OUTCOMES from a national internet forum in Brisbane last week will be fed into a remote telecommunications strategy as the war against the data drought continues.
More than 100 people attended the Broadband for the Bush Alliance forum, themed Digital Journeys.
Ray Heffernan, chair of the Broadband for the Bush Alliance, which is a group of organisations seeking to advance digital capacity and capability of remote Australians, said the alliance believed “remote” was too hard for government.
“We believe there should be a specific strategy for remote telecommunications and we believe there is a failure by public servants to really understand what is going on in the bush,” Mr Heffernan said.
“Clearly those developing the national digital strategies fail to grasp the unique circumstances of those working and living in rural and remote Australia.”
The forum’s outcomes were grouped into four main themes, being availability, affordability, service standards and guarantees, and digital literacy and empowerment.
Mr Heffernan said the strategy would articulate the environment and suggest solutions appropriate to the bush.
“We argue that the one-size-fits-all national approach does not address the particularities of rural and remote Australia,” Mr Heffernan said.
“For instance, lower cost and alternate technologies should be explored and digital literacy programs should be designed for smaller populations scattered over huge distances.”
The forum covered a range of topics including how digital innovations can improve the lives and businesses of rural and remote primary producers, a cloud-based software system which can remotely monitor and analyse cattle and pasture production without labour or skill inputs from beef producers and how emerging technologies have the potential to improve the health of remote and rural Australians.
Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote Australia (BIRRR) Facebook group members Kristy Sparrow and Amanda Salisbury attended the forum, with sponsorship from AgForce.
Mrs Sparrow said the forum was a fabulous networking opportunity for BIRRR.
“It was great for us to put forward our members’ voices because I think the end users are often forgotten,” Mrs Sparrow said.
“I don’t think the decision makers are understanding the problems we have to overcome to get connected and the costs that are involved.
“The great outcome for us was mainly the people we met and the ability of those people to help us in furthering our voices.
“Everyone was in awe at what BIRRR does and they all wanted to help.
“A lot of people were from organisations and groups; there weren’t a lot of people that were living the data drought there, so I think we brought that to the table.”
