Under the Sarawak Digital Divide Initiatives, we had opened the first community computing centre in an effort to close the digital divide

The pilot centre – Longhouse Community Computing Centre (LCCC) – started a month ago in a Rumah Panjang Batu Matop, Julau.

Serving 200 longhouse community, LCCC is run by community volunteers trained in IT and media production. It aims to promote awareness and provide training in basic computing.

By equipping and teaching them to use computers, we hope to give these longhouse access to information. In the near future, we expect to improve government-citizen interaction in remote areas currently underserved.

Many of these longhouses have limited or no access to mainstream technologies and media. Currently excluded and isolated, these communities do not benefit from the wide network of government e-services and have little control over decisions affecting their villages.

LCCC seeks to change the situation and close the technology gap. There are plans to establish more LCCCs depending on the success of the pilot project in Julau.

It is difficult to measure the benefits now since we are one month into the project. The volunteers have just been trained, and we expect them to be productive in the coming months.