Koonibba goes worldwide
by Jennifer Maisel
A UniSA student project has given the remote Koonibba Aboriginal community on SA’s Eyre Peninsula a new window to the world.
The project aimed at improving the telecommunications access of those in the region was a collaboration between UniSA’s Schools of Computer and Information Science and Natural and Built Environments and the David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research (DUCIER), with involvement from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE).
Koonibba was chosen because the size of the town was perfect for the project and UniSA had an important existing relationship with the town.
DUCIER lecturer Frances Wyld was working on another project in the town last year when she heard that the DBCDE was offering a grant to help improve access to technology in remote areas.
Wyld went on to apply for and win the grant opening the way for Koonibba to go online.
The funding supported two Computer and Information Science students, Daniel Pietsch and Damien Chruscik, to travel to Koonibba to set up technical infrastructure and computers for the region as part of their 2008 final year project.
With extra donations from UniSA’s Whyalla campus and the Faith Lutheran School in Tanunda, the students set up equipment at the Koonibba youth and women’s centres.
"Our feedback from the community has been fabulous and they report that the project has definitely added to the quality of life in Koonibba," Wyld says.
"It takes a special student to work in a remote area and I’m glad to say that we chose two of the best. Daniel and Damien are the heroes of the project."
Daniel Pietsch, who graduated with Honours in a Bachelor of Information Technology (Computing and Multimedia), says he is delighted with the project’s success.
"It was great to see the locals so happy with the results and we hope it will continue to make a difference for them," he said.
UniSA has chosen three more students to continue the work by establishing an internet café in Koonibba later this year. This new work will enable the set up of an online plant order store and give internet access to all members of the local community.
The whole venture flows from initial research in the region involving Computer and Information Science lecturer Kirsten Wahlstrom, Dr Tangi Steen from DUCIER, and the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre in 2007.