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This study examines South Korea's Information Network Village (INVIL) project as an exemplary policy of building sustainable communities through a digital divide policy implemented in small rural areas. INVIL project has three objectives: to close the digital gap between urban and rural areas, to create new sources of revenues from existing industries, and to build sustainable local communities. The conception was that rural digital divide can only be resolved by addressing deep rooted rural issues that influence the provision and adoption of ICT. While the INVIL programs may not remedy the gap in the short term, it provides a future vision to the communities. Due to this multi-layered and long term approach, the villages have been successful in narrowing the digital divide, not only in terms of access but also in effectively utilising broadband to enhance the local economy and building sustainable communities. This paper introduces the INVIL project, the plans and outcomes, as well as a qualitative evaluation of the process across a decade. Following a general description of the project, an in-depth case study of three successful INVILs is provided. The uniqueness of the program is that it emphasises investment in human capital rather than on infrastructure and includes a tailored vision of each local community. This motivates local residents to be active participants, which is the key to the success of the policy.

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Cyberbullying is one of the negative consequences of online social interaction. The digital environment enables adolescents to engage in online social interaction beyond the traditional physical boundaries of families, neighborhoods, and schools. The authors examined connections to friendship networks in both online and offline settings are related to their experiences as victims, perpetrators, and bystanders of cyberbullying. A comparative face-to-face survey of adolescents (12-15-year-olds) was conducted in Korea (n = 520) and Australia (n = 401). The results reveal that online networks are partially related to cyberbullying in both countries, showing the size of social network sites was significantly correlated with experience cyberbullying among adolescents in both countries. However there were cultural differences in the impact of friendship networks on cyberbullying. The size of the online and offline networks has a stronger impact on the cyberbullying experiences in Korea than it does in Australia. In particular, the number of friends in cliques was positively related to both bullying and victimization in Korea.

Local news outlets are under threat in the digital era, and many are closing or merging with other news media due to the loss in advertising and audiences. A sustainable business model to replace traditional dependence on advertising has not yet been established. This paper examines one aspect of the business – audience payment – to explore the viability of online news subscription models in the context of local news. An online survey of 2038 news consumers in regional Australia was conducted in 2019 to examine regional news audiences’ perception of the value of news as a social good and their willingness to pay for it. The results show that interest in supporting a new online local news outlet was largely determined by community-oriented values such as a sense of belonging, the ability to share the news with others, and the loss of a local news service, rather than the actual content. However, the quality of the journalism content was positively related to the audiences’ willingness to pay. Trust in local news and existing local news consumption were important factors in determining both the interest in supporting local news and their willingness to pay for it. These findings highlight the tension between the social and financial value of regional news and the obstacles facing entrepreneurs hoping to address the growing news gaps in regional communities.