Tuesday, 21st February 2023
Beyond NBN — new research suggests that advancing Australia’s digital economy and improving digital inclusion needs to start with a National Digital Communications Strategy led by the Federal Government
The research examined lessons from other developed nations — the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Republic of Korea — which indicate that user-focused or demand-side policies are key to an accessible and inclusive Australian digital communications strategy.
The presenters explain how COVID-19 restrictions exposed the importance of digital inclusion and demand-side policies, for example, enabling vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, to develop digital literacy skills to utilise online services, when in-person services were no longer an option.
The findings support existing policies including, for example, Service NSW-assisted digital services in shopfronts and elsewhere, and digital classrooms in Seoul Citizens Hall — a multipurpose space in the South Korean capital.
The research determines that the ongoing enhancement and usage of the National Broadband Network needs to be drawn into a broader policy, where broadband services are part of a digital communications ‘ecosystem’, led by the Federal Government, but integrated with the State Governments as social policy.
This presentation is an outcome of a TelSoc internship project at the University of Canberra. A paper on the subject was published in the last issue of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy (here).
The event will be held online via Zoom. Zoom joining details will be emailed to registered participants just prior to the event.
Registration is free via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/beyond-nbn-improving-digital-inclusion-via-national-digital-comms-strategy-tickets-538507700027
Date and Time
Tue, 21 Feb 2023
12:30 - 13:30 AEDT
Location
Presenter(s)
Dr Michael de Percy FCILT is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the Canberra School of Politics, Economics, and Society. His qualifications include a PhD in Political Science from the Australian National University, a Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) from the University of Canberra, and a Bachelor of Arts from Deakin University. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, where he received the Royal Australian Artillery prize. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and Vice-Chair of the ACT and Southern NSW Chapter, Vice President of the Telecommunications Association (TelSoc - Australia's oldest learned society), an editor of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, and a member of the Australian Nuclear Association. Michael was appointed to the Australian Research Council's College of Experts in 2022.
Nitya Reddy is currently studying a Bachelor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Canberra, where she also works as a Research Data Quality Assistant. After graduation, Nitya intends to join the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and/or parallels. She has previously worked as a research intern at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance and contributed to the Centre’s project on Democratic Resilience: The Public Sphere and Extremist Attacks (led by Associate Prof. Selen Ercan and Prof. John Dryzek at UC). Her most recent research appeared in the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy.
Dr Leith H. Campbell is an Adjunct Professor at RMIT University and Managing Editor of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy (the TelSoc journal).
He has been an international consultant with Incyte Consulting and Ovum (now Omdia). Prior to his consulting career, he spent five years as CEO of the Australian Telecommunications Cooperative Research Centre, a consortium of industrial and university partners, having earlier served for almost 14 years in various management roles at Telstra Research Laboratories. In the period 1975-1987, he worked in the UK and the US, including five years at Bell Laboratories and Bellcore (now part of Ericsson) in the US, and six years in the UK at the Universities of Cambridge and Durham.
He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Adelaide.