North-West NSW and their concerns around smart technology were in the spotlight of a recent report, finding that there’s a lot of room to move when it comes to locals engaging and utilising technology in comparison to our metro counterparts. 

Researcher and report co-author Dr Holly Randell-Moon said that while there is a firm grasp on ‘smart cities’, ‘smart regions’ is seemingly foreign concept. 

“What works in a city doesn’t necessarily work in a regional or rural town, that’s what a number of the participants in the report had said to me,” Dr Randell-Moon said. 

“First Nations people are also key stakeholders to smart technology and planning and we don’t see a lot of engagement with First Nations in smart tech policy at the moment,” she said. 

The report, however, found that the local Indigenous groups had various ideas to implement technology including digitalising their services, and using drones for land surveying. 

Another prominent smart technology the research identified was telehealth, which despite obvious benefits, has been controversial in areas where doctor access has been declining, and internet access makes it an unreliable alternative. 

“A big theme that came out of the study was connectivity, and problems with hooking into the internet…this is the sort of different between smart cities and smart regions,” Dr Randell-Moon said. 

While businesses using smart technology in the city can use the network available to them, rural and regional businesses would often suffer the cost of installing new infrastructure to make the technology viable. 

What quickly became apparent was that for people in the country, all they want is something that works, a bare minimum. 

Regardless of age or location in the area, however, 66 per cent of the respondents said they prefer in-person communication, either a testament to ‘slow living’ or a result of the frustrations of telecommunications that have always existed in rural areas. 

The standard that locals have become used to has become a deterrent for drawing people to the town, according to Narromine Shire Council Mayor Craig Davies’ response. 

“The problem that we have is that without smart technology, we cannot attract industry here, without smart technology, you can’t attract young people here," he said.

"Technology should be seen as electricity, water ... They’re the things that make people come to the—I’m not gonna call it the bush, rural New South Wales."

"Without them, you cannot get young people to come out here. No Internet? You’re kiddin’ me,” Mayor Davies said.

The report revealed that to be on a level playing field with the city there is a lot of ground to cover, including smart tech literacy, E-waste considerations, inclusivity and consumer rights. 

More findings from the report can be found here.