90 likes | 190 Views
AMI project: Bilateral relationships on benefits of ICT for rural communities. David Ness Adjunct Associate Professor, Barbara Hardy Institute & Affiliate, ACAB. AMI priority: trade & industry linkages. Project aims.
E N D
AMI project:Bilateral relationships on benefits of ICT for rural communities David Ness Adjunct Associate Professor, Barbara Hardy Institute & Affiliate, ACAB
AMI priority: trade & industry linkages Project aims • Share knowledge & experience of policies & practices to enable benefits of ICT access to flow to rural communities in Aust & Malaysia • Increase opportunities for biz innovation, entrepreneurship & enterprise development • Establish strong platform for longer term collaboration, with positive, practical outcomes for industry & trade, services sector, govt, NGOs & others • Focus on the disadvantaged, marginalised communities
AMI How aims were achieved • Mutual understanding & learning via face to face meetings/ fieldwork in Australia & Malaysia • Bill Chin /ACAB met with SA Govt & others • Malaysia meetings Govt agencies (egMDeC) & Cypress Diversified • Fieldwork in Pahang state, Malaysia • Digital Economy, Brisbane: met leader of ‘Intelligent Community Forum’ • Engagement with RDA Riverland in Australia. • Foundations of collaboration platform laid: intent to continue work together • W/shop to share/compare experiences, build collaboration, plot way forward
Initial engagement Highlights • Malaysia Communic’ns Multimedia Commission: “Pushing pipes is not enough” • “Connected at the roots” : Sabah seaweed farmer increased income from 450 RM per month to 20 000 via internet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfg8wpDVzjU • Multimedia Dev Corporation (MDeC): B40 program & micro-sourcing • Cypress Diversified hands on & grassroots societal uplift program • “By Community, For Community” (POKOK) • Local champions, profiling, elevating needs & concerns • Marshalling of facilities, resources Meeting with Cypress Diversified, 26 Feb 2013
Fieldwork Pahang, Malaysia (POKOK) Listening, assisting & empowering • Communities invited to express their needs (not what outsiders perceive these to be) • Elevate these concerns/ needs to Govt & NGOs to provide assistance, resources • Assist communities to develop own solutions, run own enterprises (including ICT enabled) & determine own future • Welfare, passive approach has not worked Zurin Adra Azhar with leader of blind community Rumah OKU
Fieldwork Pahang, Malaysia Local produce: strawberries, rosell • Taman Sedia, Cameron Highlands: strawberry growing but assets (eg hall) underutilised & WiFi problems • Women Rosell growers of DesaMurni, Rompin • Need own land, control own destiny • Technical advice /training sought for using biomass for energy, add value by local production, maintaining tractors • Collaboration Taman Sedia & DesaMurni Above: Taman Sedia Left: The women Rosell growers - in haze Right: Cypress team with Rosell
Opportunities Eco-cultural tourism Chedok Beach /Rosell growers? • Beautiful setting • OrangAsli unique culture, blow-darts etc, no visitors • Chedok beach tourism & natural assets underutilised, undervalued • Link to Rosell as part of package? • Connect to Tioman Island? • Community need marketing & biz skills? Chedok Beach, Rompin (note haze)
Engaging with Riverland ICT enabled exports / joint ventures with Asia? • Unique attributes of sun, river, boats, ecology, clean produce • Niche high quality products & services • Eco & health tourism? • Diverse, dispersed businesses • Find synergies, efficiencies through linkages, clusters, share resources • ICT to overcome remoteness – experiential marketing via internet? • Capability building: ICT, youth entrepreneurs, innovative enterprises • Cross-cultural understanding River Murray & houseboats at Berri
Closing observations What can Riverland learn from POKOK? Vice versa? • Champions versus advocates? • Buddy systems • Community profiling • Micro-sourcing • Potential R &D agenda? • Synergistic clustering of enterprises, share resources • Infrastructure & facils planning/upgrades, investment e.g. airport • Marketing & branding: video stories on web (eg Seaweed farmer) • Value added green supply chains • ICT capability building and enablement,access, support services • Rosell /Chedok eco-cultural-health tourism: compare with Riverland • Cross-cultural education, Asian languages, food Thankyou ! David Ness david.ness@unisa.edu.au