Section VI: Developing a New Zealand Strategy - The Way Forward
An Integrated, Partnership Approach
80. Resolving the digital divide is a subset of wider government goals for developing New Zealand as a highly skilled, innovative economy, promoting regional development, and enhancing social cohesion. Therefore it needs to be addressed in this wider context through consultation and co-operation, at central government level and with local government and communities.
81. The pre-election Labour On-Line policy signalled willingness for the Government to take a leadership role in supporting increased access and e-literacy. There are three major approaches that government could favour, which are not mutually exclusive. The first is promotion and information brokerage, helping people and communities understand better the benefits of ICT and the need to become e-literate, and providing information to them on how to do this. The second is to assist with funding services, both directly and indirectly, to enable more people and locations to have access to ICT and develop the skills to use it to best effect. The third is setting an example by using ICT more to deliver government services, such as education and employment assistance, and enabling more people to access the ICTs used in these instances.
82. All these approaches could be done in partnership with communities, iwi and pan-Maori organisations, local government and the private sector. Research suggests that for projects to succeed local people should be involved in the design and delivery, facilities should be based in places where people naturally congregate, and projects should take a longer term view including ensuring ongoing sustainability.4041
83. Partnerships would increase the likelihood that any investment by government produced the best solutions for local problems, took into account the latest market developments, supported competition and innovation, and enabled government to have its strategic objectives met.This approach would also reflect best practice overseas.
84. Whatever combination of promotion/information brokerage, funding, and partnership approaches was ultimately decided on to improve access and e-literacy in New Zealand, the strategy would need to be integrated with the e-commerce and e-government strategies, and relevant areas of social and economic policy. Therefore, ideally the strategy should be co-ordinated by an agency whose core role is social and economic policy.
85. A strategy would need to combine a number of elements: research, monitoring, enhanced co-ordination, action research and piloting of initiatives. It would also need to increase leverage from current social policy investments, particularly education, training and employment assistance.
Research
86. There is an immediate need to:
- Obtain robust quantitative and qualitative information on issues in relation to ICT access in New Zealand;
- Assess the applicability of lead knowledge economies' ICT access and e-literacy strategies to New Zealand;
- Identify possible partnership models between central and local government, Maori, community sector and the ICT industries to use ICT most effectively for community/regional economic and social development;
- Evaluate public access to online services to determine current usage, unmet demand and actions needed to increase such access;
- Investigate bandwidth and connectivity issues surrounding rural communities' access to online services;
- Quantify the benefits to be realised by individuals, communities and government of small population centres having broad bandwidth capability for social services such as health, education and access to justice, and to maximise employment and enterprise development;
- Investigate options for improving the uptake of ICT by Maori;
- Investigate options for improving the uptake of ICT by Pacific Island peoples;
- Investigate options for enabling people with disabilities to use adaptive software and hardware.
Improving Existing Government Investments
87. Government already spends considerable funds on improving people's well being and upskilling them. Officials need to identify how best to leverage off investments in education and training, community development, health, and employment assistance in order to improve ICT access and e-literacy and take action to achieve this.
Monitoring
88. Steps need to be taken firstly to ensure existing statistical surveys gather optimal information on the use of ICT by targeted groups and communities to allow regular monitoring of the access/e-literacy situation, and secondly to identify how existing data collection needs to be improved.
Raising Target Group/Location Awareness
89. Effective ways of improving target groups' understanding of the benefits of using ICT need to be explored. In addition attention needs to be given to how best to encourage regional councils and communities to stimulate uptake of the information economy to support local social and economic development.
Trials - Action Research
90. The proposed strategy will require some basis upon which to set overall objectives and outcomes. While the objectives and outcomes of overseas strategies and models can be used to some degree, it will be necessary to inform this with an understanding of the New Zealand situation: what has worked and what is likely to work. There are a number of small initiatives already underway. These need to be quickly evaluated and, if necessary, supplemented by a number of other "action research" pilots. Such action research could be done through a mixed approach. Government departments could work within their own operations to test and evaluate ways of promoting wider access to ICT. Other projects might be funded through joint community/government/private sector initiatives.
Co-Ordinating the Strategy
91. Electronic Commerce, e-Government, the digital divide, globalisation and international trade are all areas of policy interest for government, which are being driven by new information and communication technologies.
92. The interrelationships between commercial, governance, social and economic issues in respect of ICTs are extensive and wide ranging which suggest that the most affective approach to addressing these issues, and getting leverage from a range of investments, will be a co-ordinated one involving a number of agencies.
93. In the particular area of the digital divide government activity and interest is most likely to focus on the areas of community development, education, up-skilling, and improved labour market attachment. It is appropriate that the development of policy in this area should be led by an agency combining the necessary social and economic policy perspectives such as the Department of Labour.
94. The department would be able to work with and co-ordinate digital divide activities within the broader social sector with the support of social policy and delivery agencies such as: the Ministry of Education, Te Puni Kokiri, Department of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Social Policy, Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Rural Affairs Unit, and Department of Work and Income. This would inform the Department of Labour's participation in and contribution to the wider commercial policy development work being done through the established Electronic Commerce Officials Committee chaired by the Ministry of Economic Development.
95. This broad and interactive process should ensure that government policies and any resulting interventions are widely agreed and will provide the most effective responses to any identified problems. In order to get the best return from current and future expenditure government needs to formalise co-ordination of relevant investment across agencies. This would increase leverage to achieve key goals, particularly regional economic development and improving opportunities for Maori.
Conclusion
96. Despite a lack of comprehensive data on the number of people and locations with limited access to ICT, it appears that these are issues which need to be addressed as soon as possible if New Zealand is not to divide into a society and economy of information haves and have-nots. Such a division would compromise our ability to become an innovative and inclusive economy and society.
97. The barriers to be overcome are likely to combine attitudinal, financial, skill and infrastructure issues, and vary according to location: requiring individual solutions within a well co-ordinated national strategic framework.
98. The issue of social and economic inclusion in relation to ICT is one that other knowledge-based economies have begun to address in partnerships between central and local government, community organisations and the private sector, with government taking a leadership role. While New Zealand can learn a lot from overseas experience, it is important that any action government decides to take reflects the unique circumstances that operate in New Zealand.
99. Local government, communities, and Maori are looking for government to take a leadership role in order that significant progress can be made around these issues, and the private sector harnessed to best effect.
Back to Top