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 linkagesProject 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 o Bill Chin /ACAB met with SA Govt & otherso Malaysia meetings Govt agencies (eg MDeC) & Cypress Diversifiedo Fieldwork in Pahang state, Malaysiao Digital Economy, Brisbane: met leader of ‘Intelligent Community Forum’o 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 engagementHighlights

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, MalaysiaLocal produce: strawberries, rosell Taman Sedia, Cameron Highlands: strawberry growing

but assets (eg hall) underutilised & WiFi problems Women Rosell growers of Desa Murni, 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 & Desa Murni

Above: Taman Sedia

Left: The women Rosell growers - in haze

Right: Cypress team with Rosell

OpportunitiesEco-cultural tourism Chedok Beach /Rosell growers? Beautiful setting Orang Asli 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 RiverlandICT 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

Thankyou !David Nessdavid.ness@unisa.edu.au

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

What can Riverland learn from POKOK? Vice versa?