{"id":62185,"date":"2021-02-02T12:35:56","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T01:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=62185"},"modified":"2021-02-02T13:31:23","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T02:31:23","slug":"forging-a-path-for-indigenous-australians-in-cybersecurity-and-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/forging-a-path-for-indigenous-australians-in-cybersecurity-and-defence\/","title":{"rendered":"Forging a path for Indigenous Australians in cybersecurity and defence"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

More than a decade ago, researcher Aaron Corn coined the term \u2018Indigital revolution<\/a>\u2019 to describe the rapid take-up of technology across Indigenous Australia. Despite continued access issues<\/a>, Indigenous Australians are highly technologically literate<\/a> and reportedly use some social media platforms at higher rates<\/a> than non-Indigenous Australians.<\/p>\n

Despite that, there remains significant under-representation of Indigenous Australians in technology and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers, and across the country there\u2019s a patchwork of education initiatives that attempt to increase pathways in the vocational and higher education systems. However, solutions often begin with deficits within communities\u2014the government\u2019s 2020 Closing the Gap report<\/a>, for example, highlights the lack of maths and science skills.<\/p>\n

In a conversation that starts from a different premise, Dion Devow, ASPI\u2019s Indigenous engagement specialist, sat down with Major General Marcus Thompson (Ret\u2019d) and Meg Thompson, ASPI\u2019s first Indigenous research intern, to focus on solutions that highlight the unique perspectives and abilities of First Australians, and that see diversity as a strategic asset.<\/p>\n

As noted by Dion, conventional views of literacy fail to account for the fact that in many communities Indigenous Australians are more literate than non-Indigenous Australians, speaking multiple languages and \u2018reading\u2019 the land and water in various ways.<\/p>\n