99. The MSP standard of living survey cited above also collected information on people who didn't have Internet access, and didn't want it. Overall, a quarter of people fell into this category. There was only a small difference in the proportions of men and women falling into this category (24.5% and 27.5% respectively). Few people (8.4%) who owned a PC didn't want Internet access. As can be seen in the following sections, there were also differences in demand for Internet access by ethnicity and age.

100. The survey questions did not explore why respondents rejected access to the Internet. People who had made use of computers were far less likely to not want Internet access, suggesting that fear of technology may play a part. The figures might also reflect lack of motivation or interest in the Internet, or a relative lack of priority placed on Internet access versus other things.

Rural dwellers

101. The 1998 Lincoln survey of farmers found that the main reasons for not owning a computer included "no use to me", "too expensive", "not economic" and "couldn't learn how to use". While subsequent research has shown farmers to be enthusiastic adopters of technology, the recent MAF commissioned research also found a significant number of rural dwellers who perceived themselves to be disadvantaged relative to urban centres. For example, 28% of all respondents thought that they would be seriously disadvantaged compared with urban areas, in relation to telecommunications opportunities in the future. Also, 52% of non-farm rural-based businesses thought that they were disadvantaged relative to their urban competitors, by the level of telecommunications services provided.

Community groups

102. Child, Youth and Family found that some community groups they deal with were not interested in pursuing a digital approach to their work. They wanted to continue with face to face relationships, with writing letters, memos etc and "not become lazy by using the computer".

103. DIA's community development advisors have identified some attitude barriers to community groups getting online, including lack of confidence, and a perceived lack of value of ICT (e.g. don't know what the benefits are, perception of potential risks).

Maori

104. A small online survey conducted by Ross Himona²⁶ found that electronic commerce was seen both as an "opportunity for Maori to compete in the business environment, and as a necessary component of the Closing the Gaps initiatives".

105. As noted earlier, there is a relatively small Maori presence in the IT industry and on-line. However, Maori involvement has been growing, and this can be seen as evidence that increasing numbers of Maori see value in being on-line. The growth in interest has seen the re-launch of the fledgling Maori Internet Society in 2000, and the establishment of the Maori Information Technology Council.

106. The MSP standard of living survey found that 30.6% of Maori respondents neither had Internet access nor wanted it. This compares with much lower proportions for European/Pakeha (23.7%) and Chinese and Indian (12.9%).

Pacific peoples

107. The MPIA/Commerce consultation with Pacific peoples found that they see the Internet and computers as offering significant opportunities for their people to improve their education and employment options and to keep in touch with family more cost-effectively. Young Pacific peoples are generally aware of the value and benefit of ICT capacity compared to the older population.

108. The impact on the oral culture and traditions of Pacific peoples by ICT pose as a real concern. Innovative application of ICT that accounts for this potential drawback could address these concerns such as community, or church-based ICT services.

109. The MSP standard of living survey found that 42.0% of Pacific respondents neither had Internet access nor wanted it. This compares with much lower proportions for European/Pakeha (23.7%) and Chinese and Indian (12.9%).

Older persons

110. MSP notes the impression that of those individuals presently at retirement age, many and probably a large proportion are simply not interested in computers and digitised services. There are some who are interested but who are unable or afraid to access or use them. There are a small number, however, who are very interested, are involved in networks such as SeniorNet, and are somewhat extensive users.

111. The MSP standard of living survey collected data on older age groups, but to date, only the 50-64 age group data has been analysed. More than a third of this group (36.5%) neither had Internet access nor wanted it. This is a much higher proportion than for younger age groups (22.0% for 18-34 and 21.7% for 35-49).

People with disabilities

112. Demand has been steadily increasing from people with disabilities for ICT equipment and training. There has also been a campaign within the disability sector to recognise access to ICT and the Internet as a human right in the same way that access to any other public place or facility is . These pieces of information can be taken as evidence that the disability sector recognises the opportunities for social and economic inclusion that ICT offers for people with disabilities.

The library sector

113. Research carried out by the National Library in 1998 on public access to the Internet in New Zealand public libraries found that the most common reasons why it was decided to provide public Internet were:
     • user demand/needs/equity of access;

     • improve end user access to information/provide a wider range of information; and

     • the Internet can't be ignored/is important/a priority for libraries to keep up.

ICT content

114. Content needs to grab the attention of the intended audience. For example, one comment from a Gisborne hui on 9 August 2000 was that a website had to be designed in such a way that it attracted attention - "take the website to the eyeballs".

115. However, this needs to be balanced against the content being accessible. Foreign-language content for people whose first language is not English is important. Also relevant here is that flashy content may be inaccessible to people with older hardware and software, or to people who use special software to access websites (refer to the earlier section on Access issues for people with disabilities).

Maori

116. Cora Baillie of the Community Information Service at Lincoln University says that Maori and Pacific peoples need a reason to get online, and much of what is available via Internet at the moment doesn't have much relevance to Maori and Pacific peoples. One of her suggestions is to investigate the use of MP3 format pop music as the means of getting Maori and Pacific youth to see the entertainment value of the Net. She also suggests setting up a study group to look at Maori and Pacific content (involving the Maori Internet Society), and to recommend targeted funding for Maori and Pacific content.

117. It was noted previously that of approximately 45 iwi, only six had web sites. Nevertheless, there is evidence that Maori are making use of the Internet for whanau, hapü, pan-tribal and urban Maori self-management and entrepreneurial activity. The Internet is also being utilised by Maori for cultural dissemination and celebration²⁸.

118. At present there are no statistics showing the breakdown of all Maori website usage. Te Puni Kökiri is assisting a Waikato University research project investigating the relationship between Maori values and Internet content. This will provide some data on the content of Maori web sites and also what Maori information, if any, is available on a variety of corporate web sites.

Pacific peoples

119. The MPIA/Commerce consultation with Pacific peoples found that ICT offers real potential for Pacific peoples both in the cultural promotion and web design area that capitalise on their creativity and artistic talents. Only a few people are currently using ICT for such purposes. Innovative ICT applications that take account of the oral culture and traditions of Pacific peoples were also identified as important.

Rural dwellers

120. While MAF has no quantitative data on which Internet sites rural people access, anecdotal evidence suggests use is made of information sites (eg. www.no8wired.co.nz, www.farmindex.co.nz, www.agresearch.cri.nz, www.hort.cri.nz), trading sites for selling outputs and purchasing inputs (www.fencepost.com, www.woolnet.co.nz, www.wrightsons.co.nz/shop/), farm management decision support tool sites (eg, www.grazingsystems.co.nz, www.beef.org.nz which is developing a Charolais sire selection facility) and government department sites (eg, www.maf.govt.nz). Both major dairy companies in New Zealand provide information to their farmer suppliers on their websites as well as by mail. An interesting comment from the manager of the company that developed the www.grazingsystems.co.nz was that he designed the site with slow rural Internet access speeds in mind, so that there are no complicated graphics and the like. Similarly, fencepost.com is almost all words, and has been formatted to download quickly. Most urban based organisations, including government departments, are not so considerate. For example, the submissions to the Ministerial Inquiry into Telecommunication were formatted as pdf graphics, and are very slow to download.
121. The Strath Taieri Community Board, in its submission to the Telecommunications Inquiry, comment that many Government websites include material that is not universally accessible eg, the WINZ review information is available only in pdf format which not all computers could read - "why make it difficult?" asks the submission.

Community organisations

122. The need for local content has been stressed in a user survey conducted by DIA. Respondents asked for more recent and up-to-date links, updated community information, links to funding application forms. In short, "It needs so many more people to get with it and put their stuff out there to use and get information". The demand for local content was behind the development by the Department of Internal Affairs of CommunityNet Aotearoa.

Summary of information about groups likely to be disadvantaged

123. The information above has so far been organised by the dimension of the digital divide that it was most relevant to. In the current section, the key findings in relation to the "at risk" groups identified in paragraph 4 are presented. As these "at risk" groups are not mutually exclusive, there is some overlap between the key findings, and caution should be exercised in interpreting the findings as representative of a causal relationship.

Maori

124. Maori have lower levels of ICT access than Pakeha, be it telephone, television or computer ownership or Internet access (e.g MSP's standard of living survey reports access at 64% for Chinese/Indian, 48% for Pakeha and just 26% for Maori). This is likely to be related in part to lower levels of income. In rural areas, there will also be issues relating to the reliability of the telecommunications infrastructure.

125. Access by Maori organisations and institutions is mixed. While relatively few iwi have a web site, the membership of the Maori Internet Society is steadily increasing, and the kohanga reo network has completed a project to electronically link their centres.

126. There is evidence that Maori are underrepresented in tertiary level training in technical subjects, and that this flows on to low levels of Maori employment in "knowledge industries". A number of recent initiatives are directed at increasing the Maori presence in this area of the economy, including the allocation of a proportion of third generation spectrum to Maori.

127. There is evidence of an increasing Maori interest in ICT, and a growing level of Maori content. An issue that is raised by the information revolution is the need to consider the nature of knowledge as a taonga for Maori, and the emphasis they place on the importance of cultural property.

Pacific peoples

128. Pacific people have lower levels of telephone and computer ownership and Internet access than other ethnic groups (e.g. in the MSP survey cited above, 12% of Pacific people 12% had Internet access, less than half the rate for Maori and a quarter of the rate for Pakeha). As a predominantly urban population, this is more likely to be related to income than the telecommunications infrastructure.

129. Young Pacific people are increasingly becoming familiar with ICT, through exposure at school. However, there only seems to be slow change to the low levels of Pacific people taking "technical" courses such as mathematics, science and computing.

130. The MSP survey found a high level of disinterest in the Internet amongst the Pacific population. Nevertheless, there is some evidence that Pacific people see the benefit of ICT for improving educational and employment opportunities, and for keeping in touch with family members. At present, there appears to be little Pacific online content.

Those on low incomes

131. People on higher incomes have greater levels of ICT access than those on low incomes. To the extent that higher incomes are correlated with levels of education, people on higher incomes are also likely to have higher levels of ICT skills and access to technical and training support. It could also be expected that those on higher incomes would have more positive attitudes about ICT, having had greater exposure to it. We have little evidence for this, other than the MoRST survey of attitudes, which identified a market segment that had a high proportion of people on high incomes, and recognised the value of science and technology to New Zealand.

Sole parents

132. There is no specific information available on whether sole parents are affected by a digital divide in New Zealand. However, there will be a significant degree of intersection between this group and those on low incomes, a group for which we do have some information.

Older people

133. Levels of Internet access and skills tend to be lower for those aged 50 years and over than for younger age groups. There is certainly a perception that older people are less au fait with the technology, if not actively hostile towards it. The MSP standard of living survey found that more than a third of the 50-64 age group neither had Internet access nor wanted it - data for older ages has yet to be analysed, but it would be expected that at least the same proportion of those aged 65 and over would fall into the same category. Younger people are much less likely to fall into this category.

134. However, there is evidence that a growing number of older people can see the benefits of ICT to them, and are getting online. For example, the level of interest in SeniorNet continues to grow steadily.