Multicultural window on the west wins important Technology Award

21.11.06

The West Australia Government’s Office of Multicultural Interests has won a national Technology Award for its Multicultural Community Gateway which gives internet access to more than a hundred community organisations.

The Community Gateway, set up in conjunction with the Ethnic Communities’ Council of WA, gives easy access to lively interactive websites for communities ranging from Afghan to Ugandan providing useful info rmation about festivals, contacts, news, culture and cuisine.

The Technology Award is part of the annual National Multicultural Marketing Awards which have been conducted by the Community Relations Commission For a multicultural NSW since 1989. The winners of the 2006 award were announced in Sydney tonight at a dinner hosted by NSW Premier, Morris Iemma.

Congratulating the winners of the Technology Award, the Chair of the CRC, Stepan Kerkyasharian , said: “This is very creative employment of technology. The project allows all members of a participating community group to access info rmation, chat sessions, community calendars and discussion forums via any computer with an internet connection.

“This is a very happy coincidence of a clearly demonstrated need and the power of modern technology to meet that need.

“As we have seen with many outstanding Technology projects in previous years the internet and multi-lingual content on-line are natural partners.

“Settling into a totally new society and culture has never been easy. However creative use of technology is making it easier. And that’s why this Community Gateway project is a multicultural marketing winner,” Mr Kerkyasharian said.

The Gateway has a capacity for 450 individual websites and could be extended to thousands.

The project mangers said in their application for the Awards : The pilot project work we did provided an opportunity for fifty groups who were provided with tools and training to develop and publish a five-page website in their own community language. Each groups was provided with software, communication facilities such as chat rooms, bulletin boards and calendar of events, comprehensive training on software and web design and ongoing support and follow up

The Office of Multicultural Interests used the skills of two of its own staff who were minority ethnic background to develop the project. It not only gives the community its own cyber shop-front it makes connection between communities easy.