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Letter from Genevieve

Here it is! As promised my final report with 13 detailed recommendations.

My brief as South Australia’s 15th Thinker in Residence was to identify a set of strategies, directions and opportunities for all South Australians with regard to the future of new information, communication and entertainment technologies.

My travels

In 2009, I travelled over 14,000 kilometres and visited 45 very different communities, from Adelaide to Amata and talked with hundreds of South Australians. I am incredibly grateful for everyone’s willingness and generosity to spend time with me, attend my public lectures, and tell me how you saw the issues.

I discovered many enthusiastic and energetic people making technology, using technology and making it work for them.  I saw innovative and creative use of technologies to solve problems, content created for communities and individuals. But what I saw most was the potential of information, communication and entertainment technologies to make a real difference to the economic and social life of South Australians. The breadth of opportunities to use new technologies to support individuals, communities, businesses and government is astounding.  I hope my recommendations go some way to help setting out a plan for future work.

Recommendations

My recommendations are made to the Premier but this is not the end of the hard work, in fact it starts here. The consultation process is not over; the SA Government still wants to hear what you think about my recommendations, their implementation and how you might even contribute to making things happen.

You have the opportunity to continue to communicate your experience and ideas about information, communication and entertainment technologies in South Australia.  It is vital that your voice continues to be heard as there are major developments in the use of broadband, such as the National Broadband Network, and technology in South Australia.

Website

The website we used throughout the project – www.sastories.com – will continue. South Australian Government staff will keep you informed about the developments, and achievements in the implementation of my report’s recommendations on the website.  And I strongly encourage everyone to continue to have your say there too, and I will monitor and respond to your comments.

Once again, I thank everyone who made my Residency a personal and professional highlight.  I look forward to seeing my recommendations implemented and South Australia take its rightful place in driving global digital economy initiatives locally.

Genevieve Bell