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Wingellina (Irrunytju) makes its mark at the auIGF!

I was recently given the opportunity to moderate a panel at the Australian Internet Governance Forum in Melbourne and I have to say some of the discussions were very insightful. This years theme was how the internet is transforming Australian society and the organisers thought it would be wonderful if we could share how the internet is transforming Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples society.

Our topic, "Internet and Indigenous Communities - The Inclusivity and Engagement Divide" focused on how access and affordability are crucial barriers to digital inclusivity particularly in regional and remote areas of Australia.

The panel was made up of a great mix of views from Professor Irabinna Rigney, Anne-Marie Elias, Bonnie Levi and Benson Saulo and they definitely covered a broad spectrum of views from academia, social change, Indigenous youth and real first-hand in the community experience.

The one thing I learnt was how important people like Bonnie Levi have helped remote communities like Irrunytju feel connected. Irrunytju is a remote town that sits on the Western Australian side of the tri-state border, four hours drive west of Yulara and is home to between 80 and 150 people. They speak three local languages and english. They continue to practice traditional hunting and gathering as well as traditional arts, crafts and ceremonies. They also enjoy modern day facilities such as a high speed internet connection and have had access for eight years.

Bonnie is reasonably digitally savvy and has an open, helpful and caring personality and is also an Indigenous Support Officer, Community Worker and Mentor who lives and works in Irrunytju. During the two day forum I was able to listen to Bonnie's trials and tribulations of how Irrunytju uses its modern day technologies and her view on things that could be trailed and perhaps even improved.

Bonnie recalls a time just recently when the line did go down and it was chaos. People were not able to contact friends and family to see if they were safe or to withdraw money from the local ATM to pay for groceries. That outage lasted approximately 16 hours, but they made do.

Bonnie laughs as we share a moment with Irabinna as he recalls the kids from Pipalyatjara running up the hill to get the reception from the Irrunytju tower so that they can send messages to friends on social media. It just goes to show that remote Australia wants to be socially included, all be it inventively. I wonder if the kids scientifically figured this out for themselves?

Whilst Bonnie did not grow up in the area she has come to understand how the internet and telecommunications are roadways to bigger and better things. The locals regularly call on her to help with their banking, welfare and medicare but the demand is increasing for other things. Things like, improving their confidence in using the internet for themselves so that they can pursue their interests and registering with social networks so that they can write to friends and family.

Bonnie is doing great work in the bush and it is great to see that little by little remote Australia is starting to feel more connected. Improving digital skills, self-education and social engagement are growing in Irunnju and I can't wait for the first online business to start out there and I wonder what that will be.

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One thing I learnt about being an entrepreneur

I recently wrote an article inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to attend a 2-day workshop that could teach them about entrepreneurship and I just wanted to follow that up with a highlights package of things that made me say "ah ah!" and admittedly "hey, which way?".

BACKGROUND

The workshop was hosted at the Indigenous Digital Excellence (IDX) Hub, which is a space you can hire out in one of the heritage listed buildings on the grounds of the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) here in Redfern.

It was held over the weekend of the 25th and 26th of July and went for two full days, so it was quite an effort for us all to attend, especially the people who flew in from far away places like Perth, Broome, Jabiru and Cairns. Thank you guys!

MURU-D AND POLLENIZER

The workshop was led by the smart, genuine and patient people from both Muru-D and Pollenizer and I would like to say a big shout out and thank you to you guys for pushing me to learn. It was totally worth it and I am glad to have been a student to your teachings. You guys rock.

So. Five things I have learnt.

DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY

I have learnt that diversity is an advantage. It is with diversity that we have the ability to look at problems we are trying to solve through many different perspectives.

To really highlight this, I reflect on the people attending the workshop. We had a range of ages with roughly an equal gender, all from different parts of Australia, all with different types of skills, from art and film, to legal services, to design and technology (sorry if I missed anyone). Thank you guys for helping me see the world a little differently.

FLEARNINGS

I have learnt a new word. Flearning. It means to embrace your failures positively and to learn from them. All too often we can get caught up with the negativity that hovers around the word failure and having new words like this helps to make it okay if something does not turn out right.

I will also mention that part way through the workshop Natalie Walker from Inside Policy was kind enough to share a few of her tips and this was one of them. Natalie quoting the words like a mantra "I am completely okay with being wrong" really hit home with me.

DISCOVERY NOT RESEARCH

I have learnt that the earlier you learn your idea is not viable the less money and time is wasted. And to do that you have to get out of research mode and into discovery mode.

Accompanied with the workshop came a book called "Startup Focus" written by Mick Liubinskas and Phil Morle. In this book the guys explain that discovery is about creating value and strength of want or need and you should start asking yourself the questions "can I create something of value" and "how much does someone want this thing". They also talk about research too, and research is about gathering data and interpreting it, which is all still relevant, but it is just not needed right now.

Traditionally, I have been a research guy and have always been happy with looking at information that made me feel like I could justify what I was doing was right. I think that discovery is a real breakthrough for me and I will definitely be applying it to new projects.

LEAN CANVAS

This one is big and it probably needs a blog post of its own. But in short, I have learnt that business plans are good for the bottom drawer of my work desk and not much else right now. So do not do one. Yet.

A significant part of the workshop was spent learning about the lean canvas and in a way it is your business plan. It is a one-pager that I can reference to connect the dots about what problem I am solving, who my customer is, and what I think my solution is. It is not meant to be a substitute for your business plan, it is your business plan for right now.

PITCHING

I have learnt that it is important to pitch regularly and to anyone who cares to listen. Pitching is a way to refine and internalise your vision and to understand the different audiences you need to frame your pitch for, for example, the way I would pitch my idea to a customer would be completely different to the way I would pitch to an investor.

On the last day of the workshop, we were all asked to pitch our ideas and I enjoyed listening and watching everyone play out pitches. I must admit, some of us got into it more than others, but overall I think everyone learnt something.

TAKING IT HOME

And lastly, I think an important part of this journey for me is sharing this new information with my family, relatives and community. You never know, there might be someone out there who needed a little nudge, just like I did.

Thank you again to the kind people at Muru-D and Pollenizer and also to my other fellow entrepreneurs. I am looking forward to sharing more of my ideas with you and also listening to yours. Keep in touch.

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One thing I learnt about having an idea

Like most people, I've come up with a few ideas in my time. Some of them were quite small and simple and some were just too big to think that I could ever get off the ground. Regardless of size, to me it never really mattered, I was learning something and that was important to the journey.

I still have a folder I keep my early ideas in, and over the years I've looked back at them and felt a little sad that I didn't follow through. I did start a company once and it was on the back of all those entrepreneurial tingles that had been building up year after year. I was young and I felt brave enough so I thought to myself why not? I felt I had a great idea and I had a bit of money saved up.

So I quit my job and I went down to the local registry and registered my company and off I went. I built the software, I looked at the competitors, I found my niche in the market, and then all of sudden, I'd lost those tingles. 9 months had gone by. I was burnt out. I was alone. Unsupported. Living off my savings. And at that point, I returned to a day job and once again became someones employee.

I've done that a couple of times now and with each new failure I've got a bit more out of it than the last. Slowly but surely my confidence has grown and I'm a bit more open to discussing my ideas with qualified people than ever before. I've even attended a few short courses that help you to get your business off the ground and that is one of the reasons why I'm sharing my experiences with you today.

Just recently a colleague mentioned the name muru-D, a company that's going to be hosting a free 2-day workshop for Indigenous Australians of all ages, who like myself want to learn about starting a company. I found the name pretty cool, 'muru', a Sydney Aboriginal Eora word meaning 'path' and 'D' meaning digital, so a very appropriate 'path to digital'.

I've committed to going and to say I'm excited would be an understatement. Again I'm reminded that life puts things in front of you for a reason sometimes and this is a wonderful opportunity for myself to get exposure to the skilled men and women who are in the business of helping and supporting me and my ideas. I'm also pleased to discover through time that the support for entrepreneurs has grown tremendously and I'm impressed with the government, business and philanthropist courses that are available to you, if you are willing to take them.

I have read in a column recently that to date no one of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent has completed muru-D's program and I'm saddened by that.

If you are an Indigenous Australian young or old and you have an interest in starting a business that involves something digital, this is a tremendous opportunity for you to learn about that. I encourage you to register, go along and introduce yourself to me and to share your story.

If you are interstate or just far enough away for it to be inconvenient, we've decided to help a little with travel and accommodation costs. We're offering 5 grants up to $1000 to support you or some of your team to get here and attend the workshop. Please see this post for further details.

In summary, it's clear that along the way I needed help. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, I wasn't ready to receive it and thankfully, through age I've learnt that help is important and why there's a lot of help out there for people like myself. Entrepreneurs.

I have learned the hard way about asking for help and if you're out there thinking that your ideas seem too silly or too small. Stop thinking about it. We've all had those thoughts. Sign up to the workshop and come along and meet other Indigenous Australians like yourself and we'll see where we go from there. You never know, this may just be the first step into starting something extraordinary.

When? 25th and 26th of July, 2015.

Where? The Coder Factory (7 Hudson Street, Redfern NSW 2016)

Cost? Free!

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One thing we learnt: Link Festival

The one thing I learnt is Gene Roddenberry nailed it! If there was ever a person who put pen to paper to describe what a modern futuristic universe would look like, it was Mr Roddenberry.

As the radiant sun set slowly behind the Yarra river, shining into the eyes of inquisitive designers, technologists, and social entrepreneurs and their weary bodies, getting set to return home to their daily lives. What they leave behind is an exhausting couple of days that has been packed with presenters, panels, printing, poetry, painting, people, and fireworks!

Well not so much fireworks but there should have been. In short, and in my opinion, the Link Festival was a complete success.

From the opening presentation by Tane Hunter and Angus Hervey from Future Crunch, and their view on the multitude of amazing new innovations the universe is using and is “almost” close to using (sorry no replicators yet), I have to say, I’m full to the brim with inspiration and new ideas.

The way that Tane and Angus took us on a journey through an enormous amount of emerging technologies and innovations from 3d printing to holographics, to nanotechnology, to biomimicry, to digital innovation in communities, to open data and security, to the wealth of information on how we’re living longer and healthier, to the stamping out of disease and disease prevention and so much more, was mind-expanding!

Not to stop there, the smaller plenary sessions were brilliant to. I especially liked how the day started big and broad and then gradually got smaller as we hit the nuts and bolts sessions.

I sat in on a session on big data, digital auras and informatics and how it is being used for both good… and evil. I found the discussions on information and town planning particularly interesting and I let my thoughts wander towards how information on utilities and its related services could be used to help and study remote Indigenous communities. Think smarter as in energy and water efficient smart, remote Indigenous communities. (I’m not implying they’re not already smart, just asking: can we be smarter?)

Rolling into day two, I was able to sit in for while on the opening morning presentation about operating in the extremes—whether it be shooting documentaries in a conflict zone, designing at the molecular level, building space start-ups or engineering for deep sea discoveries and found it all just as interesting and motivating as Tane’s and Angus’ presentation. I have a love for the ocean and knowing that we’ve only explored 6% makes me wonder what else is down there?

Next up was my turn. I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel discussion about what innovation in communities looks like and I was happy to share my thoughts and experiences. We had a great mix of perspectives from people like Tom Dawkins from StartSomeGood, Bessi Graham from The Difference Incubator and Kea Pheng from RainWater Cambodia.

Tom and Bessi drew a good picture of how innovation looked in the social entrepreneurship world and Kea gave us a good presentation on how new water storage innovations are helping out in Cambodia. I talked about communication and language and how digital innovation and social change is helping Indigenous communities to connect, learn, grow and preserve their culture.

I also found the audience genuinely interested in how they could go about learning an Indigenous language, which was great. I’d love to start building that framework on something like duolingo with a little bit of help.

Okay, I’d planned to keep this short and so I’m going to skip forward past more amazing presentations and panels and simply say, there was a lot to the Link Festival that deserves to be mentioned and my words probably aren’t going to do it justice. However, if you work in design or technology or social change or even if you don’t but have an interest in those areas, do go along next year!

I found the people eager to engage, open and genuine and I have met some friends who I’m keen to see how their efforts and adventures pan out and I hope that they’re able to share in mine.

And finally, in some ways this festival returned me to my childhood days of watching Beyond 2000 and getting excited about the improvements and innovations that were just beyond the horizon. Sadly, no Star Wars speeder bikes yet, but I am hopeful.