Speech to ICT Consequences and Innovations Research Symposium - 10 June 2002
[ Last Updated 16 February 2006 ]
Speech from Hon Paul Swain, Minister for Information Technology
10 June 2002
Thank you for this opportunity to open this very important research symposium.
It is now eighteen months since the government's successful E-commerce Summit was held in Auckland and the E-commerce Strategy was released.
The Government's vision announced at the summit was that New Zealand would be `world class in embracing e-commerce for competitive advantage'.
Summit participants delivered a strong message - with the strategy the government had made a good start, but we had to do more and faster.
That strategy recognised that there is a need to be well informed about New Zealand's e-commerce capability and therefore a need for high quality information and research.
One year on in November 2001, in our 'progress report' on implementation of the strategy, I was able to note that six new studies related to e-commerce had been commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Development, Te Puni Kokiri and IRD, along with a detailed annotated bibliography of other related research. MED has also continued to publish its annual compilation of ICT statistics.
Since then the MED/ Statistics NZ Business Practices survey and a very recent survey of e-business commissioned by MED have thrown further light on e-commerce development in New Zealand.
Research into this area is important for a number of reasons. In the first place, we need to be informed on the penetration of ICT and ICT skills in business and throughout the community. We need to improve our understanding of constraints on the adoption of e-commerce by businesses. And, finally, we need to be in a position to benchmark New Zealand against the rest of the world.
Historically New Zealand has been a world leader in take up and use of the Internet. For years, New Zealand has ranked in the 'top ten' of most international measures of Internet use. OECD figures show New Zealand expends the highest percentage of GDP on telecommunications services (4.8%). On a per capita basis we are very heavy users of telecommunications services generally.
According to surveys conducted by AC Nielsen over the past year, more than 70% of New Zealanders have access to the Internet from home or the workplace and about 54% use it on a regular basis. Usage is particularly high amongst young people, with more than 80% of 10 to 19 year olds having access from any location.
According to OECD studies, NZ has the fourth highest number of e-commerce-ready secure Web servers per head of population in the world.
The just-completed survey conducted on behalf of MED shows continued strong growth in the use of e-commerce by New Zealand businesses. 74% of businesses with more than five full time employees now have their own domain name, compared with under 50% in a similar survey carried out in 2000 prior to the E-commerce Summit. The same survey indicates that 56% of such businesses now have their own Web site. I understand that Frank March from the MED will be presenting details of this survey this afternoon.
But the principle rationale for this symposium is to present and discuss research findings from 18 month's work carried out principally by researchers at Waikato University substantially funded by a grant from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology into the social and economic impacts of ICTs.
The research has already has produced a number of research articles and conference presentations. Information from the research into barriers to the adoption of ICT technology by small and medium sized firms has already proven to be of great assistance to the Ministry of Economic Development in assessing how government capability-building programmes should be directed.
One outcome that I hope will be long lasting has been the development of excellent working relationships between the research team and a range of government and non-government agencies.
The opportunity afforded by the presentation of this work has been used to include presentations in related areas from researchers from Canterbury, Victoria, Massey and Auckland Universities as well as government agencies and the private sector.
I am particularly pleased that today's symposium has brought together such a wide range of groups. The need for linking groups with a common purpose was recognised with the formation of the E-commerce Action Team (ECAT). Many of those presenting here today met together through ECAT's research subcommittee chaired by Professor Shirley Leach.
I also note with pleasure that the programme includes a presentation on research into the need for broadband in Southland, one of the studies which proved key information in developing the government's broadband for schools initiative announced in the Budget.
A key plank in the government's drive to advance our economy is the recently-announced Information and Communications Technology (ICT) taskforce. This is one of three taskforces - the others are in biotech and the creative industries - foreshadowed by the Prime Minister in February as part of the Government's innovation framework.
The ICT sector generates more than $1 billion in exports for New Zealand. As well as being a very significant sector, ICT is an important enabler across other industries, helping to drive efficiencies and enabling companies to get the edge over their international competitors. The taskforce will be reporting at the end of July.
In closing I would like to issue a challenge to all of you here today to think about ways in which e-commerce can both create efficiencies in your organisation and open up new opportunities. Without a determined sponsor at management level an e-commerce project may not get off the ground. I challenge you to drive e-commerce through your business.
If you haven't done so already, formulating an e-commerce strategy for your organisation is the first step. Become a member of the ECAT network and put your details on the ECAT web site. It's a great forum for sharing experience and solutions. Thank you for your attention. I look forward to working with you on this important project for New Zealand.
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