[WSIS CS-Plenary] FW: [ciresearchers] New Zealand Digital Policy

[Michael Gurstein]

As the discussion concerning "the Information Society" seems to be
narrowing into more or less technical discussions on how to control
Spam, manage Intellectual Property and finance infrastructure, it is
useful to realize that there are other paths forward from WSIS (I) and
other pressing social and community related ICT issues and strategies.
The New Zealand Government seems to be willing to address these latter
issues.

The attached is background for a discussion to be held at the Community
Informatics Research Network Conference on "Sustainability and Community
Technology" Sept. 28-Oct. 1, in Prato Italy
http://www.ciresearch.net/conferences which is meant as a direct input
to the current consultation process in New Zealand around the referenced
document.

There is an on-going electronic discussion leading up to the face to
face discussion on the Community Informatics Researchers e-list,
subscription information below. Contributions are welcome.

Mike Gurstein

-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Thomson [mailto:ithomson at lycos.com] 
Sent: September 14, 2004 1:04 PM
To: communityinformatics at vancouvercommunity.net;
ciresearchers at vancouvercommunity.net
Subject: [ciresearchers] New Zealand Digital Policy

Kia ora All,

The New Zealand Government has released a draft Digital Strategy which
is now in its consultation phase. The Strategy is particularly
interesting for the following reasons
1.	The strategy has been developed post WSIS and uses it as a
framework
2.	The strategy is co-ordinated by the Ministry of Economic
Development and calls for full involvement of the Community Sector to
gain the maximum benefits (presumably economic in nature) of the
technology. Note this is quite different from the social inclusion
thrust of many Digital Divide initiatives.
3.	Inherent acknowledgements that even in a relatively advanced
country like NZ the diffusion and effective use of ICT needs
stimulation.

The Strategy is based on the assumption that in order to reap the
maximum social and economic benefits of ICT, three interrelated areas
for action are required: 
1.	Content: Information made available via digital networks; 
2.	Confidence and capability: The necessary skills to use ICT
effectively; and 
3.	Connection: Affordable access to ICT infrastructure such as
telecommunications networks, computers and mobile phones. 

The government's role in realising the benefits is to: 
.	facilitate communities and individuals to use ICT effectively; 
.	promote innovation in New Zealand businesses; and 
.	use ICT to transform government. 
Policy development in all these areas must be coherent and integrated.
The greatest benefits will flow when the whole system is ICT-enabled.

The policy states the following Desired Outcomes

Content: Through the effective use of ICT, the social, cultural and
economic value of New Zealand's stock of content will be unlocked,
giving New Zealanders seamless and easy access to the information that
is important to all aspects of their lives.

Confidence and capability: All New Zealanders will have the necessary
literacy skills to maximise their opportunities using digital means. 
The environment for ICT use in New Zealand must therefore be secure,
reliable and well regulated. 
The public will be safety-aware, and will have a well founded trust in
the use of ICT.

Connection: New Zealand will have an information and communications
network infrastructure that provides the level of connection necessary
to meet the high demands of an information-empowered society. It will
meet the requirements of all users and will be readily accessible and
affordable.

Communities: ICT will be an important tool for realising the social,
cultural and economic ambitions of our communities and citizens.

Businesses: New Zealand businesses in all sectors will have the
necessary knowledge, management capability and access to content and ICT
infrastructure to create innovative products and processes and increase
productivity. The ICT sector will contribute 10% of New Zealand's GDP by
2012.

The government: Information, service delivery and government processes
will be integrated across agencies to ensure that the New Zealand
government is responsive, citizen-centric and cost-effective.
Information and services will be customised to the needs of citizens and
businesses, and accessible from a single point of contact. Agencies will
adopt a whole-of-government perspective when designing and implementing
services.

More details (and an executive overview) are available at
http://www.med.govt.nz/pbt/infotech/digital-strategy/

We are proposing to make a case study of this strategy at Prato in two
weeks with the aim of evaluating it against WSIS and other best practice
policies. Perhaps we will come up with some framework or guidelines for
policy development post WSIS. I am looking for pre conference
discussion, ideas and issues to stimulate the case study and would
appreciate input from the wider expert community of the CI list serve.

I also have some background documents putting the Strategy in context,
especially in terms of New Zealand's declining wealth. I can forward
those to interested people.

Thanking you in anticipation

Ian Thomson
Phone 027 449 0081
ithomson at lycos.com

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