INTERNET REVOLUTION
Australian communities come online for internet WORLD FIRST

Nestled at the base of the Bastion Ranges in far north Western Australia, one thousand kilometres north of Broome, sits Wyndham, a rural town of only 800 residents. Physically isolated and in constant battle with Mother Nature, Wyndham is leading the charge in Australia's very own world first internet initiative, which will see every geographic locality across Australia, large and small, rural and suburban, given the chance to develop their very own home on the net.

The world first Community Geographic Domain Name (CGDN) initiative, which was launched nationally on the 8th of August 2006, will see the release of a potential 22,000 domain names, or website addresses, to geographical communities across all states and territories of Australia.

What will make these sites different from those community websites already operating are the checks and balances in place to ensure that the site is representative of the wider community and used in a not-for-profit manner.

Since the domain names became available at the start of August, 24 communities from six of Australia's states and territories have applied for a CGDN, with a further 160 communities registering their interest in a community geographic website for their area.

According to Leonie Parkinson the General Manager of .au Community Domains (auCD), which is the not-for-profit organisation responsible for the facilitation and development of the CGDNs, this program will allow community groups to “build an identity for their community on the internet through the promotion of their towns and suburbs, news, sporting teams, local businesses and tourism services.”

“As the internet and the world become increasingly global environments, it is important to bring our communities back to the local level. Making it easy for communities to find local information, news on what is happening and the facilitation of small business and tourism opportunities for the local community. This is exactly what the CGDN initiative aims to do.”

In preparation for the launch of the CGDN initiative, a group of Australian communities participated in a pilot study to test the implications of a CGDN on local communities. Bathurst, Wollongong and Ballarat each developed a test site for their communities and found widespread community acceptance and an overall positive response.

Whilst Bathurst, Wollongong and Ballarat each developed their sites using community resources, .auCD has since produced two support products to assist communities to successfully apply for the new website names and for those communities who need additional technical resources to get their sites off and running.

The .auCD 'How to' guide is available for free from the .auCD website, www.aucd.org.au, and outlines the step by step process in applying for a CGDN, developing the website portal and ensuring sustainability of the site.

The .auCD Community Site in a Box was developed as an optional extra for community groups. The Site in a Box provides a cost effective, automated and self-managed community website template.

Sensis, the foundation partner of .auCD, has provided integrated localised online content of yellowpages.com.au for inclusion in the Community Site in a Box.

Two additional community groups assisted .auCD through the development of CGDN website portals to test the usability and effectiveness of the .auCD Community Site in a Box. These communities were Wyndham in Western Australia and Koonwarra, a Victorian community of only 300 people.

Each of these communities found the Community Website in a Box easy to understand, implement and manage. With the Sensis support products taking the pressure off each group to create and maintain the comprehensive databases and directories of the local areas.

To take part in Australia's very own world first internet initiative, communities can find all of the relevant information, including application forms for a CGDN, online at www.aucd.org.au.