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Technological chasm shows up in country
23 Mar 2004
Research undertaken by Southern Cross University shows that the lack of infrastructure in regional areas has created a huge gap in Internet and e-mail use between regional and metropolitan small businesses. The study showed that most regional businesses did not rate the Internet or e-mail as very important, mainly using computers for accounting functions. However, online banking is being increasingly taken up as a way to reduce costs.
Although the Federal Government has stressed the importance of technology, regional businesses' use of it does not correspond with what they are being told. Instead, they rate being close to their customer bases and having have good relationships with their customers and employees as more important.
The researchers found that high-speed services are not cost-effective in regional areas due to economies of scale, and this may explain the disparity in IT use between city and country.
The Australian, 23/3/04, page C02.
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