NetHui 2020: What is Government doing about digital inclusion?

• [Announcer] We estimate that one in five Kiwis are digitally excluded. That is, they don’t have the phones, computers, connections to the internet, enough skills or even the trust or motivation to be able to engage confidently online and benefit from the digital world. And their disadvantage has worsened with COVID. They haven’t been able to move online for quick access to essential services and information, to study, work, shop or even to stay in touch with whānau and friends. - [Paul] We care about these people. As Government Chief Digital Officer, and working with DIA and the Digital Public Service branch, we have a strong focus on digital inclusion. People have to be able to participate.

00:48 - We’ve been learning what matters most in digital inclusion. You know, where are the barriers, where are the problems? We know it’s complex and it’s huge. It affects a lot of New Zealanders. Last year, we released the Blueprint for digital inclusion that really set out the direction and our thinking about this issue. This year, we’ve released an Action Plan. What are we going to do about it? What we know is that we’ll have to do it with others. Everyone’s got a part to play in this. Many government agencies and organisations outside of government are doing work already.

01:19 - We need to find ways to come together to coordinate and have collaborative impact, together. Now, you’re gonna hear about some of the things that we’re doing in our role. - [Lorraine] In the Blueprint, it talks about Te Whata Kōrero, which is a call to action for Tangata whenua to work alongside government. There’s two levels to Te Whata Kōrero. There is a mana-to-mana relationship. That’s a relationship between the GCDO and Iwi leaders. The other part of Te Whata Kōrero I guess a good way to explain it is a mahi-to-mahi relationship.

01:54 - Government need to get this right and they need to work at a pace that is about hearts and minds and not just a tick box exercise. - [Adam] One of our key publications this year is another cut of the Digital Inclusion Action Plan for 2021. What it really does is it’s a call to action for agencies to come together and grapple with some of the systemic issues that we face. For me, during this last year with our response to the COVID pandemic, it’s really highlighted for us the importance of agencies delivering services to citizens in a way that doesn’t exclude our population and particularly our disadvantaged communities. - [Paula] We’re developing a measurement framework to help us guide and direct our best efforts and also so we can monitor our progress.

02:43 - Because it’s really important that we know and show the difference we’re making. - [Lorna] So there’s currently two initiatives in play. One looking directly at SMEs and lifting their digital capability. So there’s an initiative that actually is working directly with whānau and individuals. It’s a $10,000,000 fund that is being driven out of our partners, Manaiakalani and they are working with Te Wananga o Aotearoa, the ²⁰⁄₂₀ Trust Spark Foundation to deliver digital skills packages that can help uplift our whānau.

03:31 - - [Devanga] Another significant part of the Digital Inclusion work programme is actually getting out there to our communities and asking them what their experiences are with the digital world and whether they are digitally included or their experiences of being digitally disadvantaged. It’s very important that we actually get out there and talk to people and not stay here, you know and act off our assumptions. Because if we’re just basing this on quantitative data we’re not getting the rich insights into how we can help and what we can do from a system view to improve digital inclusion. We’re all about getting those stories and finding out what people really need. So we’re talking to the seven at-risk groups in Aotearoa who are most at-risk of being digitally excluded and digitally disadvantaged.

04:14 - That is, Māori, Pacific people, people with disabilities, seniors, people living in rural communities, people living in social housing and people who are un- and under-employed. We will be releasing these findings and next steps in seven reports that will be widely distributed, that will be in plain English and accessible. And we’ll be releasing these over the next nine months. .