Mobile Digital Playroom Model?

The Northern Territory Government has a commitment to establishing five Digital Playrooms by 2012 as part of its Territory 2030 Strategy.

So that answers 'when'. But 'what, why, where and how' are Digital Playrooms... when time, money and digital curation policy are in such short supply and the NT diaspora is so incredibly vast?  It's a daunting prospect that requires an innovative response.

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a mobile audio and video production facility.

Its The Edge on wheels.... sort of: The Edge has many programs with different technologies at their core running simultaneously. Perhaps Mobile Digital Playrooms could come in different flavours...?!

Regardless, if you add this digital media production capacity to Living Arts projects on Growth Towns, you'd get an excellent return on investment.

Imagine a circus workshop on a community... add a mobile digital playroom focused on making media about the circus workshop and making content to integrate into the finale show, and uploading everything to a digital commons that allows content to be shared, mashed and made. We know that NT youth are already using mobile devices for content creation and that Growth Towns have 3G coverage... the potential is for the whole concept to go completely viral.

Indirectly, its also a cool strategy for building up the Museums and Art Galleries sector by 1) producing lots of content that can populate the 'Territory Digital Commons' and 2) skilling up Growth Town digital media producers 3) leaving behind virtual infrastructure that enhances social well being 4) providing employment opportunities for geeks, art workers and artists : A triple bottom line I suggest that will nurture sustainability across the creative industries ecosystem.

Pairing a Mobile Digital Playroom with a Sports Program would work well also ... as it would if it were paired with a health promotion initiative at the Health Clinic or a driver license registration course at the community Police Station... adding digital media production to 'uncool' programs might just make them very cool.

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