Delos Delta worked with the Mid West Development Commission (MWDC) to develop a digital economy strategy for the Mid West region, The Commission is a Western Australian Government agency working across 16 local government areas (LGAs) in the Mid West region.

The project focused on identifying opportunities to create jobs, support industry growth, improve infrastructure and services, and enhance regional liveability. The project highlighted the both the individual identity of the LGAs across the Mid West, but also the benefit of taking a coordinated regional approach to support broader digital economy access, skills, and confidence.

Our team worked with MWDC to understand the region’s digital economy context, including the infrastructure challenges typical of remote and regional Australia, and the diverse interests of communities, industry, and government across the Mid West. The project objectives were to:

• Understand digital infrastructure, capabilities, and innovation in the region
• Engage and distil diverse regional stakeholder needs and priorities
• Establish a vision for the region’s digital economy
• Identify and prioritise digital economy opportunities
• Align regional strategic priorities
• Map out implementation pathways

Comprehensive engagement played a pivotal role in identifying the challenges and opportunities associated with increasing participation in the region’s digital economy. We worked with our associates, 361 Degree, to capture the unique experiences of businesses and residents in small towns and Indigenous communities. The engagement strategy employed multiple engagement methods to capture local experiences, including:

• A CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interview) survey of residents and businesses with targeted samples from each sub region (361 Degrees prepared the questionnaires)
• Web and face-to-face interviews and workshops with key stakeholders in each sub-region, including businesses, Mid West based government agencies and Aboriginal corporations
• Web and face-to-face interviews with key State Government agencies leading the policy development and delivery of digital technology in regional Western Australia
• Web based questionnaires targeting local businesses and households

The Strategy provides a clear roadmap to strengthen the Mid West’s digital economy by identifying priority opportunities, addressing infrastructure and capability gaps, and setting out practical actions to support digital inclusion, innovation, industry growth, and improved regional liveability.

The Strategy is currently being finalised for public release.