How we will make it happen

What is different about the Digital Strategy? The government has been doing lots of good work over the last five years. But over that time many government departments and agencies have been working more or less independently on many fronts. There hasn’t been a mechanism for pulling actions together and ensuring government money is being best spent. Nor have we always been consistent in our dealing with communities, local government, and the private sector.

We therefore need a strong central co-ordination point to:

  • bring the three parallel streams of work (Content, Confidence, Connection) together
  • assess project proposals and allocate funding
  • co-ordinate government action with all the initiatives being implemented by businesses, local government, or community organisations.

In order to make the Digital Strategy happen, we need communities, local government, and the private sector to be actively involved. In some cases matching funding or in-kind contributions will be needed.

Governance and participation

The Minister for Information Technology and an ad-hoc group of Digital Ministers will make decisions on direction and implementation. Each area of the Digital Strategy will be championed by the Minister responsible (e.g. the Minister of Education for Capability, and so on). A Steering Group of officials co-ordinates work between departments.

We will set up a full-time Secretariat, based in the Ministry of Economic Development, to manage the implementation of the Strategy. The Digital Secretariat will:

  • work closely with agencies and external partners
  • gather and disseminate information about Digital Strategy activities
  • provide support services for the contestable fund
  • monitor and evaluate the projects that are funded
  • report on progress to the Digital Ministers.

We will set up an Advisory Group to have oversight of the Strategy’s effectiveness, covering the three strands of the Strategy. The Advisory Group will be made up of senior people from business and the community who can tell the Digital Ministers about progress and advise us where to concentrate resources and projects in the future. The Advisory Group will advise the Digital Ministers on overall direction, priorities for future action, areas for government attention, and how to engage stakeholders. To make sure their views are heard at a high level in government, the chief executives of the relevant government agencies will sit on the Advisory Group.

Once the Advisory Group has been set up, the various departments will consult with their stakeholder groups to get the collaboration process going.

The governance structure

Open for larger version (130kb). Digram showing the Governance structure. The Digital Strategy is managed by the Secretariat in conjunction with the Steering Group. This function is overseen by Digital Ministers who are advised by the Steering Group and the Advisory Board.

Funding arrangements

The government has committed to spend up to $400 million over the next five years to make the Digital Strategy happen. But this won’t be enough on its own to achieve our objectives. So we plan to use government money to stimulate action and commitment by others - to provide seed funding and to stimulate activity.

The government has signalled its commitment to the Digital Strategy by making it a flagship initiative under the Growth and Innovation Framework. It will provide nearly $60 million to implement the Digital Strategy, including $44.7million contestable seed funding over four years for partnership-driven activity in two streams:

  • Community Partnership Fund ($20.7 million) for regional and community initiatives.
    The fund will support local partnerships to develop ICT capabilities, address issues of confidence in using ICT, or strengthen community projects through the use of ICT, and create and digitise distinctive and valuable New Zealand content and harness innovation in design and content.
     
  • the Broadband Challenge ($24 million) to enable affordable broadband roll-out based on competitive open-access principles.
    The fund will promote high-speed capacity in regional centres and support innovative ways of making broadband available to smaller communities. We will give seed-funding to partnerships with achievable business plans and the ability to make it happen.
     
  • There will be additional GIF funds for the Cultural Portal ($3.9 million), for Biz.org.nz and business ICT productivity ($10.4 million), and contingency monies for ICT procurement workshops and other initiatives.
     
  • New funding for digital initiatives across departmental baselines (as set out in previous sections.)
     
  • Continuation of existing digital programmes (such as the the e-Education initiatives, the Advanced Network, and the National Digital Heritage Archive programmes).

This shows that the government is serious about making change happen - creating a digital future for all New Zealanders.

For this to work, communities, local government, businesses, and individuals all need to be involved. We all need to share in making the investment because we will all reap the benefits.

Communities can make in-kind contributions. Local government can deliver by making its resources available. Private-sector companies can contribute their own funds. Individuals working in their own businesses who want to improve their efficiency by using technology are contributing their own time to develop their skills and capability.

Open for larger version (238kb). Diagram showing breakdown of the $400+ Million of government funding for the Digital Strategy.

Monitoring and evaluation

We need to put a mechanism in place so we have a consolidated view of whether we are achieving Digital Strategy outcomes, including how successful our portfolio of investments in meeting the goals and targets.

We will use robust processes to allocate funds. All bids for funding will need to include key performance indicators, so we can monitor performance and ensure our objectives are being met. In making funding decisions, we will want to know how the funding will be used to make a difference.

We recognise that not all Digital Strategy initiatives will work equally well. Some will catch on like wildfire; others may fail. We will monitor projects during implementation and evaluate their effectiveness to make sure that money is being spent wisely and well.

Moving forward

We will now concentrate our efforts on implementing the programmes set out in the Strategy, and doing so in partnership with others. As a first step we will have the Digital Strategy Advisory Group in place by July 2005.

We also need to build the foundations in the first year, on which to build the success of the Digital Strategy over the following years. We will put in place the arrangements for the Community Partnership Fund and the Broadband Challenge. We will develop the National Content Strategy and help build knowledge of the assets available to communities, so that partnerships can make best use of them.

The key next steps will be:

  • the Minister for Information Technology will appoint the members of the Advisory Group in consultation with the Digital Ministers by 1 July.
  • the Digital Secretariat will be appointed.
  • by September we will be issuing the first call for Community Partnership Fund and Broadband Challenge proposals.

We will keep you informed of developments via the Digital Strategy website. This is the place to look for details about the Digital Strategy, its programmes, and funding. The Community Partnership Fund in particular is a grassroots approach – give us your ideas!

You can help us achieve the aims of the Strategy by getting involved. We welcome your input.

Open for larger version (150kb). Table showing how the $400+ Million of government funding for the Digital Strategy will be spent.

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