About eBario Knowledge Fair

The e-Bario Knowledge Fair is a regular conference, held in Bario, Malaysia, that showcases the use of ICTs for rural development and is conducted in conjunction with the local community, bringing together researchers, practitioners and policy makers with the residents of Bario and the wider Kelabit ethnic community.

The Third Knowledge Fair will adopt a theme of Indigenous Technological Innovation for Malaysia’s Indigenous Peoples. Taking place in Sarawak, close to the borders of the Malaysian state of Sabah as well as the neighbouring Indonesian province of East Kalimantan, where there are a number of Kelabit communities.  It will also act as a showcase for the projects under the IFAD Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility by bringing them together to share their experiences and knowledge against the background of the achievements of the e-Bario telecentre and community radio initiative in terms of the development that has occurred there as a result of improved communications.

The Knowledge Fair follows a mixed format of presentations from academic researchers, practitioners and community representatives.  The Third Fair will provide a forum for Malaysia’s Indigenous Peoples to share their experiences and aspirations for development that they endorse that can be achieved with the help of contemporary technology; particularly Information and Communications Technology and the sources of renewable energy that are capable of supplying the electrical power to ICTs and which are appropriate for wider use in the rural and remote settings in which many of Malaysia’s Indigenous Peoples live.  There will also be a focus on community radio, following on from the Policy Dialogue, as an ICT implementation with particular relevance to the specific needs of Indigenous Peoples.  e-Bario organises the Knowledge Fair assisted by the Centre of Excellence in Rural Informatics (CoERI) at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).

The eBario Knowledge Fair is also an IFIP Working Group 9.4 (Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries) Supported Event.