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MEDIA & COMMUNICATION
Information superhighway divided Australia and New Zealand are cruising comfortably down the information superhighway, but their Pacific Island neighbours are being left behind, according to Charles Sturt University research. Developed countries such as Australia and New Zealand have developed infrastructure and technical capabilities to participate in the information revolution that has enveloped the world in the past ten years. But Associate Professor Dirk Spennemann from Charles Sturt University (CSU) is concerned that their Pacific Island neighbours are fast falling behind as they struggle to develop the telecommunication infrastructure and technical expertise sufficient to enter the Digital Age.
Assessing the Internet's impact on Pacific IsIand nations - Associate Professor Dirk Spennemann. “By virtue of the vast expanses of water between and within their countries, and the poor natural resources they have to survive on, these nations are really struggling to even access the Internet, let alone build a presence on it,” said Professor Spennemann. As part of his recent research into Pacific Island access to the Internet, Professor Spennemann reviewed the current position of 22 countries stretching from Palau and Papua New Guinea in the west to French Polynesia to the east and Guam in the North Pacific Ocean. Their combined land masses cover less than one percent of the Pacific Ocean. These countries encompass thousands of islands and atolls of all sizes, over one thousand local languages, as well as English and French, and a vast array of traditional and transitional societies. Spennemann’s research showed that to gain more equitable and comprehensive Internet coverage which is comparable to that found in Australia or New Zealand, these countries must overcome three “digital divides”:
“Poor access to the Internet, few local language sites, a huge predominance of business sites over national government and education sites and virtually no content from local information providers highlights these divides,” Professor Spennemann said. Associate Professor Dirk Spennemann (left) inspects a national heritage site on Rota, Northern Mariana Islands. He is most concerned with the ownership of online heritage of Pacific Island nations. Professor Spennemann is concerned that this growing imbalance will see Pacific Island countries surrender their online identities to individuals and businesses which may not always have the best interests of Pacific Island peoples at heart. “At the international level, the continued domination of information on Pacific Island countries by providers outside these countries raises concerns about the long term viability of Pacific Island websites, particularly with the growth of commercial information warehouses,” he said. “Who will actually own and manage information about Pacific countries and cultures – the people of the Pacific or corporations outside the region?” Spennemann found that there were considerable differences between countries in the region, from the virtual isolation of Tokelau, Nauru and Kiribati to the comparatively high community access seen in the single island nation of Niue. “Island economies and geography play a huge role in these disparities – Kiribati consists of over a thousand atolls and islands scattered across three thousand kilometres along the equator, with nearly 100 000 of the poorest people and lowest numbers of computers in the region. They just can’t afford to get on the Net on their own.” Spennemann is helping maintain the history of the Pacific Islands, having established a major website on the Republic of the Marshall Islands that delivers 90 000 pages to visitors each month. ends
Editor's Note: For details on Professor Spennemann’s research on “Digital divides in the Pacific”, see his paper in the journal IT&Society, 1:7, Summer 2004. Related Images:  |
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