Address to Digital Strategy Consultation Forums

18 June 2004
Address to Digital Strategy Consultation Forum

Thank you for joining us today. It gives me great pleasure to be here to introduce the Government’s draft Digital Strategy.

Earlier this week I took part in a very interesting visit to Rodney County. Now I don’t know about you but I reckon it wouldn’t be bad living up at Algies, or Sandspit, or Omaha or Leigh. Fish for dinner, boat moored within reach. Great vineyards, fresh oysters. Why wouldn’t you relocate your business up there and enjoy the lifestyle?

Answer: because until now you couldn’t get broadband. Until now the web designer wanting to work from home couldn’t get enough bandwidth, or the editor who edits documents from London while his clients sleep, or the investor who needs to be on the NZSE, the Nikkei and the FTSE in the same day. PROBE is helping to fix that by dragging broadband into areas where providers may not have had a business case to go in previously. Thanks to project PROBE Wired Country is now beaming to a hilltop near you

But lets look a bit closer. PROBE will deliver broadband to schools, libraries and community centres. Through PROBE and the E-Regions projects businesses can take advantage of the new bandwidth to boost productivity, reach new customers and reduce supply chain costs.

PROBE is a great example of what we are all here to talk about today. It is an example where government and market work together to stimulate growth in a certain area. And that is what this strategy is about. It is about finding the best levers for the government to pull to let kiwis make the best use of not just hardware but of the enormous amount of information that technology can give us access to.

It is not about the government just throwing money around. It is about building the right relationships, setting the right policy and regulatory environment and targeting government investment.

It is about the two person family business in Matakana making smart use of ICT. It is about one of you people downloading the strategy document in a café through wifi and filling the feedback form out and sending it in while you're at the airport. It is about my Electorate office in Auckland sharing my diary in real time with my Wellington office so I never have anywhere to hide.

Equally, it is about an Iwi using ICT to capture its stories and heritage. It is about a single mum with a young kid getting on line to make sure she is getting the government services and benefits she is entitled to, and the sole trader filing a GST return electronically.

My vision is for New Zealand to become a world leader at using information and technology. Our goal is to move up into the top half of the OECD rankings. Achieving this goal will require – among other things - the smart use of ICTs and information to enhance innovation, create value, attract new investment, grow our key industries, preserve our cultural capital and enable our communities to prosper.

My vision for New Zealand is a society where all members can experience the benefits that information technologies can bring – where ICTs are key tools for achieving our social, economic and cultural goals. It will mean our industries can take world-class ideas to the international arena, our researchers can rapidly access information across countries to keep abreast of the latest developments in science, medicine and agriculture. Our children will share virtual classrooms with children in other countries. In short, the possibilities are limitless!

So what is new?

Is this just a rehash of existing policy or some fluffy collection of official speak?

On the contrary. The proposed Digital Strategy represents the most significant shift in direction for ICT policy since this Government took office in 1999. It will support individual New Zealanders and their communities to realise the full benefits of ICT to improve their lives. It will also create significant opportunities for ICT sector participants and ICT users in other sectors.

It broadens the technology agenda beyond getting people connected, to enabling the conditions that drive real value from those connections. This includes:

• boosting bandwidth and ramping up broadband uptake
• ensuring all New Zealanders have the capability to use ICTs with confidence
• making major investments in content development to ensure New Zealanders have the online resources they need for learning and for business.

The combined effect of pushing in these two dimensions, as well as keeping a focus on regulation to support competitive markets, is to drive for value and productivity across our economy and society.

Creating the conditions

ICT is not just a gimmick. It enables a pervasive, on-going information revolution in every facet of our lives. It is a true 'general purpose technology'.

To get the best value from the opportunities created by this revolution we must see the transmission and use of information as an end to end process. In other words, technology geeks thinking about pipes, wires and chips is not enough.

Bandwidth is only important if there is information to be transmitted.

Processing power is only useful when there is content to be processed. Value will increasingly be attached to the content end of the ICT value chain.

And none of this matters unless New Zealanders, in their homes, businesses and communities, have the awareness, skills and confidence to access, use and benefit from ICT.

Accordingly, this proposed draft strategy represents a shift in emphasis:

• from connection towards confidence and content.
• From a narrower ICT sector focus to a broader focus on demand growth across the economy.

As you will see it is not a departure from caring about connection. We are pushing hard for pervasive high speed broadband to support Voice Over IP and video. We have already announced plans to build an Advanced Network.

Crucially though, this strategy recognises that out shared endeavour, our passion, and vision for the future of New Zealand cannot stop there.

Realising the benefits

To realise the benefits of ICT the rubber really meets the road on the demand side.

Good progress has been made in each of three key user categories. – communities, business and government - but much more can be done.

Too many kiwis are 'off line' because of a lack of skills or access to computers.

Too many of our rural communities are hamstrung by a lack of broadband.

Most businesses use some ICT but the research commissioned for the strategy has found they don't use it as well as they could.

I will now take you through the key areas of focus to illustrate the vision this strategy contains.

Content

Back in the early days of the Internet, the mantra of the computer geeks was “content is king”. That is even more true today. ICTs are tools that link, move, process and manipulate information, that is, content. There is a wealth of content in New Zealand, but only some of it is available digitally, and much of it is hard to find.

I want New Zealanders to be able to access digitally much of the content that is in the public domain, be empowered to use it to create new value, and to contribute new content to the nation's stock of information, whether it be scientific data, community histories or creative content.

How can we achieve this goal?

One of our action plans is to implement a National Content Strategy by 2007 so that New Zealanders can gain better access to the “treasure chest" of New Zealand’s information. For example, there are national heritage collections, government information, databases of publicly-funded scientific and technical information that kiwis should be able to access, from work, home or the classroom. We want your input into what that content strategy should contain.

My vision is that:

• Students will be able to access information effortlessly, improving the quality and range of their research.
• Community groups will be able to build their own digital archives of local information and assets.
• The flow of information between businesses and government will be enabled through a single portal, reducing compliance costs.

We’ve also got to look at the challenges that ICTs raise. For example, how can we ensure that essential information that used to be published and was available from public libraries or CABs is still readily accessible?

To address these challenges public libraries and CAB's need broadband access and equipment upgrades. There needs to be provision for technical and staff training and additional staff so that the library and CAB staff can act as “information infomediaries”, or guides to the world of digital information.

Confidence

I want all New Zealanders to have the confidence and capability to use ICT. For this to happen, we must have the skills to maximise our opportunities and be confident to do this safely.

I want to see all communities accessing information online and then be able to add that information stock. I want to see mums and dads showing their children how to use their computers. And I want to see children accessing the Internet to find information for their homework in a safe and secure electronic environment. We must all be able to use ICTs confidently and capably.

Our action plans will include expanding existing ICT training programmes such as Computing for Free, Computer in Homes, and projects implemented under the Ministry of Education's Digital Horizon's strategy such as Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI) - a web portal that provides educational resources for teachers, school administrators and the wider education community.

There will be an e-crime strategy and we currently addressing spam.

Computers in homes has been a successful initiative. The programme has provide the disadvantaged with recycled computers so that they can learn for example, to use e-mail and word processing tools.

But that is not enough.

The government recognises that it’s not enough to provide training that caters just for beginners. We need to change up a gear. We need to tailor our initiatives so that users can maximise the power of ICTs. We need to show them how they can design a website so that they can share their ideas with others in their community. We need to show them how they can use online information to learn about the world around them.

We also need to think about how we can provide technical support for those who are disadvantaged. We recognise that it is important to give communities a sense of responsibility and ownership in implementing ICT initiatives and we want to encourage communities take ownership. By 2007, we want to see community-based technical support services to assist community groups to use digital technologies.

Connection

Being connected is about having a high-quality infrastructure that connects us to global networks of information. We can access knowledge resources, e-government services, leading-edge research, and new markets through a well developed information and communications network infrastructure. In particular, broadband will enable our hospitals use broadband to access information quickly to conduct remote diagnoses for patients in rural areas. They will also be able to conduct high-volume diagnostics such as CAT scans. We’ll be able to develop large content datasets and use content delivery media such as video-conferencing.

We recognise we need to do more work on developing our infrastructure and that current broadband uptake is quite low compared with other OECD countries. There has been considerable uncertainty as the industry has awaited my colleague's decision on local loop unbundling. With that decision made players can now move forward with their investment plans, a result that is will provide consumers with the benefits of the decision.

In addition to keeping a very close eye on developments to make sure consumers are getting the best from ICT infrastructure, we have some further actions.

We will continue to rollout project PROBE with the aim that all schools and communities have access to broadband by the middle of next year. PROBE will bring medium-speed broadband to 3000 schools and communities to about 95% of the New Zealand population.

We also want to implement an advanced network linking New Zealand’s research and higher education institutions to our international partners. The Advanced Research project will bring gigabits of bandwidth to our research institutions. It will allow for greater collaboration and coordination within our borders. More importantly it will enable our researchers to participate effectively in research initiatives on the global arena. Initiatives like this can make us part of a global research park, the distance between Dunedin and Boston becomes meaningless.

Communities

My vision is for an inclusive society where all New Zealanders are able to access, use, gain and benefit from ICTs. I want to see New Zealanders applying digitised information in ways that improve their lives. I want to see our Pacific communities in Auckland put information online so their children can learn about their culture and heritage.

Community groups will be able to use ICTs to grow small businesses and provide services to isolated populations. We recognise that local initiatives that are locally owned and driven are most likely to be effective. It is about government fostering grassroots development.

Some of our key actions will involve establishing a contestable fund for partnerships to progress technology planning and ICT capability building within communities. For example, partnerships could exist between ICT vendors and community voluntary groups.

By 2007, the government wants to see e-centres in community locations, such as marae, libraries, homework centres. E-centres will allow communities to access information that is specific to their communities.

We also want to provide communities with ICT tool kits to map their assets by 2006. These assets could include buildings, skills in the community and ICT equipment. This will enable communities to determine what their ICT needs are and how best to deliver them.

Businesses

Businesses across all sectors of the economy need to use ICT as a tool to drive process or product innovations to increase productivity.

We need to recognise that it is the innovative use of information that technology enables that is critical rather than the technology itself. We also need to recognise the continued importance of the ICT sector and important role it plays in supporting other high-value-added industries and contributing to export growth.

I want to see our ICT companies attract R&D business back to New Zealand and be able to penetrate new markets such as the Middle East. I want to see the local craft shop sell its crafts through the Internet and I want to see our larger companies use ICT to expand their product range in New Zealand and offshore.

By 2005 we want to put in place an initiative that will allow SMEs to better access government information and complete their transactions such as tax, ACC and statistical returns in order to reduce their compliance costs.

We will see profile-matching between government agencies so that businesses don’t have to submit information to several agencies. For example, address details and business records will be shared across agencies so that businesses don’t have to resubmit the same information several times.

We need to develop and strengthen our management capability amongst our firms. The Fit for the Future Management Development project will improve understanding and support action in the private and public sectors. Good managerial capability means businesses are able to recognise good ICT use.

We need to use ICTs effectively as we’ve got to be able to compete effectively with international players. Strong managerial capability will support that goal.

We will also respond to the ICT Taskforce recommendations on government procurement this year to improve current ICT procurement practices and processes.

Government

I want to transform government so that information, service delivery and government processes are integrated across agencies and government is better able to deliver information and services to its citizens. This will mean that information can be delivered and accessed from a single point. It will also enable businesses to access government information through one channel. I don’t want to see businesses having to provide the same information to several government agencies.

I want to see our citizens better informed about government policies and their entitlements. And I want to see better use of health information so that our hospitals provide targeted health care earlier rather than later.

Our key actions will involve developing common standards across government for a common architecture, ICT infrastructure, and data standards.

This will allow efficient and effective services, which will lower compliance costs and improve participation for those who want to contribute to policy changes. We’ve already made good progress with our E-government strategy but we will need to work on our service delivery architecture, our secure electronic workspaces and authentication before we can transform government.

Another key action will involve commissioning a report on inter-agency and local government collaboration - a key challenge if we are to transform government and integrate government services. The scope of this report will cover issues such as the role of legislation, for example, privacy act obligations and incentives for agencies to develop shared processes.

Conclusion

To conclude, I want to reiterate that this strategy is a framework for action for all government ICT-related policy for the next five years.

We need to focus on information-rich activities where we create, collect, manage, process or access information. We need to appreciate that ICT is a transforming technology and that it is not enough by itself to drive sustained economic growth. We need a new kind of thinking and we must work together so that we can build an advanced and prosperous economy and society.

I strongly urge you all to provide your thoughts on this draft Digital Strategy. It is important and we value your contributions because this is a strategy for all New Zealanders. Your feedback will help us to prioritise key actions and identify new ones. Your views will be carefully considered in finalising this strategy later this year.

Thank you