Leveraging the power of technology to alleviate poverty

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Technology and poverty alleviation are intrinsically linked. Technology has the key to provide people with access to the knowledge and resources to address their basic human needs and develop the building blocks for a stable and fulfilling life.

Dot Com Mob provides indigenous Australians with access to skills and knowledge that will equip them to improve their living conditions, education and health – all of which are interlinked and dependant on each other.  For example, in our projects young children are improving their literacy level through interaction with information technology, which not only encourages them to continue their education but also leads to increased employment opportunities later in life

By inspiring kids through their own interests – for example through music or sport - they will naturally begin to improve their level of literacy. If they want to find the latest news on their favourite band or sports star, they need to know how to read, spell and understand information on a basic level. What they don’t understand initially, they will be determined to learn in order to access the information they want.

From this important foundation, a child will gradually increase their level of literacy and have greater access to broader information and skills that can substantially improve the conditions of their life. This may include access to education or training, employment opportunities to generate an income and health information that can have a substantial impact on their physical and mental well-being.

As such, technology should be considered a vital component of any rights-based approach to poverty eradication.

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