Closing the Digital Divide
   

CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE - WHAT IS ALREADY BEING DONE?

Ministry of Health

  1. Up until now the Health Funding Authority (HFA) has been funded from Vote:Health to purchase communication equipment for people with disabilities, based on individual assessment of need. In this sense the HFA, and the Ministry of Health in its policy role, have responsibility for particular aspects of the digital divide relating to people with disabilities, under the Health and Disability Services Act 1993.

  2. The HFA and Ministry are currently merging, and a Disability Issues Directorate has been established which will have an overarching interest in cross-sector disability policy, as well as combine the previous functions of the Ministry and the HFA. The New Zealand Public Health and Disability Bill enabling legislation will be passed towards the end of the year.

  3. The HFA, Ministry of Education, and for those disabled through injury ACC, fund communication equipment for school children with disabilities. Beyond school age, responsibility for the provision of equipment for the majority of young people with disabilities reverts to Vote:Health. Other providers include the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, ACC, and the Department of Work and Income [CCS provides little equipment although it provides some training, as do other non-government organisations]. Demand for ICT equipment has been increasing. In the past, equipment has tended to be supplied to those with the highest needs and those who qualify under targeted assistance (e.g. those who need equipment for employment), but demand has been increasing from those who may be less disabled, or do not fit current access criteria.

  4. The Ministry is leading the development of a New Zealand Disability Strategy. The Disability Strategy Discussion Document states that "participation in communities will be at its optimum when opportunities and outcomes for people who experience disability are the same as for other New Zealanders". Among the opportunities and outcomes referred to is equal access to communication (including mainstream and assistive technology) and information.

  5. The Strategy includes a variety of actions that will be necessary to the achievement of a non-disabling society. Amongst these is improving access to quality information. One of the key steps identified here is that government agencies and publicly funded services will make public information available in forms appropriate to the different communication needs of people experiencing disability. This has clear implications for people with disabilities that inhibit their ability to use ICT, or require special software to access websites.

Department of Child, Youth and Family Services

  1. The Department of Child, Youth and Family Services was established on 1 October 1999 with a focus on supporting families to achieve well-being for their children and young people. CYF's primary service responsibility is for children and young people who are at risk of abuse, neglect or are at risk of offending, and includes families in need of support to meet their care and control responsibilities

  2. CYF's statutory role is defined by the following legislation: The Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act, 1989, the Adoption Act 1955, the Adult Adoption Act 1986, the Adoption (Inter-country) Act 1997, and the Guardianship Act 1968. The Department also has an important role in supporting a wide range of community-based social services, with a focus on children, young people and families in need of support.

  3. CYF has developed six e-goals, three internal that will focus on improving the delivery of core services, and three external that will focus on developing on-line relationships with government agencies and key stakeholders. The external goals are:

    • Develop a technological process that supports child protection and can be accessed by relevant agencies.
    • Maximise technology to enhance our responsibility in establishing and maintaining community organisations.
    • In conjunction with appropriate government departments, develop systems for information sharing and operational transactions.

  1. CYF will work constructively with government agencies and key stakeholders to ensure a collaborative approach in reaching the goals.

  2. Currently, CYF is developing a web site that will have information relevant to key stakeholders. CYF will work constructively with others to determine which information will be relevant.

  3. CYF is looking into having its old computers recycled for schools next time it upgrades its hardware.

Land Information New Zealand

  1. In November 1997, the previous government approved Landonline, a system for automating access to live land titles and most survey plans and some related records. The system will considerably speed up and simplify business transactions involving land. Under Landonline's business plan, Land Information New Zealand's (LINZ's) seven branch offices will close over a two year period, but regional offices (at Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin) are to remain open.

  2. Many of the paper records under LINZ's stewardship will not be imaged and stored in the Landonline database. This is because of the large quantity of records involved, and the relatively low level of demand for them.

  3. All records under LINZ's stewardship, whether or not they are stored in the Landonline database, will continue to be accessible. Once external access to the Landonline database is available in a particular area, and the local branch office has closed, LINZ customers will be able to access electronic and paper records in a number of ways. One of the ways will be via a paper records index that LINZ is developing. When complete, this index will be available on the Internet. The index will enable people to search on the Internet for paper records and request copies.

  4. Copies of land records that are ordered remotely can be sent by email, as well as by other means such as conventional post. LINZ customers can call 0800 ONLINE (0800 665 463) for information about how the new access system works Inland Revenue Department

  5. The IRD has been focusing recently on tax simplification. One of the main results of this process has been to remove the requirement for a large number of individuals to file tax returns. Many of the people affected by these changes would have been those potentially on the wrong side of the digital divide.

  6. For IRD, the relevant digital divide relates to businesses that are unable to file returns electronically. IRD has been working with these businesses, to provide them with the training needed to file returns electronically. Office of the Retirement Commissioner

  7. The Office of the Retirement Commissioner's mission is "through education, information and promotion, assist current and future generations of New Zealanders to have an adequate and equitable amount of income in retirement". An important element of achieving this has been the Office's website, which came online in July 1998. The website features online calculators for site visitors to calculate how much they need to save for their retirement.

  8. Until recently, the target audience for the Office's public education programmes has been New Zealanders aged 25 - 55, with individual incomes of $30,000 pa or more, or household incomes of $40,000 or more. Ninety two percent of web site visitors who use the online retirement calculators fall within into this target audience. The internet has become the favoured means by which the public access information directly from the Office (web site visitors outnumber 0800 callers by 10:1).

  9. The Office is now extending its target audience to encompass all New Zealanders, and intends taking a more audience segment-specific approach to its public education programmes. While seeking to maintain high awareness levels amongst the general public, the following audience segments will be targeted with specific communications:

    • Young people
    • Employers and employees
    • Women
    • Maori & Pacific Island people
    • Aged 60+

  10. While a number of distribution channels and communication tools will be employed, the internet will be used as the primary distribution channel for reaching these audiences. In developing audience-specific online communication strategies, the Office is aware that some of its target audiences have less access to the internet than others. To this end, the Office will ensure that specific communication strategies will incorporate activities to increase internet access for each target audience. These activities may include (but are not restricted to):

    • Developing partnerships with commercial organisations (e.g. telecommunication companies, financial institutions) who can assist in increasing computer/internet access to specific audiences.
    • Developing partnerships with community groups and commercial organisations (e.g. employers, tertiary institutions) who can provide a conduit to specific audiences.
    • Developing funding partnerships to enable personnel support and/or training to specific target audiences, e.g. non-teaching resources in schools, community based internet training for women.
    • Developing partnerships with institutions who provide internet access to encourage maximum internet access for their audiences, e.g. students in schools or university, public libraries.

  11. The Office is currently developing its programme of audience specific public education activities for the next two years. In the 2000/2001 financial year, the priority is to implement new strategies for young people and employers/employees. These will enable new and specific communications to Maori and Pacific Island people too.

Ministry of Culture and Heritage

  1. The Ministry does not currently have any initiatives underway or planned in the area of the digital divide. While the Ministry is interested in the implications of ICT for the culture and heritage sector, doing any detailed work on this is not currently a high priority in their work programme.
International Telecommunication Union

  1. New Zealand is a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialised agency of the United Nations. The ITU is an intergovernmental, treaty-based organisation that makes binding decisions on telecommunications issues. As a member of the ITU, New Zealand is obliged to comply with these decisions unless it takes out a reservation in relation to the decision in question.

  2. The ITU undertakes work in a variety of sub-sectors, including telecommunications (T sector), radio spectrum (R sector) and developing countries (D sector). Each sector agrees on Study Questions that make up the work of that sector. New Zealand has historically participated only in work undertaken in the R sector and, to a limited extent, the T sector. New Zealand, as a developed country, has had no involvement with the ITU-D, which was set up primarily to support initiatives and research into telecommunications issues in developing countries.

  3. In 1998, Mr Graeme Everton from Te Wananga-O-Raukawa asked the Ministry of Commerce to support his attendance at a meeting of the ITU-D in Malta. Mr Everton has a particular interest in some of the D sector's work relating to telecommunications issues for minority indigenous people. At that time, New Zealand had no Government policy position on this issue. Although Mr Everton has petitioned the Ministry for funding support since 1998, the Ministry's position to date has been to refuse funding assistance, primarily on the grounds that the ITU-D is not where the Ministry's policy priorities lie in terms of the ITU's overall work. Indeed, availability of funding has constrained our attendance and participation in ITU-T study questions, which are of high relevance to the telecommunications sector in New Zealand.

  4. Mr Everton attended the World Telecommunications Development Conference in Malta and proposed study question 14/1 (i.e. the role of telecommunications in social and cultural development, including the protection and promotion of indigenous culture and identity). Work on the study question runs for four years from 1998-2002. During this time, Mr Everton has been furthering the study question as acting Senior Rapporteur without the funding or policy support from the Ministry or the New Zealand Government.

  5. The Ministry of Economic Development has recently agreed to support Mr Everton's nomination as Rapporteur for the Study Question, which was confirmed in Geneva last month. The Ministry considers that the Study Question could provide useful information about overseas experiences in relation to telecommunications and indigenous peoples. As Rapporteur, Mr Everton is acting as a neutral chair and facilitator for the Study Question, and is not a New Zealand Government representative. Mr Everton has been asked not to represent his personal views as being the views of the New Zealand Government or imply that this is the case.

  6. The Work Plan that Mr Everton has proposed for 2000/01 includes the following items:

    • Research into Maori participation in the Ministerial Inquiry into Telecommunications, and analysing the potential affects for Maori;
    • Te Wananga o Raukawa research into the effectiveness of computers in assisting Maori students (refer to the Research section below);
    • Interviewing individual Maori and Maori organisations to identify any perceived barriers to Maori participation in information technology and telecommunications;
    • Develop partnerships with other indigenous people and international organisations to identify and undertake four international research initiatives;
    • Continued participation in the Global Knowledge for Development list; and
    • Host an international conference on indigenous information technology and telecommunications in New Zealand.

What is being done outside of central government?

  1. As well as things that the central government sector is doing, officials are aware of a number of other things that are going on in the local government and private sectors that are relevant to this work.

Local government

  1. There is a degree of awareness within local government about the importance that ICT can play. For example, the Mayor of Papakura, David Hawkins, was quoted in July as saying that implementation of electronic government provided a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to bridge the gap between the "haves and have nots". Mr Hawkins went on to say that "if we get this right we can lift the new generation of Maori and Pacific Island children, and their families, into a new era of full participation in society". He plans to examine what steps Papakura District could take to make the benefits of new technology more widely available.

  2. Advice from Local Government New Zealand and the Association of Local Government Information Managers suggests that many councils provide some form of public computer/Internet access (usually through libraries), and some councils have IT policies. We have identified a number of local government initiatives:

    • Smart Wellington - In July 2000, the Wellington City Council launched the www.smartwellington.com website, and started promoting the Smart Wellington brand, reflecting a belief amongst Wellingtonians that Wellington is a leading ICT city that they can be proud of. The Smart Wellington site promotes Wellington's business community and profiles its business achievements, highlighting the city's strengths in creativity, high technology, research and development, infrastructure and education.
    • Palmerston North Knowledge City - Palmerston North has 40% of its population either attending or teaching at one of the cities 70 educational organisations. Education plays an important part, and according, Palmerston North promotes itself as "Knowledge City".
    • Dunedin Knowledge Base - The Dunedin City Council maintains a database of frequently asked questions, to assist in providing quality customer service. The Knowledge Base is searchable online.
    • Auckland City Libraries - Auckland City Libraries are aware that certain groups have not been accessing their libraries, particularly Pacific peoples and the Asian community. They are planning to do further research into what is behind this.

Private businesses

  1. There is significant potential for private sector involvement in the provision of ICT access and skills. Although there has not yet been widespread consultation with the private sector as part of the digital divide project, a number of private businesses have indicated interest in contributing to closing the digital divide in discussions during development of the e-commerce strategy. Other businesses have been attempting to find homes for their old computers.

Businesses providing ICT access for staff

  1. In March, Ford New Zealand announced that it was offering 600 workers at its Wiri plant home computers and Internet access for $5 a month. Ford intends to fit all of its 350,000 workers world-wide with computers and Internet access, and hopes to have all its staff at Wiri on line by the end of the year.

  2. The computer scheme is part of Ford's plan to upskill its work force by making them computer literate. Another part of this is the Endeavour Centre, an on-site training centre that was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister in March. The Centre trains workers in everything from reading and writing to using computers and robotics. More than half the staff at the Wiri plant have signed up for courses at the training centre.

  3. Nearly all the workers at Wiri were South Auckland locals, with 80% Polynesian, 10% Asian and 10% Pakeha. Telecentres

  4. Telecentres are part of a wider telework movement that involves the use of ICT to render work location-independent. The activities of telecentres generally fall into one of four categories:

    • training;
    • office bureau facilities;
    • community development and the provision of government services; and
    • providing telework/employment brokerage.

  5. There is currently only one telecentre in New Zealand, at Lindale on the Kapiti Coast. The Kapiti telecentre aims to get both public and private users involved and develop networks of support and advice. The telecentre has deliberately confined community access to providing training courses and ad hoc advice because secure financial sustainability had to be achieved before credible services to the community could be contemplated. Unlike the European model, the Kapiti telecentre is intended to be self sufficient from Government. Now that a private sector partnership has been formed (with Unisys as the anchor tenant), the Kapiti telecentre intends to be open to the community by October-November.

Cisco Regional Academy

  1. As noted above in the Te Puni Kokiri section, TPK has been leading a multi-agency group investigating assisting Te Rünanga o te Whanau (Eastern Bay of Plenty) in the development of a "Cisco Regional Academy" to train students in network engineering. Cybercafé industry

  2. A growing trend in relation to providing access is the development of the cybercafé, a business that combines Internet access with a café. There doesn't appear to be any detailed information on the extent of this industry in New Zealand. A search of Netcafe Guide reveals 42 cybercafés in New Zealand. However, there will also be a significant number of other businesses that provide Internet access without being cafés.

 

    
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