A series of regional community workshops held around northern NSW in July and August has revealed the strong potential within those communities for the development of an “innovation culture” that leads to action.

Some of the ideas for innovation that emerged from the workshops involve linking with the National Broadband Network to develop business opportunities, capturing opportunities arising from mining activity, developing a regional approach to waste management, and developing and promoting “cultural hubs” with a focus on the music and creative arts strengths of the region – particularly Armidale and Tamworth. They address issues such as the engagement of the young, the ageing, and the Indigenous members of regional communities.

The workshops were held in Armidale, Tamworth, Moree, Narrabri and Bingara, with more than 90 people attending across the region. “Most of the ideas are strongly associated with specific places, but similar ideas emerged in places/communities right across the region,” said the leader of the “Unison” project, Dr Philip Thomas from the University of New England. “A common theme is that of taking advantage of particular local strengths – and even turning perceived ‘problems’ into opportunities – ‘reframing’, if you like. Basically it’s about identifying assets and building on them through ideas that lead to action.

“As an example of this, the workshop participants discussed the opportunities that will arise from increased mining activity, and ways of meeting any associated social challenges in order to prosper from the economic benefits. It’s a matter of getting the mix right to ensure a sustainable future.”

Dr Thomas, a Principal Research Fellow in Innovation within UNE’s School of Business, Economics and Public Policy, is the leader of the “Unison” project, which is funded by the NSW Department of Industry, Innovation and Investment (II&I). “Our aim is to draw innovative ideas from the wealth of knowledge and experience within communities, and to see how UNE might be able to assist in developing those ideas into action,” he said.

The project is also supported by the Cotton Communities Cooperative Research Centre, Tamworth Regional Development Corporation, and Armidale Chamber of Commerce.

Last week Dr Thomas and Professor Ted Alter from Penn State University (PSU) in the United States presented a report on the workshops to an audience of Government and community representatives at the MLC Centre in Martin Place, Sydney. Professor Alter and his PSU colleague Dr Michael Fortunato travelled to UNE to assist in the workshops as part of a collaborative program of research projects involving innovation and engaged scholarship within the newly-formed Ideas to Action Centre, based at UNE.

“With the fieldwork component of our project now completed, the debriefing session was held to share our results and insights with the Department and other interested people,” Dr Thomas said. “As a result, they recognised the ‘Unison’ project as a good example of the community engagement work possible through collaborations involving II&I and UNE.

“The final meeting under the current project is planned for early October and is likely to be held in Bingara. The aim is to identify ideas and opportunities for innovation that have potential – and particularly those that are relevant to communities across the region. The meeting will also explore the potential for creating a structure and process around the innovation network that has now formed, and discuss what is needed to support this community-based initiative.”

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Dr Michael Fortunato from Penn State University (left) with UNE’s Dr Philip Thomas at one of the workshops.

A public seminar in Tamworth this evening (Monday 29 August) will recognise the key role that Tamworth has played in the University of New England’s groundbreaking demonstrations of broadband capabilities in education, and explore how new technologies can be used to create a virtual campus presence in Tamworth.

For the past few years, the University’s School of Education has been using broadband connections to enable “virtual supervision” by lecturers on the UNE campus of student teachers gaining professional experience in Tamworth classrooms. “We’ve collaborated on this with Tamworth’s Oxley High School since 2009,” said Associate Professor Stephen Winn, Deputy Head of UNE’s School of Education (Professional Practice and Partnerships) and one of the organisers of this evening’s seminar.

Dr Winn pointed out that – with the involvement of partners including its Tamworth connections – UNE was a pioneer among Australian universities in the development of such uses for broadband communication technology. “In this regard we’ve had very good and strong links with Tamworth in fields such as education, health, medicine, and agricultural science,” he said.

The seminar, at 6 pm in the UNE Tamworth Study Centre (24 Fitzroy Street), will examine opportunities that broadband connection offers to regional communities both generally and in the specific fields of education and local government. Titled “Local Government, the National Broadband and Development Opportunities for Innovative Regional Communities and Universities of the Future,” the seminar will include a joint presentation by the Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Jim Barber, and the Community Relations Adviser of NBN Co, Darren Rudd. Their presentation, titled “Opportunities for a University of the Future in Tamworth?”, will follow a presentation by Ian Tiley, a councillor with Clarence Valley Council, the Chair of Regional Development Australia Northern Rivers, and a member of the Executive Committee of UNE’s Centre for Local Government. Councillor Tiley will discuss how local councils might engage communities and facilitate, develop and upgrade innovative online service delivery to homes and businesses.

The Federal Member for New England, Tony Windsor, will give a short introductory talk titled “What does NBN mean for New England?”

This evening’s seminar is part of a series organised by UNE to highlight current innovations and future possibilities in the University’s engagement with its students, industry partners and research partners using broadband technology. The series has included presentations on the use of such technology in medical education, vision screening, agriculture, and other fields.

The most recent event in the UNE-NBN Seminar Series was on Wednesday 24 August, when Professor Ted Alter from the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Penn State University in the United States spoke about “Rural Broadband Investment in the United States: The Political Economy of Growth”.

“Broadband access is an essential – although not sufficient – condition for local and regional growth and development in rural areas,” Professor Alter said. He argued that broadband roll-out should be planned from the perspective of “investment” rather than that of “cost savings”.

“Investment to ensure rural broadband access requires significant expenditure, but the cost of not incurring this expenditure is the cost of lost opportunities for development,” he said.

At an exhibition in Coffs Harbour this week, the University of New England will be presenting some of the groundbreaking projects that the National Broadband Network is enabling it to develop.

“These projects aim to benefit people across their lifespan – from young children to parents and grandparents,” said UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber. “They will help them in the home as well as in schools, nursing homes, general practices and farms.”

“The capacity of the optical fibre made available through the Commonwealth Government’s National Broadband Network program is capturing the imagination of the University,” Professor Barber said.

T.H.E Exchange exhibition, sponsored by Regional Development Australia and NBNCo, will be at Coffs Harbour Ex-Services Club on Wednesday 20 July.

“During the event’s pre-opening cocktail party on Tuesday 19 July, colleagues from UNE and the University of California Irvine School of Medicine will give a live presentation that will demonstrate how general practices in rural and regional communities will be able to connect with a world-class medical teaching institution via fast broadband connections to share simulation facilities and teaching resources,” said Professor Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of UNE’s Faculty of The Professions. In addition, Professor Minichiello and his UNE colleagues will talk about a range of programs that will benefit from fast broadband, enabling high-speed data exchanges that will bring tremendous service benefits to communities across Australia.

Among the UNE programs to be highlighted will be the QuickSmart programs, which help struggling students to become active and successful learners by improving their basic skills and understanding in numeracy and/or literacy. Currently, more than 600 schools offer QuickSmart programs to almost 10,000 students across Australia, with many of these students experiencing up to three years’ academic growth over the course of a single year. With the opportunities provided by the NBN, UNE is developing ”QuickSmart in the Home” to offer relevant, targeted and professional online educational support to parents and children around Australia. Another program that has relevance for all Australians is EduONE, which allows people to “try before they buy” while earning points towards TAFE/VET or university programs. They can study online, find out about local events, simply indulge their passions or interests, or videoconference from their desktop to join workshops or seminars anywhere in the world.

A program called “Smarter Safer Homes for Aged People” uses technologies including sensors and synchronous videoconferencing via the NBN to enhance the quality of life of aged persons – living independently or in a residential aged facility – and their families. The program is a joint venture between UNE and the CSIRO Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation and CSIRO E-Health.

UNE and CSIRO’s ICT Centre are establishing a SmartFarm on a commercial university farm in the New England region of NSW. Using functional, realistic, and accessible sensor and data management technologies, SmartFarm will demonstrate the operational benefits of a national broadband network for Australian farms.  This project will show how NBN-enabled platforms for gathering and interpreting information from crop and pasture sensors and livestock tracking and management tools will increase farm productivity by increasing water (up to 100%), fertiliser (40%) and pasture use (20%) efficiencies and reducing inputs.

Broadband, gigabytes, megabits, SMART houses, fibre and the National Broadband Network (NBN) are terms cluttering our TVs and computers – but why is light important to them all?

In his Inaugural Lecture, entitled ‘The Light Fantastic’, to be held next Wednesday, June 15th, Professor of Physics and Precision Agriculture at the University of New England, David Lamb, will seek to enlighten members of the University and the community on the physics of light.

Professor Lamb will be using the occasion to bring together two of his research passions: the development and application of new tools in agriculture, and optical fibre technologies.

‘The Light Fantastic’ will be a one-hour presentation, filled with practical demonstrations, that will take the audience through the fundamentals of light, the development of optical technologies and their convergence in the creation of communications systems like the National Broadband Network.

Starting with a basic discussion of what light actually is and the rudimentary use of fires and candles for ‘signalling’, the lecture will examine methods of modulating and guiding light signals and what they can be used for. It will begin with Alexander Graham Bell’s ‘Photophone’, first demonstrated in 1880, and end with recent technology such as lasers and optical fibres.

At each step of the way the lecture will explain, at a level suitable for a general audience, the underlying physical principles and the terminology that is finding increasing use on our TVs, personal computers and communication devices.

Given the means to communicate large amounts of data and information (there is a difference!), the lecture will conclude with a discussion on the application of these technologies in the NBN, and how it can benefit regional communities as well as major cities – including SMART (Sustainable, Manageable and Accessible Rural Technologies) Houses, SMART Communities and SMART Farms.

Everyone is welcome to attend this free lecture by Professor David Lamb, which will be held in the
Armidale Town Hall at 6.30 pm on Wednesday, 15 June. As the second lecture in the UNE 2011 Inaugural Lecture series, ‘The Light Fantastic’ will be a major ‘town and gown’ event with all the traditional pomp and ceremony of an Academic Procession. It will be followed by drinks and canapés in the Town Hall foyer.

Armidale and the University of New England yesterday celebrated becoming the first centre in mainland Australia to receive the National Broadband Network.

At a launch in Armidale, accompanied by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Tony Windsor MP, the Member for Northern Tablelands and UNE Chancellor Richard Torbay, and the CEO of NBNCo Mike Quigley, the Prime Minister flicked the switch on the connection of NBN services to Armidale residents.

Speaking at the launch, the Prime Minister said: “The NBN will end the tyranny of distance between rural and regional Australia and our capital cities, literally changing the way Australians live and work.”

Senator Conroy emphasised that the day marked a significant milestone in the Government’s vision to deliver high- speed broadband to every home, school and business. “May 18 will mark the day the communications landscape in mainland Australia underwent a historic transformation,” he said.

Mr Quigley thanked the University for its collaboration and support with the rollout, emphasising that the National Broadband Network provided fair access for all, including in particular regional communities.

UNE showcased its broadband innovations at the launch, including SmartFarm technology (which includes sensor platforms for crops, pasture and livestock, mentoring and diagnostic applications for farm machinery, and high-definition videoconferencing), and UNE’s collaboration with the University of California Irvine School of Medicine, which brings high-tech broadband-enabled educational applications to regional Australian medical students.

UNE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jim Barber, said: “This event is recognition of the role that the city of Armidale, the region and this University have played in leading the agenda in the largest nation-building investment in Australia’s history. With our community, industry and government partners, we’ll continue to work on the promise of the National Broadband Network, showing the value of broadband applications in providing high-quality services – particularly education – to Australians wherever they live.”

“It’s important that we keep the momentum going,” Professor Barber said.  ”We’re determined to make the most of this opportunity for our students and our community.”

The Prime Minister went on to launch a joint project between the New England Institute of TAFE and UNE, in which the project partners will lead the dissemination of free media-rich open-source digital educational materials and communication applications for individual and workplace training, including lead-in to VET and university courses, through a joint portal (the EDUONE portal). The EDUONE portal draws upon the NBN to deliver stimulating, media-rich training programs to maximise the potential of high-speed communications in regions and remote areas. This project has received $3.5 million in funding through the Commonwealth’s Digital Regions Initiative fund.

The Prime Minister concluded her visit with an interview on UNE’s TUNE! FM radio station with Professor Barber, which included discussion of the measures included in the Budget for regional universities, and the Government’s higher education agenda. (The interview is available at http://tunefm.net/NBN-GillardBarber.wav.)

THE PHOTOGRAPH of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, displayed here was taken during her interview in the TUNE! FM studio.