- Title
- Strengthening regional communities through ICT and online capabilities – Getting beyond the regional development rhetoric
- Creator
- Thompson, Helen
- Date
- 2003
- Type
- Text; Conference paper
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/65064
- Identifier
- vital:3196
- Abstract
- Since the mid 1990s access to advanced communication and information systems has increasingly been seen as critical for economic and social well-being. Information communications technology (ICT) has been identified as having a virtually unlimited potential to enhance business competitiveness. For regional communities ICT has been identified as providing opportunities to ‘level the playing field’ with benefits espoused in terms of ‘location independence’ and for the end of the ‘tyranny of distance’. In terms of community well-being it has been argued that online capabilities can help to stimulate and reinvigorate both geographic communities and communities of interest. However in spite of the context where online capabilities are promoted as critical elements of regional and rural success, few attempts have been made to draw together various intellectual streams of research with examples of community practice, to gain a clear understanding of how regional Australia can grab its share of this wealth and use it to strengthen local communities. This paper reports on collaborative research which is directed towards these very issues. It responds to a call for research to be instigated to collect case studies of rural communities that have successfully developed community-based Internet services for socially and economically beneficial purposes. There are four industry partners supporting this research. They are Ararat Rural City, the Wimmera Development Association, AME Systems and the Shire of Hepburn. The broad research objective is to consider factors that underpin the sustainability of regional and rural communities with a particular focus on investing factors that affect the success of community informatics (CI) initiatives. CI is an overarching term and an emerging field of study that focuses on the use of ICT by communities for their betterment. It links the concepts of social, economic, political and cultural development with emerging opportunities from ICTs. A mixed methodology, combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies has been used to achieve the study objectives. Findings indicate that where commitment, compatibility and a shared strategic intent are at the heart of collaborative relationships, success and learning is much more likely to occur. The research demonstrates the benefits and challenges of operationalising online initiatives in a regional and rural context. It also contributes to forming an evidence-based approach to public and private action required to underpin the sustainability of regional and rural communities in Australia.
- Publisher
- Ballarat, Victoria :
- Relation
- Paper presented at University of Ballarat Annual Research Conference: Our Research - Regional and National Significance, Ballarat, Victoria : 5th November 2003
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- ICT; Technology; Regional communication
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