By Rob O'Brien

Governments that fail to adapt to new technologies will be left behind by their citizens, Senator Kate Lundy has told the CeBIT conference in Hannover.

In a broad-ranging speech Senator Lundy highlighted the Federal Government’s aim of closing the ‘digital divide’ through the National Broadband Network and stressed its importance in addressing social inequality in remote and regional Australia.

“Those who are not connected online, whether at home, at work or at the very least through public venues such as libraries, simply miss out,” she said.

“Mobility constraints are also amplified. In a vast country like Australia, this opportunity gap is further exacerbated by geographic isolation. Social inequity will be magnified in the absence of the internet.”

“We understand the importance of a fast, reliable and future-proof network for education, for the community, for health, for business, for government and for new ‘public good’ innovations that haven’t even been dreamt of yet.”

Senator Lundy covered other issues including the Federal Government’s Gov 2.0 Taskforce and the importance of online engagement and crowd sourcing. 

She said that governments are obligated to recognise the historic change that is taking place in the way people communicate and the affect it is having on ordinary communities.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter could not be written off as a “fad of the younger generation”, she said, with the largest age group on Twitter being the 24 to 34-year-olds.

“The age profile of the social network media is much broader than most expect, for example, retirees are a growing online demographic to consider.

“What it means today to be a member of a community is being revolutionised at a pace we have never experienced, not even during the industrial revolution.

“The old ways of governing are going to reach their use by date for the evolving digital citizen. Governments that do not reflect their digital lives can not represent them.

“At the same time, governments cannot allow some citizens to be left behind in some relic, analogue society that is rapidly driven to the fringes. A fractured society will also soon reject its structures of government.

“In other words, governments have to be as digital as the community, but they also must ensure that the whole community is digital.”