In one of the first readings I engaged with for this course the Australian Centre for Appropriate Technology was mentioned. Intrigued, I visited the site to learn more about what they do.
Serving and represented by Aboriginal communities, the organization conducts research, designs, develops and teaches appropriate technologies, and delivers technical training to Indigenous people living in remote areas to support their tech needs.
Curious to know what kinds of technology the organization was prioritizing, I discovered that their focus areas include clean energy production, ICT, transport services, as well as essentials like housing, water, and sanitation. Their website highlighted some the challenges in serving these remote communities – meeting their needs requires collaboration, including a co-design process and training for operational use and upkeep.
So far, in the course we’ve exploring how remarkably unneutral technology is and how its application and expectations can be culturally harmful in that it can be inflexible and produce adaptation (both voluntary and insidiously) through engagement – this organization seems to be countering that through a successful approach that empowers communities through consultation, transparency, collaboration, and active participation.