The CTC, situated next to Whites Pharmacy on the corner of Morilla and Agate Streets, has been set up through the efforts of a committee of local men and women and will be managed jointly by Dave Barclay and Paul Blackwell with reference to that committee.

The CTC is part of a $15 million initiative of the State and Commonwealth governments and is aimed at helping regional communities develop sustainable information technology facilities and services.

"The program helps centres start up in small communities with less than 3000 people - for once the inaccurate population count advantages the town" Dave Barclay said.

"It provides funding to help with equipment, staffing, training."

This support will be available for the first two to three years of operation by the end of which time the CTC will hopefully be self-supporting.

Since many Lightning Ridge residents live on camps with fluctuating power from generators and no landline, an unusually large percentage of the local population have little or no chance of using a computer in their homes.

The CTC will give these previously disadvantaged people access the internet - at a cost of $3.30 for 30 minutes with an extra charge for downloading data.

Other services available through the centre include:

o Colour printing with either laser or inkjet, which can be used to produce photo-quality pictures.

o Use of a high quality digital camera.

o Photocopying, faxing and other office procedures.

o Technical support and training.

Volunteers will teach small basic 'Get into it' courses to help people learn to use or get the most out of a software program such as Microsoft Word, spreadsheets or Photoshop.

These courses will be arranged according to expressions of interest.

The centre also houses a small meeting room which should prove to be very useful.

As a non-profit project the CTC will put the money it makes back into the centre to keep it running, improve its facilities and over time it will be used to build up a supply of hardware and software which will be available for sale to the public.

Certainly Lightning Ridge should consider itself lucky to have access to such a fantastic resource.

To the men and women on the committee who put in hours and hours of their time to put it together, thankyou. Three cheers and good luck.