Digital New Zealanders: The Pulse of Our Nation

The Government’s cross-agency Digital Economy Work Programme aims to support all New Zealanders to fully participate in the fast moving digital economy. The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) commissioned research in late 2016 from a consortium engaged in digital inclusion initiatives (the Digital Inclusion Research Group) to better understand the ways in which digital capabilities and digital inclusion affect New Zealanders’ social and economic outcomes. We were asked to look at four main areas to help inform MBIE and DIA’s next steps with the Digital New Zealanders part of the Digital Economy Work Programme:

• Defining what digital inclusion means and those who appears most at risk of digital ‘exclusion’
• The role of digital capabilities or skills, are there particular capabilities that appear most valuable to have, and do
  these capabilities appear to have any impact on economic and social wellbeing?
• What research and interventions have been undertaken by other countries into the value of trying to increase
  digital inclusion in their populations, the results these have had and what interventions have also been
  undertaken in New Zealand to lift digital inclusion and what results these are achieving?
• Whether any of these interventions could be suited to New Zealand’s specific circumstances and populations.

Suggestions for next steps New Zealand could take to address any identified issues and opportunities. The research covered developments in a number of countries and unions, including the United Kingdom,
European Union, United States of America, Finland, Estonia, Singapore, South Korea and Australia. It also included consultations with representatives from stakeholder groups in New Zealand who face the greatest risk of being excluded, whether during their years at school or in securing jobs or simply in engaging with their communities, whānau and friends.

This research complements research undertaken by the Innovation Partnership that considers the approaches taken in a number of countries – Finland, United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore – to address digital inequalities (Soper, 2017).