ICT and Regional Development in Australia

Hervey Bay is located in the Wide Bay Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. Based on a number of economic and social indicators, the region can be described as disadvantaged (Planning Information Forecasting Unit, 2001). The median weekly income of the region is well below the Queensland state average. The overall unemployment rate for the region is around 16% with about 23% for youth unemployment. The population is aged with 20.7% of the population aged over 65 compared with the Queensland average of 12.4% (Paussa, 2003). Within the region the ratio of welfare payments to personal disposable income is 27.9% (Bray & Mudd, 1998), which is the second highest welfare recipient rate for a region in Australia.

Web Site Development in Action Research

Ethnography has traditionally involved the sustained presence of an anthropologist in a physically fixed field setting, intensively engaged with the everyday life of the inhabitants of a given site, typically, a village or other small community. Conventional notions of the field, especially in anthropology which has been the premiere field-based discipline (see Amit, 2000; Gupta & Ferguson, 1997, 1992), involved basic assumptions of boundedness (the field was a strictly delimited physical place); distance (the field was “away,” and often very far away as well); temporality (one entered the field, stayed for a time, and then left); and otherness (a strict categorical and relational distinction between the outsider/ethnographer and the insider/native informant). The key mode of ethnographic engagement in the field was, and is, that of participant observation. When the Internet enters into ethnography, and when ethnography acquires an online dimension either in the research process or in the production of the documentary outputs of research, we end up facing a situation that leads us to reconsider relationships between the researchers and those who are researched. This is especially true of collaborative, action research projects that involve researchers and activists producing materials for the Web.

Using Virtual Mobility to Alleviate Aspects of Social Exclusion

People’s ability to participate in the activities that are necessary to ensure their economic, political and social participation in the society in which they live is dependent upon the accessibility of the activities. Accessibility has traditionally been perceived as a function of the space, or distance, between the origin of the individual (or community) and the destination of the activity¾the opportunity, service, social network, goods¾alongside the time that it takes to cross this space. Thus, accessibility is dependent upon the individual’s ability to overcome space and time barriers, allowing them to reach the right place or person, at the right time¾and, of course, upon the availability to them of adequate resources to do this (Couclelis, 2000)1.

Telework and the Canadian Environment

Information and communication technology (ICT) is constantly changing the world around us. This not only affects the way that we conduct our personal lives but also our business lives. It is changing the very make up of society (Neff, 2000). For organizations, it seems that there is a requirement for success that they ride along with the new technological wave or risk getting left behind. As a result, some organizations are implementing telework programs to take advantage of new technologies (Kaye et al., 2000).

Telecommunications Sector and Internet Access in Africa

The “information revolution” has not only transformed the world as we know it, but also its future potential. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), with their major technological advances, have affected the lives and lifestyles of people across the globe, as well as the way institutions and organizations do business. However, not all outcomes of the spread of information technologies have been positive. A majority of the world’s population, especially those who live in poverty, have been largely bypassed by this revolution. The gap between them and the rest of the world has expanded precisely as a result of the facilitation capacity of these technologies for those who have access to them (Figueres, 2003). The majority of these people are situated in the African continent and other developing countries.

Telecommunication Problems in Rural Areas of Armenia

The Synergy Project “Priorities in the Development of Telecommunications Sector in the South Caucasus” (2003) has the task of modernising the telecommunications system.

Technology Leapfrogging in Thailand

The phrase “leapfrogging development” reflects the belief, especially in the 1980’s, among policymakers and theoreticians that information technologies, especially telecommunications, can help developing countries accelerate their pace of development or telescope the stages of growth (Singh, 1999).1

Sustainability Issues for Australian Rural Teleservice Centres

The overall economic, social and environmental health of rural communities is one of the critical issues facing Australia. Without access to basic services, a small community can be left with a standard of living more like that of a third world country. Increasingly, services have an electronic component. Convergent digital services can lead to transformative effects, but can also exacerbate existing divides if technologies and the capacity to use them effectively are not available. Teleservice centres have in the past provided many forms of electronic services and training: computing, fax, printers, banking, etc. Today Internet functionality is a central aspect of rural teleservice centres, with broadband a looming issue. This article presents teleservice centres as a strategic national resource. Their potential to contribute to rural sustainability and equitable access to government services means that at every level of community and government, teleservice centres can delivery triple bottom line benefits.

The State of Internet Access in Uganda

n recent years, Uganda has witnessed an astronomical growth in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. For example, between December 1996 and December 2003, the number of cellular phone subscribers rose from 3,000 to 777,563, Internet subscribers grew from 504 to 7,024, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) increased from two to 17, and public pay phones increased from 1,258 to 3,456 (UCC, 2004).

Preparing African Higher Education Faculty in Technology

One of the most difficult challenges facing African higher education institutions (HEIs) is the successful resolution of the inherent tension that underlines efficient and effective utilization of existing resources on one hand and intensified demand for more and better education on the other (Okuni, 2001; Sawyerr, 2004). Although the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance participation in African HEIs has been widely recognized, its transformational capacity has barely been reached because of limited infrastructure, technological capacity, funding and sustainability of resources, and human resources and expertise. Poor infrastructure and weak regulatory policies and frameworks have resulted in inadequate access to affordable telephones, broadcasting, computers, and the Internet (Johnson, 2002).