threaded conversation. In threaded conversations posts appear on top of each other in reverse chronological order and each message is linked to its replies. Recent posts on the front page catch the attention of most visitors and depending on the popularity of the site, the pages are changed quickly. This is in contrast with blogs or social media where posts are controlled by the author and each message posts are shown according to the link between participants. In discussion sites, most members are not structurally linked with each other and readers usually select posts by the number of replies, topic reflected in the title of post and the reputation of the author. Thus the author has little control over what happens after the posting. The aim of this study is to empirically explore the online discussion process of the major online discussion sites in South Korea and how the structure of the sites induce different levels of participatory behaviour. The research questions that are asked in this study are: What is the relationship of the discussion sites’ structure to the different levels of participatory behaviour in online discussions? How does the reputation of online discussion participants affect the readership and responses to their posts? The first step of the research involves looking at what type of content and method of presentation leads to active discussion. Then, the processes of how messages are disseminated through various levels of participation within the discussion sites are analysed. The next step of research is to identify how the author’s reputation within the sites affects the dynamics of discussion.Australian Academy of the Humanities; the ANU College of Arts and Social Science

The importance of broadband for socio-economic development: a perspective from rural Australia

Advanced connectivity offers rural communities prospects for socio-economic development. Despite Australia’s national broadband infrastructure plans, inferior availability and quality of rural Internet connections remain persistent issues. This article examines the impact of limited connectivity on rural socio-economic opportunities, drawing from the views of twelve citizens from the Boorowa local government area in New South Wales. The available fixed wireless and satellite connections in Boorowa are slow and unreliable, and remote regions in the municipality are still without any Internet access. Participants identified four key areas in their everyday lives that are impacted by insufficient connectivity: business development, education, emergency communication, and health. Rural citizens often already face challenges in these areas, and infrastructure advancements in urban spaces can exacerbate rural-urban disparities. Participants’ comments demonstrated apprehension that failure to improve connectivity would result in adverse long-term consequences for the municipality. This article suggests that current broadband policy frameworks require strategic adaptations to account for the socio-economic and geographic contexts of rural communities. In order to narrow Australia’s rural-urban digital divide, infrastructure developments should be prioritised in the most underserved regions

College-aged Men’s (18-24) Knowledge and Perceptions of Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer

College-aged men (18-24) can easily transmit HPV, the most common type of sexually transmitted infection in the United States, but have the lowest knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer. This study utilized the Health Belief Model to assess the knowledge and perceptions of HPV and cervical cancer among college-aged men, and their intent to reduce their numbers of future sex partners and wear condoms during their next sexual encounter. Of 100 participants, one third (33.7%) had never heard of HPV before this study, and 87.9% rated their subjective knowledge of HPV knowledge as “poor”. Participants reported high perceived severity, and susceptibility to, HPV infection. Having heard of HPV, being in a relationship with a female partner and self-efficacy to wearing condoms were associated with participants’ intent to wear condoms during their next sexual encounter. Perceived benefits were associated with participants’ intent to reduce the number of future sex partners. College-aged men should be targeted for HPV risk reduction with HPV health interventions tailored to augment male involvement in HPV and cervical cancer prevention efforts