Building a Digital Entrepreneurial Platform Through Local Community Activity and Digital Skills with Ngemba First Nation, Australia

Abstract

In collaboration with Ngemba First Nation in Brewarrina, Australia, this research involves co-designing and co-developing an innovative community digital entrepreneurial platform that includes a mobile app and a website. The methodology is informed by theories of relatedness, Indigenist standpoint, and by the principles of Indigenist research and related ways of being, knowing, and doing research. It uses an Indigenist technology co-design and co-development method (ITCD2). The platform proposes several practical applications, including individual and community entrepreneurship promotion and skills development. This research is motivated by the Australian government’s First Nations priorities through the Close the Gap initiative, including the digital divide, employment and business, and economic development. This research project proposes a paradigm shift from a focus on welfare to a focus on entrepreneurial enterprise.