Information Sytems - Article - Research Paper Example

The Dynamic Business Process Development Framework to Bridge the Digital Divide Among the Aboriginal Community In Australia Mohammad Mohammad Collegeof Business
University of Western Sydney
Sydney, Australia
e-mail: mohammad.mohammad@randwick.nsw.gov.au

Yi-Chen Lan
College of Business
University of Western Sydney
Sydney, Australia
e-mail:Y.Lan@uws.edu.au
ABSTRACT
The implementation of information systems in government organisations in Australia with specific reference to the aboriginal community is the major topic under study. This paper proposes a master plan entitled “Dynamic Business Process Development Network” showing the stakeholders and their inter-related activities. The proposed framework includes the development, training and maintenance of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and information systems for local communities especially for the Indigenous community. It also reviews the digital divide that exists between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous sections of the population. Quite a few studies and reports have been published on this topic and the rationale of the study is due to lack of financial support, remoteness, education, and trained manpower in the Indigenous community.
There are various recommendations from researchers and practitioners to address these shortcomings including community access centres, social inclusion, improving social capital and software packages that can provide custom solutions. However, unless more and more members of the Indigenous community have access to and use the Internet and ICT, the fundamental objective of the government’s information systems implementation on communities will be lost. In order to bridge this gap the proposed framework attempts to enact as the integrated platform for the government organisations and other partners such as NGOs or public/private business sections to implement a dynamic business process model for social or community information development in the Indigenous community.
The paper begins with the discussion of the importance of ICT in governance and its impact on the Indigenous community of Australia. It focuses on the gaps that exist with regard to its impact on the nonnative population in the country and its Indigenous population. A Dynamic Business Process Development Framework (DBPDF) is proposed to form the backbone of a system where effective implementation of ICT can benefit the Indigenous population of the nation. The paper concludes with a detailed delineation and the rationale behind the implementation of the DBPDF and recommendations for some future research directions.
Keywords- Business processes; Indigenous community; Information Systems; Digital Divide
I. Introduction
Availability of data, and the resulting information and knowledge are essential components for any organisation to be effective. This is true for any organisation regardless of its form for profit or service. The 21st Century information systems through the cutting edge Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can be effectively utilised for this purpose if the organisation and its management have the capability and the appropriate strategic vision. Privately owned organisations formed for profit have their own agenda and business-driven strategy that motivate the management team and employees to develop information systems. However, in the case of government organisations, apart from capability, the elected body has to be earnest and motivated in order to effectively develop information systems that can provide valuable services to satisfy the need of the society. It is a challenging task for government organisations to provide services to the society with diverse cultures and races. However, effective information systems can be invaluable. The study concentrates on the implementation of information systems by government organisations in Australia, and the implications of such information systems on the society. It focuses on the aboriginal population of the country and the services that the government provides to the Indigenous community and how it impacts on them. The paper will also provide recommendations to improve the information systems for such a government organisation to service to all different cultures as a whole and the Indigenous community in particular.
The perceptions and needs of information services by the Indigenous community and various migrant communities are quite distinct from the non-Indigenous population. In this study, the authors first discuss the importance of ICT in governance, its impact on the Indigenous community of Australia, and issues currently faced by the Indigenous community.
Then the authors identify the differences of implementation of information systems in government organisations in Australia on the nonindigenous and other migrant population with specific reference to the Indigenous community.
After the gap analyses, a “Dynamic Business Process Development Framework” (DBPDF) is proposed to demonstrate the stakeholders and their inter-related activities. It also highlights the digital divide that exists between Indigenous and nonindigenous sections of the population. The authors explain the rationale behind the implementation of the proposed DBPDF which will form the backbone of the information systems for an effective implementation of ICT to the Indigenous population of the nation. The paper is concluded with some recommendations for future research directions.
II. Literature Review
According to The State Records Act 2000 of Western Australia, government organisations include tertiary institutions, parliamentary departments, State and local government agencies and corporations, Royal Commissions, the Cabinet and the Executive Council, Ministers of the Crown, Courts and Tribunals” [9]. These organisations will be taken as representative of such organisations in this paper.
Australians use sophisticated ICT and embrace new technology eagerly. Leading international companies put their applications and products to test in the Australian markets. Many companies like IBM and EMC are keen to enter into the mainstream society to exploit its potential (Sophisticated IT market, 2008).
However, there is significant digital divide between the Indigenous and nonindigenous populations in Australia in terms of use of computers and the Internet. Less than two-thirds of Indigenous people use computers at home and only half of them have access to the Internet at home [2]. The mean household income of the Indigenous population is half of the household income of the nonindigenous community (Put our people first, 2009). This shows ICT usage is quite dependent on the household income. In general, Indigenous population has lower-level education and are less likely to get a job than nonindigenous people. Indigenous communities are more likely to suffer from social exclusion in terms of location and intergeneration disadvantage, jobless families, intergenerational disadvantage, child poverty and children at risk, mental health problems, disability, and homelessness as compared to nonindigenous people [14].
One of the major problems encountered by the Indigenous community is the "Digital Divide", which separates Indigenous people from access to modern technology. The main objectives of using the Internet by Indigenous people are the preservation and promotion of their culture and history. Today, this community uses the Internet for sending e-mails, chat with friends, listen to radio, video-conferencing, and gather news and information. As regards to the Indigenous community, ICT applications and projects might include areas in education, health and community development, preservation of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge.
For example, ICT measures are being taken up as remedy to the digital divide to strengthen the traditional health care system. The government organisations are helping the Indigenous communities with affordable access to basic health facilities. Furthermore, ICT is being utilised to strengthen education to Indigenous people in remote areas through digital and distance learning arrangement. This is done primarily through Community Online Access Centres [5]. However, Indigenous community still requires additional support and capacity-building for establishing the e-channels and e-platforms for the global market engagements.
The greatest barriers to the access to technology are high technology infrastructure cost, less telecommunications and connections to remote Indigenous communities, poor computer literacy and lagging behind in improving computer skills. Also high levels of unemployment and fears of privatisation of telecommunications carrier means leading to digital divide, which is more challenging even if there is a remarkable increase in computerisation in schools and community technology centres.
The issues of access to technology and lack of awareness of information systems among the Indigenous population have resulted in less number of Indigenous people to opt for making a career in information technology and services, and choosing IT as a profession. Colonialism played a significant role in the access to IT facilities [6]. There was a lack of educational qualifications in IT, trained IT professionals and managers in the Indigenous community thereby limiting their ability of utilising the ICT. Without a doubt, ICT is providing better opportunities to Indigenous population and helping them to take control over Indigenous communication and collaboration, cultural exchange and learning.
However, more extensive use of ICT and formulating Indigenous-specific policies will be required to further digital inclusion for Indigenous people to combat the digital divide.
III. Purposes and Research Questions
The rationale behind selecting the aboriginal community for this study is given here. First of all, Indigenous are the original inhabitants of the country. Secondly, they are still lagging behind other communities and immigrant population in terms of social and economic development. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, “many of Australias Indigenous people experience conditions of economic and social disadvantage. There has been recent renewed focus on monitoring progress in reducing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage, and the ABS is committed to improving the quality and comprehensiveness of data to assist governments to report against such indicator developments” [1]. This disadvantage is worth studying. The third reason is that the Australian Government is now looking at implementation of information systems to better the social and economic conditions of the Indigenous community. For example, the Northern Territory and New South Wales Government implement ICT in schools for meeting education needs of Indigenous students [14].
The Office of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health use ICT for data collection to monitor health, social and emotional health, and substance use [16].
The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of information systems in government organisations in Australia with particular focus on the Indigenous community in the country. The research questions and the hypothesises that will be addressed in the study are given below:
What are the essential factors that are necessary in the implementation of information systems in any organisation?
H1: It is believed that the DBPDF can provide the necessary factors and stakeholders for effective implementation.
Do government organisations in Australia make effective use of information systems in their functioning?
H2: It is believed that the DBPDF can provide a framework for effective use of IS in their functioning.
Does the implementation of the information systems in government organisations help in bettering the lives of the Indigenous community in Australia?
H3: It is believed that the DBPDF provides a comprehensive plan which can be used to better the lives of the Indigenous community in the country.
A brief review of the essential factors mentioned in research question ‘1’ is given here.. Mondo et al state that there needs to be a Collaborative Framework of all the stakeholders for effective implementation of Indigenous Knowledge Management(Mondo, Baryamureba, & Williams, 2007, p.164). Sadera et al stresses the importance of Enterprise Systems (ES) as an essential concept in IS implementation(Sadera, Rangaswami, & Mallavaram, 2005, p.655). Such a system should be able to provide, through automation, relevant information in real time to its users. Luzi and McKenzie state that any IS should have a performance measurement system incorporated into it so that the gap between planned and actual results is minimized (Luzi & McKenzie, 1982, p. 244). According to Harrison & Zappen, there are three elements that contribute towards the success of community information systems namely, stakeholder involvement, commitment from key players, and critical mass (Harrison & Zappen, n.d., p148). Raval states that unless the end-user is involved in development of an IS, the overall effectiveness of the program will not be effective (Raval, 1983, p256). Chatzoglou focuses on the importance of risk (both financial and non-financial) in the development of IS (Chatzoglou & Diamantidis, 2008, p.120). Resistance to change, lack of knowledge, and suspicion stand in the way of effectively implementing IS according to Kaplan & Maxwell (Kaplan & Maxwell, 2006, p.30). Jones, referring to other studies, talks about the general neglect or apathy with regard to evaluation of information systems in the public sector and the need for improvement in this area (Jones, 2008, p. 244). Myer stresses the importance of adopting a systems approach in implementing IS in any setting (Meyer, 2004, p. 25).
It is believed that the DBPDF incorporates most of the factors mentioned here. For example, all the stakeholders are included in the framework as per the observations of Mondo et al (Collaborative Framework). The framework also incorporates an automated and real-time dissemination of information as per the studies done by Sadera et al (Enterprise Systems). The monitoring component of the DBPDF will ensure a performance measurement system as proposed by Luzi and McKenzie. The first two elements as proposed by Zappen, namely stakeholder involvement and commitment is a part of the DBPDF. It is hoped that critical mass can be achieved through its implementation over a period time. The end-user in the whole program is members of the Indigenous community and thier representatives have been included in the DBPDF development. This is in accordance with what has been stated by Raval with regard to end-user involvement. It is believed that a majority of literature on IS implementation in general and with regard to a particular segment of the society has been incorporated into the DBPDF.
In short the proposed DBPDF model can be used to find solutions to all the three research questions above. But this can only be ensured when actual implementation takes place. Adjustments and modifications will have to incorporated where and when necessary.
IV. The Dynamic Business Process Development Framework (DBPDF)
Any business process whether it is for profit or not necessarily needs a master plan or framework upon which it should be based. For this purpose, a model for the framework has to be developed taking into consideration all the factors and stakeholders involved. The DBPDF attempts to provide such a framework taking into consideration what has been mentioned above. Addressing the problems faced by the Indigenous community and the betterment of their lives should be a fundamental aim of the government. This can be achieved to a large extent by implementing the DBPDF model see Fig. 1. This model will form the basis and will act a roadmap for effectively implementing ICT programs for the betterment of Indigenous communities.
Figure 1.
Figure 2. DYNAMIC BUSINESS PROCESS DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
IT Infrastructure, financing and digital divide: Moreover, it requires comprehensive inclusion of IT and IS and should also address the problem of the digital divide that exists in the country between Indigenous and nonindigenous population. The development of the Rural ICT Infrastructure is primarily a task that involves two sets of stakeholders. On one hand it needs financing and overall support and on the other hand it needs a set of developers. In the former instance (support and finance) the major stakeholders are the state and local governments along with concerned departments. Other indirect stakeholders are NGOs, aid agencies, finance and donations from philanthropic individuals/organisations. They are treated as indirect as they may not be directly involved in the process and their help is limited to providing finance or giving donations.
Social inclusion: The concept of social inclusion which will be mentioned later in this paper is also taken to be a part of this set of stakeholders. The aboriginal organisations and its members in each area will also be active in providing support and if possible manage finance from among themselves. The NSW Aboriginal Consultative Education Group, Boomalli aboriginal Artists Cooperative, Central Land Council, Koorie Heritage Trust, and Victorian Coalition of Aboriginal Organisations are some examples of such organisations. They may not be able to help much in this regard, but any contribution from within the community can help to bring about a sense of belonging and responsibility. They can play an active role in helping to collect and manage donations through appeals, and even through sales and exhibitions of their artefacts and cultural commodities.
Stakeholders in development: The next primary set involves the developers of the program. The developers will be primarily software and hardware exports either working for the government or in the private sector. In the latter case, they will have to be paid accordingly and will be much more expensive. But their help is an essential component in the whole process. This set will also need the assistance of government staff working in departments related to tribal affairs. The end users and beneficiaries, the aboriginals should be brought into the development in order to customise the programs as per their requirements. These aboriginals should also be provided with IT trainings (with different skill levels) depending upon the individual attitude and aptitude. It can be seen later in this paper that a common program implemented for the Indigenous community as a whole might not be effective. Both the supporters and developers will also have an interactive relationship with each others. These stakeholders come under ‘developing rural infrastructure’, overall support/financing, and training boxes in the DBPDF.

It is estimated that a workable structure and the platform prototype will be ready in about six month’s time from inception. The Rural ICT Infrastructure will have the aboriginals as the end beneficiary and primary stakeholders. It will also embrace the government departments, trainers, developers, and community access centres (explained later in the paper) as other stakeholders. All of them will need to interact with the developers for fine-tuning and additional requirements. In a dynamic environment, new ideas and requirements may come up that have to be incorporated in the program. They will also have to interact with the support/finance group in order to communicate additional financial needs and other forms of support. The developers group will also be involved in training the members of the community to understand and make use of the information systems. Some of them can also be taught to become local trainers. This can solve the problem of nonavailability of trainers in remote areas.
Indirect stakeholders: Furthermore, a larger-scale training program is required to facilitate the maximum number of community members receiving the training opportunity especially from remote areas. Training will also be provided to government staff involved in the program. For this purpose, the services of the TAFE (Technical and Further Education) colleges in the country can be used along with participation from public and private sector agencies. Those from the private sector may have to be compensated at a higher level and this should be used only in case whether TAFE colleges, aboriginal trainers, and government officials are not available. This group of trainers is shown in a separate box because they are only involved in the training part of the program. It should be noted that teaching English language is embedded as a part of the training program. There will be regular interactions between the training section, the support and finance section and the stakeholders in the Rural ICT Infrastructure. For example, periodic meetings between representatives of the stakeholders could be held every month/fortnight for evaluation of progress made so far. Any changes or modifications required can be discussed in these meetings. The monitoring committee should also be involved so that progress of the work is not delayed. Progress reports should be made available to all the stakeholders. If any delay or holdups occur, the monitoring committee should look into the reasons and provide solutions.
Training format: The training is divided according to three skill levels –basic, intermediate, and advanced. Basic level training is provided for making use of the basic applications such as email, browser and will include training to operate a computer and accessing information from the Internet. Intermediate level aims to train the aboriginals and other staff to provide the basic training mentioned above. Advanced training is given to selected stakeholders (aboriginals and other staff) primarily to deal with repairs and maintenance of software and hardware. This is essential since a lot of training will take place in remote areas where regular technical personnel may not be available.
This group will be equipped to deal with software bugs, system enhancement and basic repair of hardware. They will also be responsible for transporting equipment for service in case major repairs are required. One of the most important components of the DBPDF is to monitor the whole program. The program has to be monitored from its inception and should continue till it is ready for implementation. After this the smooth and effective functioning of the program has to be ensured. For this purpose, a separate monitoring department will have to be established and the members should include the Indigenous participants, state and locale government staff, and other community members (voluntary service) from the nonindigenous population. This monitoring department will interact with every other single component of the framework. They will monitor the quality of training, the commitment of the support group, the support provided by the developers and any other matter that is required for the seamless running of the framework.
The bi-direction arrows that connect the monitoring department with every other component make this point clear.
The Rural ICT Infrastructure and the training will form the foundation for the aim (or target) of the framework, which is bridging the digital divide and sustainable development of the aboriginal community. However, this does not in any way reduce the responsibility or involvement of the other sections. In effect it has to be a committed team effort from all stakeholders in the framework to make it viable, effective, and successful.
V. Rationale behind the DBPDF
Digital divide: One important factor that should be considered in this study is the concept of “digital divide” – a situation whereby sections of the population have no or little access to information technology in its various forms. This digital divide has been defined by the state of Victoria as “the lack of access to information and communications technologies by segments of the community” [18]. The digital divide is a generic term used to describe this lack of access due to linguistic, economic, educational, social and geographic reasons [18]. “The digital divide is therefore defined as the separation between those (individuals, social groups, regions, countries) who use ICTs in an efficiently way and those who do not use them or use them inefficiently” [3]. A third definition that specifically states four components is given by Fink and Kenny (2003).
These four components are nonavailability of equipment like telephones and computers, lack of suitable skills and training to make use of available systems, the lack of availability of suitable technology (for example the Internet access or software) and economic viability of the whole project [3]. Based on the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) 2001, Radoll [17], confirms the observation that there exists a digital divide between Indigenous and nonindigenous sections of the population.
As mentioned earlier, income is directly proportionate to IT usage and the lowest earners use it the least. The average income of a nonindigenous Australian is $665 per week while it is only $394 per week for indigenous people. This indicates that the usage of IT by aboriginals is also directly related to their earnings. This is even true with regard to the level of education. It is interesting to note that people holding post-Year 11 education demonstrate a significant change in computer usage especially among the aboriginal population. A publication by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, and Curriculum Corporation states that only about 39% of Indigenous children move on to year 12 which is crucial to IT usage as mentioned above [13].
Figure 2: HOME COMUPTER USE AND HOME INTERNET USE BY INDIGENOUS STATUS, 2002.
The report also states that the language spoken by them is Aboriginal English and not Australian English, and they could have problems understanding the content of websites and other published materials. This is compounded by the fact that this form of English varies from place to place within the country. For example, the word used for a “policeman” in Western Australia is “monatj” and in Queensland it is referred to as “booliman”. Indigenous people in the North refer to white men as “balanda”, while those in Western Australia use the word “wajala”. They also use the word ‘eh’ as a question and have difficulty pronouncing certain words. They mostly say ‘dat’ for ‘that’ and ‘dere’ for ‘there’
Efforts on the part of the government: But it is creditable that the government has put in efforts to correct the problem of language and literacy through programs like the National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. The report also claims that many aboriginals are subject to ridicule and racism, which could also come in the way of this digital divide [3]. According to Daly [5], this digital divide can be brought down to a large extent through use of community access centres. These centres provide public multi-terminal access to information and communications technologies including the Internet, e-business facility, fax and photocopy machines, and video-conferencing [5]. This could be a practical approach since aboriginals may not be in a position to own their own systems and such centres can be a common training and IT usage centre for the whole community.
This will also bring about more interaction in learning from within the community making it more effective. Notley and Foth [15] quoted Lloyd and Bill who in 2004 had written that “use of the Internet is rapidly becoming an increasingly common and critical part of commerce, education and social participation. Groups that do not have the opportunity to participate in the services provided by new telecommunications technology will be increasingly disadvantaged socially and economically”. Notley and Foth [15] also state that the concept of social inclusion originally developed to help underprivileged people in France is now being taken up in Australia as well. It has been shown to bring about better cohesion and solidarity among diverse cultures and groups [19]. The authors state that the implementation of the concept is yet to take off seriously in Australia. But some states like South Australia has taken this concept seriously and its successful implementation can be adopted as a model by other states [8]. The concept of developing better social capital through better communication and IT is also argued by some researchers (Mohammad: some references here). Putnam, for example states that communities in the United States are becoming isolated within themselves and the quality of social capital in the country is going down drastically [15]. He states that ICT and the Internet have the ability to reach out to different communities irrespective of colour, caste or nationality. Hewitson [10] also concurs with other researchers regarding bringing down the digital divide. However, Hewitson states that while the reasons for this state of affairs may be common everywhere, the actual implementation of IT should be according to the needs of each specific community. In other words, a universal plan that is applied to every setting may not work out. The words Hewitson uses are culturally appropriate models. Hewitson who is employed with Cicada, a software solutions firm says that they have developed software called Online Documentary Training (ODT) that can provide solutions to the particular needs of a community [10]. Another aspect that needs to be considered is the commercial exploitation of the knowledge wealth and skills of the aboriginal community. It is a matter of concern that aboriginals may never get ownership of their collective knowledge according to Ludlow [12]. Referring to Pamela Anderson, a copyright expert, Ludlow states that “Western countries may legally appropriate the music, designs, and biomedical lore of aboriginal people without compensation to their tribe of origin since that tribe is not an “author or “inventor”” [12]. Coupled with the concept of digital divide, this could be more disadvantageous to the Indigenous community in the country. Unless steps are taken legally to protect this collective knowledge, it might end up being owned as patents or copyrights by the more educated individuals or corporations.
VI. Conclusion
It is to the credit of the government that there are many programs now going on with regard to implementation of information systems for the benefit of Indigenous people. But various studies have shown that there is a digital divide that exists in the country between Indigenous and nonindigenous sections of the population. A detailed explanation about the implementation of the Dynamic Business Process Development Framework (DBPDF) has been provided here. It is hoped that the DBPDF will be able to provide a solution to this. It should provide a framework or roadmap for improving the lives of the Indigenous people with the help of information systems. The role of the diverse departments or sections, the role of individual stakeholders, and the interaction between all of them have also been discussed. The problem of the digital divide that exists between Indigenous and nonindigenous people in the country has also been discussed along with several proposals as a solution to bridge up the gap. Unless the program effectively provides access to ICT and the Internet, the basic purpose behind it will be lost. All these provide a basic rationale for implementing the DBPDF for a sustainable development of the aboriginal community in Australia. A lot of care and planning have gone into the concept of DBPDF and it is hoped that all factors and stakeholders involved have been included. The challenging part is implementing a developed ICT infrastructure and keeping it running effectively. The proposed ICT program for the Indigenous people which is to be implemented through the DBPD framework hould not be implemented for the whole country at the same time. To take the proposed framework further, a pilot study should be concentrating on a small and willing Indigenous community. Once it is found successful, it can be expanded to cover more communities. Each implementation will provide valuable feedback for corrections and fine-tuning the DBPDF.
Acknowledgment
Special thanks are due to Wayne Cook, Community Project Officer (Aboriginal) at Randwick City Council Australia for taking intense interest in this study as well as providing valuable suggestions that improved the quality of this paper.
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