Business Update

Digital Strategy: The '3 C's' – are we making waves?

For this reason, the government developed a Digital Strategy for New Zealand. 

The Digital Strategy provides a clear view of the future we want create, and a plan for how to get there. The key enablers of the Strategy are Connection, Content and Confidence. 

Broadband Connection should be fast, affordable, and available everywhere.  Digital Content needs to be diverse, high quality, and of value to New Zealand users.  Technology must be designed with people in mind who must have the capability and Confidence to use it well, to fully enrich their lives.

So, are we making waves in these areas?

Connection
Last year's reform of regulatory settings for telecommunications has ushered in a new era of competition in the market. Broadband is already cheaper and faster. The new settings are helping us to catch up with other countries which have enjoyed more competitive settings for longer - but there's still a long way to go.

The new Telecommunications Amendment Bill and Operational separation of Telecom will lay the foundations for the Digital Strategy to continue its focus on the expansion of broadband services.

The Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN) went live earlier this year.  KAREN links New Zealand’s universities and research organisations so researchers can collaborate more effectively with each other and with colleagues around the world. 

A total of $17.9million has been awarded through the Broadband Challenge fund to urban centres and rural areas throughout New Zealand. A Review of round 1 is currently taking place and the future make up of the Broadband Challenge will be decided by government within the next month.

Content
The Draft New Zealand Digital Content Strategy (DCS) was open for public comment at the end of last year.  The purpose of the DCS is to provide a focus on, and promote understanding of, the digital content issues for New Zealanders; and respond to the gaps and opportunities that face us in bringing New Zealand online. 

Submissions, 91 in total, were received on a wide variety of topics – from geospatial content to digital television.  Submissions are currently being analysed and have been overwhelmingly positive with respect to the overall intent and direction of the strategy.

The Community Partnership Fund (CPF) recently completed the expressions of interest second round, receiving 180 applications.  Of the applicants from throughout New Zealand, 120 have been invited to complete a comprehensive application for Community Partnership funding which is due this month. 

The CPF supports community partnerships that are building community based ICT initiatives in both the Content and Confidence areas.  There has been a vast improvement in the applications this round and the Department of Internal Affairs hopes to award up to $10million in funding.

Confidence
The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, passed in parliament last month, aims to fight the avalanche of spam clogging Kiwi inboxes, by prohibiting unsolicited commercial electronic messages and requiring senders of commercial electronic messages to include accurate sender information and a functional unsubscribe facility.

This law applies to all emails, texts and instant messages that market or promote goods, services, and other schemes of a commercial or dishonest nature.  It is an important step towards greater Internet security.

This new law alone will not solve the spam problem but it will enable New Zealand to battle national-sourced spam and enter into international agreements concerning enforcement of anti-spam legislation, sharing of information between national enforcement agencies, and the pursuit of cross-border complaints concerning spam.

The Ministry of Education is very much involved in the Confidence enabler of the Digital Strategy.   Enabling the 21st Century Learner - An e-Learning Action Plan for 2006-2010, has just been released to all schools throughout New Zealand. This document outlines the projects and approach to the usage of ICT in the education system to support learning for both students and teachers so that they will possess the ICT skills to benefit from new and emerging technologies.

For further information on any of the initiatives above check out www.digitalstrategy.govt.nz