Leaders in the new field of 'community informatics' say that Australia's rural and regional communities can use information technology to transform their communities, their regions and themselves.

The leaders say that regional residents need to be proactive to take best advantage of the changing living circumstances brought about by IT, "which in its raw state is no respecter of place, culture, social cohesion or nation state boundaries". Their optimistic message is espoused in two new books, launched simultaneously in Rockhampton's COIN (community informatics) Internet Academy in October.

'Closing the Digital Divide' (Greenwood Publishing Group) and 'Using Community Informatics to Transform Regions' (Idea Group Publishing) were launched by Rockhampton Regional Development CEO Margaret Goody.

Both books were authored by Professor Stewart Marshall and Dr Wal Taylor from Central Queensland University, and by former CQU staff member and now Emeritus Professor Xinghuo Yu (now based at RMIT).

A common theme is the need to empower and encourage citizens to use information technology for community building, rather than relying on provision of IT links as the total solution.

The authors use examples from many countries to show that a 'community informatics' (or citizen-driven IT) can increase social and cultural capital and ensure the sustainability of regions.

Details about the books are available via:.

'Using Community Informatics to Transform Regions' Eds. Marshall, Taylor & Yu.

http://www.idea-group.com/books/details.asp?id=4146 .

'Closing the Digital Divide' Eds. Marshall, Taylor & Xu.

http://www.greenwood.com/books/BookDetail.asp?dept_id=1&sku=Q602&imprintID= .

ENDS.

For details/interview call Dr Wal Taylor on 0409 456 115.

Caption: Launching the book are (from left) Dr Wal Taylor, Emeritus Professor Xinghuo Yu and Professor Stewart Marshall, with Rockhampton Regional Development CEO Margaret Goody.