Chris Rauchle PhD Student 419582059

Technology’s effects on the economics of

Australian Indigenous Social Networks

Social networking technologyChanging the way people interact generally

AI builds your

network for you

Amplifies Geographical Reach

AI determines

your interests

Ecommerce

Apps look into your appointments, contacts and emails

Less than 6 degrees of separation now

Facebook tailors feeds based on your perceived preferences

People trying to make a living with technology

Indigenous and non-Indigenous people will be using technology to communicate and transact business in ways that could not have been imagined even five years ago. Ten years from now,when we look back at how this era of big data evolved...We will be Stunned at how uninformed we used to be when we made decisions

– Billy Bosworth, DataStax CEO (2015)

Computer Science | Faculty of Science 2 of 13

Differing communications styles

Was Local, now Virtual

Was Synchronous,

now Asynchronous

Was One on One, now Broadcast

Was Human but now machine

transmitted

Space Time Trust Voice

The addition of technology to communication has changed social networking for everyone, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

Traditional and Contemporary

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Indigenous Youth UsersVisual communication paramount

Short bursts of stimulation reward use and habituation

Facebook has too

much content –

Instagram & Twitter

reward faster

Going to a browser like Facebook takes too long

Science fiction now commonplace in ten years

Dopamine spikes use

Facebook ⇩Instagram/Twitter ⇧

Browsing Out Notifications In

Young people 14-24 are using Instagram and Twitter more.(KPCD)

This closely aligns with the Indigenous population that will be using social media in the next five to ten years.

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OTT Apps displace Carrier Whats App, Messenger, Viber and Skype

12-24 year olds are also using Snapchat (does not keep pictures after viewing) to communicate.(KPCD)

80%+ people in this group use the camera in their phone at least once a day.

Video communication is preferred but network doesn’t support mobile video

All Apps have a ‘Buy’ Button

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Advantages/DisadvantagesAustralian Indigenous users of technology have in Business

• Network probably widely distributed geographically

• More nodes to acquire sub-nodes than just one community

• Highly social structure with an expectation of continuous contact

• Valuable product – aboriginal art and tourism is a viable and unique commodity

• Lack of access to non-Indigenous Networks

• Australian Indigenous run businesses not supported/respected by Indigenous people as they are in other Indigenous societies such as New Zealand, Fiji or Hawaii

• Intergenerational poverty holds back establishment of businesses that might start ‘the old fashioned way – through inheritance’

• Lack of community capital means Indigenous business is necessarily small scale unless it includes non-Indigenous customers

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Indigenous CommunitiesMobile Service towers / Community location

Facebook lite launched in 2G markets such as Africa

Telstra planning to delete 2G to increase number of handsets/bandwidth in 3G and 4G

4G is five years old…5G on the way – more users/devices, faster downloads, more applications

Google and Facebook’s LEO satellites cancelled in favour of Balloons (Google) and HALOs*

(Facebook)

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Enabling businessRemoving friction in other countries

Fish Prices

India

Accurate prices communicated by friends at fish market disintermediating agents giving an inflated price

E-commerce

Vietnam

No wired internet, all wireless. Shopping, home delivery and

Remittances

Philippines

A large part of national income

Remittances

Somalia

Family remittances cut off due to El Shahaabbans on money transfers

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Indigenous social systemsLimitations to technology

• Most indigenous users outside urban areas well served by 4G so on slower devices

• Mobile penetration in Australia is highest in the developed world BUT

• Mobile penetration in Indigenous communities lower than non-Indigenous

• Even the most disadvantaged users are using social networks to apply for jobs and extend their networks (ACMA)

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Indigenous Economics

“…people use social media to build support networks, solve practical issues such as where to find their next meal, where to find safe and warm places to sleep and where to find various social services.”

AU Mobile penetration is very high (100% KPCB)

Device Access continues to be an issue

Support networks

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Opportunities to make money

Computer Science | Faculty of Science

Remittances E-commerce App economy Health

Services

Family and friends can be sources of income

Art, Tourism and Art Tourism

More Indigenous people needed in Computing Science

A growth industry for Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike

Indigenous people have a credible claim to the land – using ecommerce makes it possible to make a living without exploiting it or extracting its wealth

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Opportunities to save money

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EHealth Remove Fees Cut Agent

Commissions

Remove need

to travel

Removing days of patient time for consults

ATM fees particularly onerous

Without high commissions some communities labelled ‘unviable’

Every trip is hazardous as well as expensive

Eliminating travel to remote areas can save lives as well as days of time.EHealth benefits are well known and new fitness tracking apps built into smartphones promise even better treatment monitoringLocal businesses inflate fees and charges for substandard goods but coops and regulation are making some headway against this ‘traditional’ business

Future Research

• Writing up a paper on this research on this and information from the last census

• Next Census Aug 2016 – although there are moves to dismantle it will provide valuable comparative information on Technology use and community wealth/well being

• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey was completed this year and results should be available early next year including

• Survey to determine if information provided by census is out of date – still looking at survey design

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Thank youEND

Sources

• Facebook launches Facebook Lite, for super-slow connections http://wrd.cm/1dPIsSJ

• Demand for outback telehealth services triples http://fb.me/1IunYSSCk

• They aren’t “trialing” it. Basics Card was developed for the aboriginal intervention, and is a human rights failure. http://arseh.at/myop

• Mike Loukides @mikeloukides May 9 - Yes. Blockchain & ledger: Bitcoin a distraction The Most Valuable Aspect of Bitcoin: Its Versatile Ledger Technology http://www.technologyreview.com/news/537246/why-bitcoin-could-be-much-more-than-a-currency/

• http://www.wsj.com/articles/vietnams-mobile-revolution-catapults-millions-into-the-digital-age-1434085300

• Why are we all addicted to twitter, texts and google? https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/why-were-all-addicted-texts-twitter-and-google

• What is the role of Dopamine in reward? http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/pdf_articles/dopamine.pdf

• Homelessness and Smartphones ACMA www.acma.gov.au/.../item_9-homelessness_and_smartphones-acma.docx

• KPCD

• Art economy – ebuisness (thesis) http://www.crc-rep.com.au/resource/Bendor_EBusinessBenefitsForArtCentres_PhD.pdf