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Transcript of e-Enabled Collaborative Service for Remote Indigenous ...
E-ENABLED COLLABORATIVE SERVICE FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS
COMMUNITIES
Fiona BradyRemote Training Australia
Australia
Eleanor SelvaAssets North
Australia
Brady, Ms FionaRemote Training AustraliaPO Box 468Cairns Qld 4870
E-ENABLED COLLABORATIVE SERVICE FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS
COMMUNITIES
ABSTRACT
This project is a pilot to enable people from remote island indigenous
community councils to carry out some facets of asset management.
Community councils are legally responsible for a large number of assets;
however, the administration staff do not currently have the specific skills
to manage their assets. Many of the tasks associated with asset
management could be performed locally with strategic training and
support.
The project represents an innovation both in work content and work
practice. It is based on the use of ICT to ameliorate distance and isolation
issues. We investigate the practices of innovation, integration and change
using the focusing concept of workarounds in the implementation of this
project.
INTRODUCTION
This project addresses the topic “Locally based e-commerce and e-enabled local and
community economic development”. It is a pilot that includes training and an online
data sharing and support program for remote indigenous councils to record and manage
assets. The participants involved in this project are situated in the outer islands of the
Torres Strait.
Remote community councils have been reliant on the services of an asset management
company, based in a regional centre, in order to meet audit requirements. However
there is increasing political will in indigenous communities to take greater control of
their own business. The asset management company also has experienced difficulty
recruiting appropriate staff willing to travel to remote locations. The improvement in
regional infrastructure and technology skills of the remote council staff make it timely
to trial an innovative project where tasks are performed on the islands by local staff
under the IT enabled supervision and with the support of the asset management
company.
This would empower the remote community by taking direct control of its asset
management while ensuring audit requirements are met. The asset management
company would still perform the accounting functions and a pre-audit service but those
aspects of the work most heavily dependent on local knowledge would be done locally.
This represents a very flexible system where participants can work to the point that
meets their needs and abilities along a continuum from dependence on outside
consultants, to managing their own affairs with support, to independence as teleworkers,
delivering the service to other communities under contract.
The project faces a number of challenges. The islands are remote which makes site
visits by training and support staff expensive and therefore infrequent. Remote
participants use English as a second or third language, whereas the consultants and
training staff use English as their first language, this slows the training and support.
The cross cultural and language issues have particular impact for telephone support: the
difficulty or frustration with communication can lead to calls not being made so minor
problems may go unattended for long periods.
There are factors that indicate successful outcomes for this project. Participants are
currently employed and enthusiastic computer users. The project addresses a range of
identified needs. This research is very pertinent politically for this region. The proposal
for greater autonomy and the increasing restrictions on grant monies for the region
means that councils will have to become business oriented and take a more active part
in e-commerce, defined by Zwass as the “sharing of business information, maintaining
business relationships an conducting business transactions by means of
telecommunications networks”. (Zwass 1997). This project will trial an alternative
model for service delivery and for e-enterprise. Furthermore it will provide information
about how the users approach and use the model through an in depth study of their
interactions with technology by focusing on work-arounds (Gasser 1986).
Workarounds are a significant part of this project and have been described as
representing “resistance on behalf of users and the means by which they attempt to
wrestle control back from a technology or an institution” (Pollock 2001).
It is timely to carry out this research for a number of reasons. We have an established
working relationship with councils. The support of the project stakeholders enables us
to formalise asset management positions in council, provide training and onsite work
experience as well as off-site support. This project builds on previous projects about
use of ICT in the region, and hardware skills development. The incipient installation of
2-way satellite broadband in the region makes online support and data checking now
practically and economically viable.
This paper outlines the research problem and gives an overview of the context and the
theoretical ideas on which the project is based. The research techniques used in the
project are detailed and the potential ethical problems identified. A plan of the research
and a short progress report precedes the reference sections.
RESEARCH PROBLEM
The practical problem we are investigating is: Will this model lead to implementation of
asset management procedures in council administration offices? Are the outputs
reasonable and sufficient for e-commerce purposes?
The research focus question is how the participants deal with innovation. What are the
actants, connections and translation processes involved in the introduction of ICT
supported asset management positions?
The subsidiary questions investigate the use of “work-arounds” by staff to overcome or
avoid “problems”. How is our understanding of our remote “teleworkers” interactions
with technology enhanced by close observation of the networks that surround
workarounds? Does technology change them? Are they changing the technology?
Are the issues of maintenance of the asset program different from the issues that
instigated the implementation? Will a fuller understanding of the processes in this
project help us to design more effective programs and implementation strategies?
OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATIONAL CONTEXT
This project arose out of a number of considerations affecting all the participant groups.
The changed legislative requirements affect the reporting and performance of councils.
This project will enable Councils to make use of the information they already hold in an
asset database, to update their records, and to perform auditable stock takes. The
consultancy company is seeking to adapt their service to meet client needs through
collaboration and technology. Improvements in infrastructure make it viable to transfer
large data files and to use ICT. This project also offers a potential for job creation
through teleworking and e-service delivery. Although this project represents an
innovation in service delivery it has been developed in the context of a variety of
government and non-government service delivery models in use in the region.
This project is based on a three-way agreement between councils, asset management
company, and trainer/researcher. We invited four of our existing clients to participate
and selected three for the pilot, on the basis of their demonstrated interest in the project.
A training program was developed that builds on existing skills, involves workplace-
learning methodologies, is sensitive to cultural considerations and actively involves all
stakeholders.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
The outer island participants are on remote islands with populations of between 120 to
250 people. The staff on the three islands involved in the pilot use either Creole or
island language, Kala Kawa Ya or Kala Lagaw Ya, as their first language and have
English as their second or third language.
The participating council staff has a high degree of interest in technology but have had
no experience with the asset management software, and nascent skills in ICT. The
council IT equipment is less than two years old. Two sites will have satellite broadband
Internet access by the end of September 2002; one has limited access to the Internet.
The asset management company is based in a regional city and provides services to
remote as well as mainland clients. The manager has been involved in the project
design and is actively involved in the project.
The researcher is a trainer and financial consultant in the region and has academic and
commercial interests in this project.
Initial permissions have been sought from participating Councils and their designated
staff members, manager of the asset management company, Managing Director of the
consultancy company, financial consultants to the participating island councils.
Consent forms have been completed by all active participants prior to the
commencement of the project.
There are some known limitations for the project. The cultural commitments of
participants may affect their involvement in the project and or the timeframe of the
project. This is an innovative project in a region for which there is little research data so
our anticipated outcomes must be general. The dependence on technology sites means
we will have to allow additional time for hardware and software problems. The fact that
the new equipment is being installed during the project will further extend the time
frame required for the project as we will need to familiarise ourselves with the
equipment. The online environment itself is novel to participants and may have an
impact on the project in unforseen ways. The councils have agreed to support the
project on the basis of current understandings, as the project progresses this support will
be re-negotiated to reflect changed understandings.
THEORETICAL IDEAS THAT WILL INFORM RESEARCH
This research project draws on a number of key perspectives. We will use research
related to cross-cultural training, indigenous learning styles and access and equity for
indigenous people to ensure the project is culturally sensitive yet balanced against the
necessity of auditable outcomes. The geographic location is remote and the small
populations can make islands socially isolated, to address this we have the emphasis on
chat and informal communication and we draw on research on online community of
practice. The region has elements in common with developing regions, so research and
projects associated with implementation of technology in these regions has relevance
and will be used to situate this research. The training methodology draws on distance
learning and flexible learning strategies, as well as adult and workplace training theory.
The findings of Australian projects in Teleworking provide the practical structure for
the pilot project and teleworking research will be used for comparison and sensitising to
the issues. The research will be conducted and interpreted using techniques associated
with Actor Network Theory.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Equity
The report Access and Equity on Online training 2000 (ANTA 2002) gives an Australia
wide context for remote and indigenous online training, it highlights the need for
training for this equity group to include a strong support system and a combination of
face-to-face and online activity. We take notice of the concept of designing training for
“cultural fit” as proposed by Schwab (2001).
Online Communities of Practice
The concepts of community of practice (Serim 1996), online learning communities
(Learnscope 2001, Burstall 2000, Cashion 2000), learning partnerships (Oliver 2000),
learning cultures (McKenzie 1998) and collaborative learning (Fisher et al 2000,
Ragoonaden & Bordeleau 2000), show the value of peer support and informal learning
and underpin our promotion of ICT as a means of communication. There is work which
deals specifically with communities of practice as online support or dissemination and
implementation of innovation (Stuckey 2002). The models of online support for VET
students (Choy, McNickle and Clayton 2001, Krogh and Monaghan 2000), will inform
the choice to the type and range of support we use as base line. We expect that the
circumstances of this project will lead to a clarification of the needs and modification of
support provided.
Workplace learning
Workplace learning is increasingly recognised as an effective training method and it is
being supported by the Vocational Education Training sector through a number of
TAFE and ANTA publications (ANTA 2002, Skippington 2002). The research in
informal learning in the workplace, by Stephen Billet (1999) discusses how people learn
at work through modelling, questioning, diagrams, and that learning is an active
engagement but must be matched by workplace affordances. Billet’s stress on the
importance of real work activity underpins the training exercises and the use of on-site
modelling, mentoring and support section of our project design.
There is a body of work on Information Systems, which is principally concerned with
the interaction of people with technology (Zwass 1997, Baskerville 1999) that will be
used to highlight potential areas of interest for this project.
The reports and case studies on telecentres, introducing ICT to developing regions
(Harris 2001, Bridges, CTCNET) are particularly informative for examples of the
balance of cultural sensitivity with issues of changing local social environments.
Practically they also argue for the benefits of partnership arrangements with “more well
endowed” communities and the importance of using ICT tools to manage collaboration
to promote skill transfer (Fuchs 1997). These studies also provide an international
context for our project and reinforce the importance of sustainable development in
remote regions.
Workarounds.
The work by Pollock (2001) is being used to focus on function of workarounds to
illuminate how situations can be “read”. The particular way that remote users in this
project adapt to new technology will be compared to Madelaine Akrich’s 1992 research
in French Polynesia, with particular reference to her concept of scripting.
Teleworking
The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority materials on teleworking and how to set up
telework will be used to provide structure and context for this project. Research papers
from the British telework organisation (Telework.org) and US Department of Labour
Telework Report will provide sensitising material and a wider context for the project.
METHODOLOGY
This research is part funded by the consultancy companies; part funded by clients. The
employer and the consultancy companies provide their time for liaison, program
development and support. A fee is charged for the training course. This is a
participatory research project and there will be biases as we are interpreting behaviours
and language and stories, however we commence the project by acknowledging our
interests and the goals of our involvement. Robson (1993) will be used as a reference
for research and data collection techniques.
This research will be conducted in an actor network theory framework. We start by
identifying the participants and the legislative-historical context. We describe the
elements of tension within the networks as the project progresses. These will be used to
show how the interactions of technology and participants are organised and the changes,
amendments to the project that result. Variants of ANT have been used to investigate
technology, organisations and innovation (Callon 1999, Latour 1996, Star 1991) and
this research will use these studies as reference points. The ANT framework offers
valuable sensitising concepts to interpret mechanisms and processes including the
inherent indeterminability and unpredictability of change (Tilly 1997). The ANT
approach is consistent with a narrative reporting method, and we will use it to ensure the
project report is accessible to all participants.
Research process. Data will be collected by the researcher and participants as
appropriate. A document search of policies relating to IT in the region and statistics
will be carried out to provide a context for the study. We will use trainer assessment,
both qualitative and quantitative; employer comment, participant course evaluation, and
participant self-assessment. Observations and participant interviews will be conducted
both structured and unstructured. The information collected will be analysed using
content analysis method.
POTENTIAL ETHICAL PROBLEMS
The cross-cultural nature, and the duration of this project give rise to a number of
potential ethical problems.
Inaccurate portrayals
Lack of informed consent
Manipulation of the project for the benefit of trainer’s research theories
Publication of inappropriate/culturally offensive material
Research methodology may be culturally insensitive
Conflict of interest with commercial company and community councils
Most of these problems will be addressed through a methodology and summary sheet
for participants that outlines the nature and purpose of the research and principal ethical
concepts including negotiation, confidentiality, anonymity and action. All document
release beyond the group will be by negotiation. Any development of summary reports
will be by negotiation and endorsed by group as fair relevant and accurate.
WAY IN WHICH RESEARCH WILL BE MANAGED
This is a 2-year pilot project commencing June 2002. Online Discussion and chat will
be maintained throughout the project. Regular email contact will be made with tips and
news, and for feedback as well as reporting.
June 2002 i. Consultation
ii. Project design
iii. Training design
August 2002 iv. Training
v. Interviews
August/September 2002 vi. On-site modelling/mentoring
November 2002 vii. Data audit online
March 2003 viii. Data audit online
July 2003 ix. Site visit and end of year audit
May 2004 x. Final report
CONCLUSION
The two main anticipated outcomes of this project is that participants will perform asset
management tasks with appropriate support: they will enter assets to the asset register
accurately and in accordance with the law and perform auditable stock takes. However
if we expect ongoing development of the project we must have greater understanding of
the interests and motivations that are enacted during such processes.
I suspect the concept of workaround and evidence in IT and in that other intransigent
force: legislation – will have common ground as avoidance of top down power.
This study rests on the edge where actors indicate areas of concern and dissonance and
call into question established underlying concepts, it is crossing boundaries to write
from an outsider’s viewpoint to indicate local understandings of words and concepts.
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