Ian & Stuart's Australian Mac: Not for Sale/Another.not.for.sale (Australia).iso/fade into you/being there/Rants/CommUnity/about.act

Text File | 1994-02-20 | 10KB | 273 lines

ASSOCIATION for COMMUNITY TELEMATICS


[The term `telematics' means telecommunications + informatics, and here
refers to socio-technological aspects of computer communications and
networking].



OBJECTIVES - version 4 - 15 Nov 1993



MORE RESOURCES for COMMUNITY USE of COMPUTER NETWORKS

In the information revolution underway in Australia, the grassroots level
of the community is being overlooked.  The gap between the information
rich and the information poor is growing wider.  There is a danger that
the evolving information society will be more about social control than
empowerment of the community.

There exists a need to lobby for greater resources to develop
community-based computer networks, to simplify the use of these networks,
to provide better support for new users, and to encourage a wider range of
people, including those with no previous experience with computers, to
come online.

The business sector, particularly large-scale enterprise, the government
at Federal and State level, other large government agencies, and the
universities, have been steaming ahead with the introduction of new
computer communication systems for almost a decade.  However, the broader
community has yet to gain direct access to these tools of the information
revolution.  Access to the technology and resources at the grassroots
level is a precondition to the development of a true information society.

The Association for Community Telematics promotes the interests of :

a) community groups/organisations, local government
b) activist groups
c) individual networkers/home-users
d) the computer illiterate

Below is a list of objectives of the Association for Community Telematics.



GENERAL OBJECTIVES

To further develop online services so that they are:

a) more accessible
b) less expensive
c) more reliable
d) more user-friendly and self-explanatory
e) more convenient and faster
f) of higher quality presentation and content


OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the Association for Community Telematics do not include
all important social issues surrounding the diffusion of telematics
technology.  Issues relating to copyright, privacy, security,
surveillance, and transborder data flows, for example, are important but
are also receiving a certain degree of attention.  It is possible that
these and other issues will be addressed by Community Telematics at a
later stage.  The current objectives relate more directly to community
access which is receiving inadequate attention.


Community access

1. To increase the number of people using computer communications from
home and among local community organisations.

2. To help raise computer literacy levels in the community and provide
better support services, and community education in the use of e-mail,
e-databases and e-conferencing.

3. To encourage development of community telematics centres which offer
use of photocopiers, laser printers, personal computers with a range of
software, faxes, optical readers, CD-ROM library, gateways to online
databases, as well as equipment repair services, tuition/classes and
advice in the use of equipment and information services and information
management, at affordable cost, and a free community telematics notice board.

4. To improve public access to online government information.

5. To improve access to shareware, particularly communications,
word-processing and database software.

6. To lobby for development of an improved national and international
e-mail directory, as well as a directory of online information sources and
other services.

7. To promote broad community use of online white pages and yellow pages.


Remote access

8. To improve mobile access, including affordability and convenience of
access for individuals traveling in different countries and remote regions.


Equity

9. To identify ways of resolving inequities in the community brought about
by unequal access to information technology and services.

10. To explore development of online plebiscites and community interaction
with government in all spheres.


Affordability

11. To reduce the cost of using telematics technology.

12. To promote the use of electronic news services to improve access at
minimal cost to a wider variety of news sources, and to reduce wasteful
use of newspaper.


User-friendliness and convenience

13. To improve the user-friendliness of online services.

14. To improve convenience and speed of access to e-mail, e-conferences
and e-databases.

15. To encourage the development of improved screen technology to allow
reading of long texts with minimal eyestrain, and notebook computers which
can be read as a book.

16. To encourage the use of macro commands to enhance the convenience of
access to online services; and to improve the telecommunications network
technology so that delays in making a connection are greatly reduced and
improve success of first attempt to connect.

17. To facilitate electronic funds tranfer (cash payments online) between
individuals.


Capability

18. To promote the use of low-cost compact disks (CDs) as personal general
reference sources, (which will help reduce the load on the telephone
network), to encourage low-cost recordable CD technology, and improve
general reference databases currently available on CD.

19. To encourage upgrading of telecommunications infrastructure to
facilitate faster data transmission speeds, affordable transmission of
photos and other graphics, as well as text et al in colour.

20. To promote awareness of personal information management strategies in
the community.


Education

21. To promote more use of computer communications and access to online
information and electronic conferences in highschools and primary schools
in a way that allows students to become self-motivated and independent
networkers.

22. To encourage development of online distance education.



Libraries and databases

23. To encourage public libraries to provide online access to catalogues
and full text documents, and equip libraries with a number of personal
computers, CD-ROM indexes, printers and support staff trained in their
use.  The CD-ROM databases could also be made available by remote access.
Costs of access to information should be free or kept to an absolute
minimum to preserve as much as possible the principle of free access to
library information.

24. To encourage further development of the Australian Bibliographic
Network (ABN) so that it is up-to-date, covers all libraries in Australia,
includes books and journals (records) available online (with priority to
Australian records and records held on Australian computers), and is
directly accessible at minimum cost for public use'.

25. To encourage development of more full text (low-cost) databases,
beyond the current emphasis on bibliographic databases.

26. To explore mechanisms whereby libraries would charge small fees for
access to full texts which are passed on to the author as royalties (eg 50
cents to download a book).


Telecommuting

27. To encourage opportunities for telecommuting as an option, for
example, by organising local telecommuting centres within walking distance
from home.
Market development

28. To encourage the computer and information industries to focus more on
developing the longterm broad market and not just the narrow elite market
which is more lucrative in the short term.

29. To encourage database providers to abolish subscription fees,
bureaucratic registration processes, and confusing and unnecessarily
complex cost structures and charge only for time used; and to encourage
database providers to coordinate with PTTs (telephone network operators)
so that all costs are itemised on a single telephone bill.

30. To encourage mainstream media to publish more articles on community
use of telematics.


Government-private sector coordination

31. To lobby for greater government and private sector funding for
community-oriented telematics projects, including small grants with
simple, expeditious application procedures.

32. To encourage information technology research centres to conduct more
research on telematics issues at the community level.


Inter-cultural links (and balanced flow)

33. To request that e-mail, e-conference, and e-database software allow
easy inclusion of accents used in all languages based on the Roman
Alphabet such as circumflexes, tildes etc.

34. To encourage development of improved language translation software
which is available freely (or at minimum charge) on the networks, and
which includes languages based on a variety of alphabets.

35. To raise awareness of issues surrounding balanced cultural
interaction, and strategies to avoid amplification of cultural domination
and alienation.


International development

36. To lobby for greater aid for development of community telematics
programs in developing countries.


Information society

37. To disseminate information on new developments overseas relating to
building a democratic information society, and community telematics projects.

38. To encourage all sectors, including government, the private sector,
community groups, educational and research sectors, activist groups and
trade unions, to develop a vision statement and a plan for Australia's
transition to a more democratic and socially just information society.

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 ______________________________________________________________
|                                                              |\
| Geoff Holland, Association for Community Telematics          ||
|                                                              ||
| Assn for Community Telematics | e-mail: [e-mail]    ||
| PO BOX 683                    |         [e-mail] ||
| Bondi Jcn                     |                              ||
| NSW 2022, Australia           |    tel: [phone]        ||
|                                                              ||
|      `Cultivating a clever country from the roots up.'       ||
|______________________________________________________________||
\_______________________________________________________________|