Digital divide stories

A changing of the guard is gaining pace with the rise of 'younger' decision makers who rely on digital media to network, job hunt and inform decisions.

1 in 10 Australians are digitally excluded, and it's estimated 1 in 5 New Zealanders struggle to engage in the digital world, an industry panel hears.

The crisis has accentuated our dependence on digital technologies and exposed the reality of the digital divides between and within countries.

Technology should be flying high when it comes to government investment and commitment from New Zealand's political parties. But is it?

Asia has 2.3 billion internet users, which equated to 50.3% of the world’s internet user population.

Overall, fibre broadband connections have increased 3% from 24% to 27% in the space of one year, indicating that it is still a slow process for many countries.

The ‘digital divide’ is still very much present in New Zealand society, with those in social housing and those with disabilities feeling the most impacted by inadequate internet access.

Aged care facilities are slow to provide WiFi access for residents, and interviewees said they would like to see aged care operators provide more support.

As technology in the classroom becomes a necessity, many children could be starting at a disadvantage as the financial strain becomes too much.

The additional coverage will roll out over the next four years as part of the Rural Broadband Initiative phase two/Mobile Black Spots Fund (RBI2/MBSF) programme expansion.

People surveyed in the report say they feel excluded, isolated, powerless and have limited opportunities because they are unable to access the internet.

The company has responded to a request from MBIE for feedback on the challenges and opportunities of a 5G rollout.

The Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion Advisory Group will advise the Govt on how it can build the digital economy and reduce digital divides.

"I’ve worked on how we can remove the stereotype of how an engineer is a guy, and make it about the role itself."

"Left unaddressed this digital divide will exacerbate the social divide."

Curran says the previous government didn’t make the report public until after the election as it exposed the digital divide in New Zealand.

“This Government intends to progress its goals to close the digital divide by 2020."

What needs to be brought into focus now is that issues of inequality and lack of access are not limited to emerging or developing economies.

The Digital Divide map is an interactive tool which shows the different digital divides New Zealanders and their communities are facing.

The Computers in Homes programme will no longer be funded by the government. 20/20 Trust will continue to try & help bridge the digital divide in NZ.

"We’re excited to see Spark Jump turn more homes in Massey into digital learning environments & enable more students to thrive in the digital world."

“As more and more services go online there’s an assumption that we can all get onto our devices and complete these activities.”

Fewer than 400,000 people speak Icelandic, and linguists are hypothesising that this is how the language dies.

"We are still concerned about the digital divides relating to household income, location and ethnicity groups."