Australian Digital Economy and Citizenship

Roxanne Missingham’s article Encouraging the Digital Economy and Digital Citizenship was published in the November 2009 issue of the Australian Library Journal. The author is a parliamentary librarian responsible for the delivery of research and information services to the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia. Having been an assistant director general of a division of the national library of Australia before her present position, her long career in libraries include  being an educator, manager and a researcher. This review will discuss the author’s views on important issues concerning digital information for Australians and the challenges and activities of libraries in supporting the Australian community to become more digitally adept.

The author considers participation in government and the economy via the digital environment is fundamental to an understanding of what it means to be an Australian citizen (Missingham,2009, p.138).  Fortunately, the Australian Labour government supported this notion with their one laptop per child scheme and the establishment of the National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co.) whose objective is to provide 90 percent of homes, schools, and workplaces with fibre connection.  However, recent statistics have shown that Australia’s broadband infrastructure lags behind leading nations and like any other developed countries, the Australian community has an uneven access of digital information (Missingham, 2009, p.388). Termed as digital divide, and a prominent topic in information society literatures, it is defined as the gap between Information and communications Technology (ICT) ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ (OECD, 2009, p.68). Australians who live in capital cities and with affordable access to networks  have vast information choices, however, this is not the case for some rural residents  as evident in the many submissions that have been received to a senate inquiry made in 2003 (Missingham, 2009).

Missingham (2009, p.392) emphasises the importance of access and quality information in the participation of a modern democracy. However, such quality information usually comes at a cost only organisations with big budgets can afford (Missingham, 2009, p.388). As an answer to this problem, the Electronics Resources Australia (ERA) was launched to deliver quality digital content (Missingham, 2009, p.391). This collaboration enabled 1,200 participating libraries to deliver authoritative online information to many Australians (Missingham, 2009, p.393). It is indeed an important step to “support individuals living in remote Australia overcome isolation”(Missingham, 2009, p.393).

Missingham (2009, p.396) considers three main issues dominate the topic on Australian digital information: connectivity, content, and capacity. The lack of broadband access and affordable internet access in rural Australia remains a significant issue (Missingham, 2009). However, with the commitment by the Australian Federal government to deliver superfast broadband to the Australian public, this barrier is expected to be resolved soon. The recently released NBN Co. Business Case Summary in 24 November 2010 marked August 2012 as “ready for market” looks promising (NBNCo, 2010, p.13). With the support of the Greens and the three rural independents -who sided with the current administration mainly due to its broadband program, the Australian Federal Labour government is set to deliver this much needed infrastructure.  For the issue on content, the author suggests the following improvements needed: implementation of funding models that would allow all Australians access to reliable content; adoption of a user-friendly online government services and; funding of a research to build the digital economy (Missingham, 2009, p.397).  For Australian public’s digital information skills, the author suggests the following: support for public libraries to provide training for the community; user-focused online services; and availability of services and resources to those with disabilities (Missingham , 2009, p.397). 

Missingham’s article has shown yet another proof of relevance of libraries in a digital world. It portrays the crucial role of libraries as providers of access to quality information and a place to learn information literacy. The consortium undertaken has surely made the life of students, teachers, and researchers in both rural and capital cities alike easier by not having to go to major libraries to get quality information. The article also gives an overview to this reader of how Australia fare with the rest of the digital information world. The completion of the National Broadband Network roll-out is expected to further enhance Australians’ digital participation and allow us to catch up with the leading countries. The author’s suggestions for improvements are worth taking into consideration for better digital citizenship participation.

References

Missingham, R. (2009). Encouraging the Digital Economy and Digital Citizenship Australian Library Journal, 58(4), 386-399.

NBNCo (2009). NBNCo Business Case Summary, Canberra. Retrieved from

http://www.nbnco.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/main/site-base/main-areas/publications-and-announcements/latest-announcements/nbn-co-business-case-summary.

OECD (2009). Guide to Measuring the Information Society, 2009, Paris. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/25/52/43281062.pdf.