Organisers of Community Technology Day, 26 August, like to say “you don’t have to understand I-T to use it.” To that end, they’ve scheduled demonstrations at Rockhampton High and infotainment at the Pilbeam theatre to highlight the benefits of technology as a community component.

“What we want to do is remove the fear factor in computing for everyone,” said organiser Kevin Tharp.

Featured guest speaker Frank Odasz, an IT consultant based in Montana (USA), says the vigour of communities, like Rockhampton, will depend on proactive citizens who are value-driven and use the Internet. Odasz will hold a workshop 230p-5p following information sessions at Rocky High from 1230pm to 230pm covering on-line banking, tax filing, games, and wireless computing.

The infotainment part of the day, planned for the Pilbeam, will be delivered live and in-person by Robin Williams – the IT adventurer, not the actor! Williams installed the first-ever interactive television network based on fibre optic technology. He also initiated the first experiments of high-definition TV in medicine, and is considered a pioneer of digital photography and multimedia. Williams, the Dean of the Faculty of Art, Design and Communication at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, will talk about new media and applications in rural areas.

Community Technology Day – You Don’t Have to Understand it to Use I-T – is hosted by COIN Internet Academy, a joint project of The Faculty of Informatics and Communication of Central Queensland University and the Rockhampton City Council, located in Rockhampton’s central business district. Part of the Information Technology In Regional Areas Conference 2002, the Day focuses on how technology affects those of us who live in regional areas, and how to best face those challenges.

Researchers, policy makers, and community leaders attending the conference will explore strategies that link economic and social development efforts with emerging opportunities in such areas as electronic commerce, community and civic networks and telecentres, electronic democracy, virtual health communities, and others.

“It is becoming evident that a digital divide is developing between those who are in a position to take advantage of IT enabled opportunities and those who are not,” said Stewart Marshall, Dean of CQU’s Faculty of Informatics and Communication.

The Faculty is unique in Australia and aims to bring together a range of disciplines concerned with the Digital Age, such as information technology, electronic commerce, internet communication, journalism, information systems, multimedia, nursing informatics and mathematics.