Digital Inclusion or Occlusion?

Greetings from the National Library of Australia where I am attending the Canberra "Digital Inclusion Manifesto Workshop" by GoDigi. I am not entirely convinced of the need or aims of the GoDigi initiative. In 1994 the Australian Computer Society lobbied Australian governments for digital literacy initiatives ("Vision for a Networked Nation"), the response included provision of Internet access through libraries, schools and other community facilities. More recently a "Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum: Technologies" was endorsed by all Australian State and Territory Ministers for Education for use in all Australian schools. In 2015 Internet access and literacy should be routine.

Where there are those who can't use the Internet, it is a failing in the education system and a matter for government policy, not a volunteer effort. Also those who can't afford the Internet may have other priorities, such as food, shelter and medicine. The experience of the OLPC project, which aimed to provide a low cost computer for education, but instead diverted scarce resources from higher educational priorities is a lesson that needs to be heeded.

Before looking to others to provide a more inclusive Internet, GoDigi need to do their homework. Their web page scores only 69 / 100 for speed on the Google Page Speed Insights and 0 / 100 (the lowest possible score) on the W3C mobileOK Checker.

Digital Inclusion at the National Library in Canberra This Friday

Helen Milner OBE, CEO of the Tinder Foundation will be speaking at the Canberra Digital Inclusion Manifesto Workshop, 10:30am, 30 October 2015 at the National Library of Australia. This will be followed by a public lecture by Helen on "Leaving no one behind: Can Australia be truly a digital nation? Stories from the UK", at 1pm.

"In Australia, there are 3.7 million people who have never used the internet. On top of this, many Australians who do have internet access, are not confident enough to do the basics. To become a truly leading, inclusive and global digital nation we need everyone to become confident internet users by 2020."

I suggest an aspect of digital literacy which needs to be addressed in Australia is the data use of on-line applications. This particularly impacts remote users of the NBN Interim Satellite Service, with the so called "Data Drought". Users find their small data allocation is soon used up on day to activities, so that their children then can't access on-line education. This will remain a problem even with the new

ps: The Tinder Foundation is a UK not-for-profit organization helping with digital literacy and access for the community. Not to be confused with Tinder the dating App. ;-)

a not-for-profit social enterprise that makes good things happen with digital technology. Established in December 2011 as a staff-owned mutual, our 40-strong team supports a network of 5,000 local community partners and works with hundreds of national organisations. - See more at: http://www.tinderfoundation.org/about#sthash.6yNlAjnp.dpuf

a not-for-profit social enterprise that makes good things happen with digital technology. Established in December 2011 as a staff-owned mutual, our 40-strong team supports a network of 5,000 local community partners and works with hundreds of national organisations. - See more at: http://www.tinderfoundation.org/about#sthash.6yNlAjnp.dpuf

a not-for-profit social enterprise that makes good things happen with digital technology. Established in December 2011 as a staff-owned mutual, our 40-strong team supports a network of 5,000 local community partners and works with hundreds of national organisations. - See more at: http://www.tinderfoundation.org/about#sthash.6yNlAjnp.dpuf