Assessment 1: Critical Reflection 3
Our subject material and discussion for Week Three centred on the ‘Digital Divide’ in Australia: the gap in the prevalence of digital access which is most apparent in remote Outback communities that normally feature high proportions of Indigenous Australians. This divide is exacerbated by an imbalance between extremes: Aboriginal communities which have a disadvantage in access to the Internet also have the lowest rates of adoption and digital literacy, and fare poorly when compared to non-Indigenous communities in similarly isolated localities.
Our reading noted that assessments of the digital divide must also take into account significant cultural factors—the movement of population between rural settlements and the interactions of different groups (as well as reluctance to adopt digital technology) is heavily linked to Aboriginal culture, which itself is being modified as a result of the increasing reach of digital communication (Rennie, Hogan, et al. 2016, pp. 17–18). As reflected in the adoption of the NBN, not all digital infrastructures will be adopted in the manner they are expected to; some communities view it as lacking in importance to their daily lives and thus feel no need to take it up, which places them at a disadvantage in a society that increasingly views telecommunication as a blanket solution for many socioeconomic ills. I was particularly intrigued by this point, and the notion that while we in Western society are beginning to view the Internet as a basic human right, there exists a non-Western conception of the Internet as merely another element of cultural imperialism; the 21st-century equivalent of the ‘white man’s burden’.
Indeed, while online interaction may grant rural communities greater self-agency, by no means does it solve larger failings of government policy towards disadvantaged communities—not least of which is the delay which rural communities experienced in receiving infrastructure for telecommunications. Having been present on the ground during the process of adopting digital communication, the researchers noted that the nature of Outback life renders seemingly simple choices about internet usage and adoption much more complex. Overall, they found that the introduction of online interactions does not change lifestyles, but rather supports or enhances existing lifestyles. Ultimately the success of such solutions requires an understanding of the choices which communities make at the level of the individual, rather than at the level of policy which relies on impersonal statistics.
References
Rennie, E., Hogan, et al. 2016, ‘Introduction’, Internet on the Outstation: The Digital Divide and Remote Aboriginal Communities, pp.13-27.
Digital Literacies 