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Bunbury – smart way forward

More people will be using personal computers in Bunbury, Western Australia following a commitment to make the city a smart community. Improving information and communication technologies for businesses and the broader community was the aim of an economic development strategy endorsed by Council recently. The strategy aims to increase community use of new technologies to improve its commercial competitiveness.

Bunbury Mayor, Councillor John Castrilli, said the strategy presents the city with a rare opportunity to create a technology hub that can deliver economic and social benefits for all residents.

The smart community strategy is the result of more than 18 months work by the Council’s Economic Development Advisory Committee. The committee identified that the skills base of residents in the Bunbury region was not developing as fast as the Australian average. It found that many obstacles to achieving the goal of a smart community included the exodus of talented young people, a technological divide between sections of the community, the added cost of communication for business and community in regional areas, and lack of integration between existing broadband suburbs.

Initiatives in the strategy to tackle these problems included:

• reducing the cost of telecommunication services between Perth and Bunbury
• positioning Bunbury as an information and communication services hub of the South West
• ensuring the technology is in place to meet community and business requirements
• raising the level of awareness and demonstrating the practical application of information and communication technology to businesses and the community
• providing refurbished former corporate and government personal computers to low income households.

Council has set up a project team straight away to begin implementing the strategy.

For further information phone the City of Bunbury on (08) 9780 8222.

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