Connected Communities
Vanessa Chewings
|
Computer Scientist, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Alice Springs, Northern Territory |
Vanessa’s work is based in Alice Springs which is located in an area of great scenery, including spectacular ranges, red sand dunes and lots of areas where few people go. Although Vanessa has had a few close encounters with road trains and buses while cycling to work the most bizarre incident was being hit by a bolting racehorse.
I studied computing science at university in the late 1970s (before personal computers) as there seemed to be job opportunities in that field. Since then I’ve had fun working mainly with spatial information, in teams with ecologists and social scientists for 25 years. My work has changed a lot over the years and I’ve tried to be flexible, develop new skills as needed and find the positives in an ‘evolving’ workplace.
I am currently working on a project
called ‘Connected Communities’ which is exploring opportunities for regional,
rural and remote communities to use information and communications
technologies
(ICT) for facilitating sustainable development. For the central Australian
component, we asked people involved in Natural Resources Management how they
thought ICT could improve outcomes and delivery in their area of work.
Several themes were identified including improved communication within and between agencies, coordinated information delivery, and access to customised information products (e.g. using the Internet to deliver spatial information). The most urgent issue identified was ‘over consultation’ of communities (Aboriginal, pastoral, towns etc.) in desert Australia.
To demonstrate the problem and improve communication and synergies between researchers/service providers we have developed a prototype of an online database using a small number of projects. The website can be used to check what is happening in different communities and regions. Our long term vision is for an information hub for central Australia.
One of the benefits of living in central Australia is being able to head ‘out bush’ regularly. Sudden weather changes always amaze me and make for memorable camping trips in the desert. My first experience of this was on Boxing Day 1982 when we headed off with our two month old baby in very hot weather to party with friends at a waterhole in the dry Finke River. Late in the afternoon a storm dumped heavy rain bringing welcome relief. After much debate about whether to move camp, the vehicles were eventually driven out of the riverbed minutes before a side creek came down. Getting home the next day across flowing creek crossings was a memorable adventure.
[And we never did find out what happened to the racehorse – Ed.]
