Research

Home
/
Research
/
Research Centres, Institutes and Groups
/
Research Cluster for Digital Inequality and Social Change (RC DISC)
/
Research

Current projects

Decarbonisation Pathways for Indonesia’s Buses Infrastructure (DIBI) using Routing Energy Estimation Tool, Renewable Energy, and Ecosystem Modelling

Australia-Indonesia Koneski Knowledge Platform Project 2024–25

The digital twinning of bus depot infrastructure using Australian software will make it easier for Indonesian transport planners to support the introduction of electric buses by creating a framework that will allow the step change of increasing electrification of buses while also being cost-effective and scalable.

Electrifying public transport will generate greater demand for Indonesian domestically produced batteries which could have both Australian lithium and Indonesian nickel ingredients. The decarbonisation of the transport sector must start if Indonesia is to achieve its climate targets by drawing on international lessons including from Australia and from a systematic analysis of energy sources for the busdepot. The study will analyse a major bus terminal building’s energy efficiency and thermal comfort. In addition, the study will measure (with the aim of reducing) several dangerous pollutants including particulate matters, carbons and nitrates. A major aspect of the project will be to evaluate how electric buses could affect different groups of people based on gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) criteria. This evaluation will help in developing and executing sustainable public transportation to support wider energy and transport equity objectives.

Read more

Bridging digital inequality amongst aging population

The project will involve action-based research to understand the impact of technology on the quality of lives of older Australians, identify the problems associated with using various services, and recommend some strategies or solution approaches to resolve the issues. The study will use and operationalise a conceptual framework developed earlier to test and validate the model on a particular marginalised community of the older generation. The project will also explore the disparities in the use of technology among older Australians of culturally diverse backgrounds. In addition to testing various socio-demographic and institutional factors, the study will also compare the group residing in their Home and those in institutional care (retirement homes). The project will also help develop a novel technology solution for Home-based age Care for diverse ethnic communities to upskill their IT skill and to be able to stay connected.  

Indigenous Children Cyber Safety Framework

The project aims to promote e-Safety of Indigenous children through effective parental interventions facilitated by a framework incorporating information technology appropriate to the socio-cultural context of Indigenous communities.

Our prior work revealed that parents of marginalised communities have inadequate understanding of the various cyber-threats faced by children. Moreover, current practices do not adequately account for cross-cultural and demographic-related factors such as those in Indigenous cultures where children are more vulnerable. This situation has created a need for sensitising Indigenous parents with actionable knowledge, skills, and tools to combat online risks to Indigenous children.

Read more

Inequality within IT project teams and its impact on project outcome

Project management literature primarily focuses on process, frameworks, risk, quality and stakeholder engagement.  Issues around project team composition and the impact this has on the overall outcomes are not well developed in this literature.  This project will consider these issues from a digital inequality perspective, initially with an exploratory study into student project teams and then extending into industry-based projects.

Social impact of digital technology

The emerging digitally excluded social groups in both developed and emerging communities or beneficial outcomes like increasing social participation of historically marginalised groups (women, young people, ATSI, etc.) whose voices are increasingly being heard through digital communication technologies. Some media/sociology theories such as technology affordance, domestication of technology, and media as the practice might be useful to investigate different ways of technology adoption including the digital divide and ethics, and the outcomes/impacts (social capital, etc).

Inequality and visual recognition

With the increasing number of videos and images posted nowadays on social media networks, there is necessary to detect and, if possible, prevent social racism in this footage. In this project, we develop an AI system to detect racism from the video footage based on which intervention programs can be developed to mitigate these acts.

Digital media and women in West Papuan tribal life

The research project will focus on the impact digital media has on West Papuan tribal life, particularly with regard to women. For example, the emergence of sugar dating matching via social media platforms has the potential to disrupt tribal norms. This unique pilot study has the potential to garner interest from other Melanesian regions (PNG, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands).

Geoff Hartwig Funded Project

Using action learning as a tool for developing effective student-centred personalised learning experiences

Personalised Learning for enhanced student engagement and agency is a key priority of the ACT Government’s Future of Education Strategy (2018). Personalised learning involves the designing of learning in response to students’ needs, strengths, interests, and identities. However, how this is achieved across the diversity of school settings is complex. The AL4PL project aimed to develop a collaborative professional learning model for teachers, following the processes of Action Learning. The intention was to engage in professional learning to enhance and enact personalised learning.

The project was structured into three distinct stages to achieve its purpose. Firstly, baseline data was gathered from two ACT Education Directorate schools. Secondly, professional learning using the action learning cycle was delivered. And finally, a model of professional learning to share learnings from the action learning cycles was delivered to one whole school community.

footer

Contact us

Research Cluster for Digital Inequality and Social Change
Faculty of Science and Technology
University of Canberra ACT 2617

rc-disc@canberra.edu.au

Support RC DISC