Building digital entrepreneurial platform through local community activity and digital skills in Aboriginal Australia

This research is situated in the Ngemba community which includes the township known as Brewarrina. It is located approximately 900 kms north west of Sydney and classified ‘Very Remote Australia’. Brewarrina’s recorded Aboriginal population in 2016 was 71.09% contrasted with the total Indigenous Australian population being 2.8%. The Australian Government have identified Brewarrina in the ‘Digital Divide’ category. Closing the gap on socio-economic disadvantage and the digital divide is directly related to economic development and national priorities include Aboriginal peoples’ employment as an identified target under the banner of the 'Close the Gap' initiative. The Australian government stated the national broadband network (NBN) initiative and ICTs would assist in achieving such priorities. Despite such strategies and initiatives, direct action has yet to be realised. This raises opportunities for targeted networking interactions within and beyond community, offering innovative approaches to countering these priorities. This research will implement and verify an innovative model that facilitates community digital entrepreneurship. The model proposes several practical applications, including community members' ability to promote community entrepreneurship and community members’ skills development.