Transcript World Bank’s Approach to Sustainable Infrastructure

AMI project:
Bilateral relationships on benefits of
ICT for rural communities
David Ness
Adjunct Associate Professor, Barbara
Hardy Institute & Affiliate, ACAB
AMI priority: trade & industry linkages
Project aims



Share knowledge & experience of policies & practices to enable
benefits of ICT access to flow to rural communities in Aust & Malaysia
Increase opportunities for biz innovation, entrepreneurship &
enterprise development
Establish strong platform for longer term collaboration, with positive,
practical outcomes for industry & trade, services sector, govt, NGOs &
others
Focus on the disadvantaged, marginalised communities
AMI
How aims were achieved

Mutual understanding & learning via face to face meetings/ fieldwork in
Australia & Malaysia
o
Bill Chin /ACAB met with SA Govt & others
o
Malaysia meetings Govt agencies (eg MDeC) & Cypress Diversified
o
Fieldwork in Pahang state, Malaysia
o
Digital Economy, Brisbane: met leader of ‘Intelligent Community Forum’
o
Engagement with RDA Riverland in Australia.

Foundations of collaboration platform laid: intent to continue work together

W/shop to share/compare experiences, build collaboration, plot way forward
Initial engagement
Highlights







Malaysia Communic’ns Multimedia Commission: “Pushing pipes is not enough”
“Connected at the roots” : Sabah seaweed farmer increased income from 450
RM per month to 20 000 via internet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfg8wpDVzjU
Multimedia Dev Corporation (MDeC): B40 program & micro-sourcing
Cypress Diversified hands on & grassroots societal uplift program
“By Community, For Community” (POKOK)
Local champions, profiling, elevating needs & concerns
Marshalling of facilities, resources
Meeting with
Cypress
Diversified, 26
Feb 2013
Fieldwork Pahang, Malaysia (POKOK)
Listening, assisting & empowering




Communities invited to express their needs (not what outsiders perceive
these to be)
Elevate these concerns/ needs to Govt & NGOs to provide assistance,
resources
Assist communities to develop own solutions, run own enterprises (including
ICT enabled) & determine own future
Welfare, passive approach has not worked
Zurin Adra Azhar with leader
of blind community Rumah
OKU
Fieldwork Pahang, Malaysia
Local produce: strawberries, rosell





Taman Sedia, Cameron Highlands: strawberry
growing but assets (eg hall) underutilised & WiFi
problems
Women Rosell growers of Desa Murni, Rompin
Need own land, control own destiny
Technical advice /training sought for using biomass
for energy, add value by local production,
maintaining tractors
Collaboration Taman Sedia & Desa Murni
Above: Taman
Sedia
Left: The women
Rosell growers - in
haze
Right: Cypress team
with Rosell
Opportunities
Eco-cultural tourism Chedok Beach /Rosell growers?






Beautiful setting
Orang Asli unique culture, blow-darts etc, no visitors
Chedok beach tourism & natural assets underutilised, undervalued
Link to Rosell as part of package?
Connect to Tioman Island?
Community need marketing & biz skills?
Chedok Beach, Rompin (note
haze)
Engaging with Riverland
ICT enabled exports / joint ventures with Asia?








Unique attributes of sun, river, boats, ecology, clean produce
Niche high quality products & services
Eco & health tourism?
Diverse, dispersed businesses
Find synergies, efficiencies through linkages, clusters, share resources
ICT to overcome remoteness – experiential marketing via internet?
Capability building: ICT, youth entrepreneurs, innovative enterprises
Cross-cultural understanding
River Murray &
houseboats at
Berri
Closing observations
What can Riverland learn from POKOK? Vice versa?




Champions versus advocates?
Buddy systems
Community profiling
Micro-sourcing
Potential R &D agenda?

Synergistic clustering of enterprises, share resources

Infrastructure & facils planning/upgrades, investment e.g. airport

Marketing & branding: video stories on web (eg Seaweed farmer)

Value added green supply chains

ICT capability building and enablement,access, support services

Rosell /Chedok eco-cultural-health tourism: compare with Riverland

Cross-cultural education, Asian languages, food
Thankyou !
David Ness
[email protected]