Computer skills build thriving communities

(Opinion piece published in Australian Financial Review, 12 June 2010)

Late last year, I had the opportunity to visit a community centre at the Collingwood public housing estate in Melbourne. The centre acts as a hub for the estate and is the base from which a dedicated training program, run by Infoxchange, a community organisation, is helping the residents to learn basic computers skills.

The residents come from a variety of backgrounds and most live in less fortunate financial circumstances. Last year was tough for them because of the state of the broader economy but there are also deeper, more permanent issues, such as language barriers and a lack of education and employment opportunities, which have traditionally played a role in holding them back.

Despite these circumstances, the centre is a vibrant, buzzing place, where enthusiastic residents are busy producing content for an online community newspaper, the ‘Yarra Reporter,’ a product of their own ideas and initiative. A program jointly funded by government, industry and spearheaded by Infoxchange, called the Digital Inclusion Initiative (DII), has also seen every household on the Estate equipped with a free computer and subsidised internet access. Through the DII, the Yarra Reporter has become an important connection point and virtual hub for the community.

Moreover, a study by AT Kearney predicts that the DII could generate up to $6.8 million of benefits to the residents and the broader community by 2013.

For me, the visit highlighted an important point that has yet to be fully debated as we look to turbo charge the digitalisation of our economy through investments like the National Broadband Network (NBN).
While a lot of public debate in recent years has focused on building the ‘wires and cables’, more serious thought now needs to be given to how we ensure our people, in particular the most disadvantaged, have the right skills to get the most out of it.

Come 2020, Australia may well have one of the world’s most advanced broadband networks, but the risk is that the most vulnerable sections of our society will find themselves on the wrong side of a ‘broadband divide’.
The digital disadvantage that I have witnessed appears to take many and varied forms. It is the grandparents who cannot e-mail with their grandchildren. It is the laid-off factory worker, who having never used a computer, now finds that he or she needs to submit an electronic job application. It is the school student next door whose family cannot afford a computer. 

In 2020, when more and more products and services – some crucial like healthcare – are likely to be delivered via the NBN, a lack of digital literacy, which could be ignored and brushed aside as an inconvenience now, could well become a critical disadvantage.

There are also economic gains to be made from improving access to technology and digital literacy rates for the most vulnerable sections of society. Better preparing our least skilled workers to participate in a 21st century workforce has the potential to lift participation rates, enhance national productivity and stimulate innovation.

A rapidly ageing and shrinking workforce is also a strong motivation to be doing all that we can to lower the barriers to workforce participation. Using technology to increase accessibility for older workers, for example by enabling them to work from home, might also encourage them to stay in the workforce longer.

Ironically, perhaps the single biggest risk to achieving widespread digital literacy is a strong economic recovery. Don’t get me wrong, an economic recovery is very welcome. However, as Australia returns to more vigorous growth rates and employment starts to grow again, the challenge will be to keep a longer-term eye firmly fixed on preparing Australians for the opportunities that will arise from living in a digitally-enabled society.

Industry, in particular, the technology industry, has a vital role to play in leading this effort. Through our digital literacy program, On My Way, Microsoft continues to invest in and partner with a range of community organisations to help them help the disadvantaged.  Meeting the residents at the Collingwood public housing estate and seeing how they have benefited shows that it is well worth the effort.

Tracey Fellows, Managing Director, Microsoft Australia