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		Submission Digital Strategy New Zealand Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux submission on the Ministry of Economic Development's draft Digital Strategy 13 August 2004

Background The New Zealand Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux – Nga Pokapu Whakahoki Patai mai i te Iwi Whanui welcomes the opportunity to comment on the draft Digital Strategy. The aims of the Association are: To ensure that individuals do not suffer through ignorance of their rights and responsibilities or of the services available; or through an inability to express their needs effectively –– Me noho matara kia kaua te tangata e mate i tona kore mohio ki nga ahuatanga e ahei atu ana ia, ki nga mahi ranei e tika ana kia mahia e ia, ki nga ratonga ranei e ahei atu ana ia; i te kore ranei ona e ahei ki te whakaputu i ona hiahia kia marama mai ai te tangata. To exert a responsible influence on the development of social policies and services, both locally and nationally –– Kia tino whawahi atu ki te auahatanga o nga kaupapa-a-iwi me nga ratonga-a-rohe, puta noa hoki i te motu. Citizens Advice Bureaux provide free, confidential and impartial information, advice, advocacy and support to individuals, and use our experience with clients to advocate for socially just policies and services in Aotearoa New Zealand. The national network of 87 Citizens Advice Bureaux aim to empower individuals to deal with their own problems and to strengthen communities by identifying and raising local and national issues. The person to person information, advice, advocacy and support service provided by 2,750 bureau volunteers is unique in New Zealand, as is our ability to provide a national snapshot of community issues and concerns. Citizens Advice Bureaux act as information intermediaries between government and individuals. The focus for this is extending beyond information held in hardcopy form to include information held in electronic form, particularly that available over the internet.       COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT STRATEGY Building the strategy Overall we are impressed with the draft strategy, which we feel is comprehensive and constructive. We support the principles which underpin the strategy, in particular “Access to information and knowledge: An inclusive society requires the ability of all its citizens to access and contribute information, ideas and knowledge.” This fits well with our aims and the work we do to ensure individuals have access to information on their rights and responsibilities. It also supports our view that individuals need to have choices about how they access government information, including through means other than the internet. Creating the conditions: content We support the recognition of the role of Citizens Advice Bureaux (and libraries) as information intermediaries between government and individuals. The Citizens Advice service enables individuals to access government information in a personal and supported manner, assisting them to understand the information and the options they have for dealing with their particular issues/concerns. The potential for future development in this area for the Citizens Advice service is in extending our role as an information intermediary with digital information on the internet, acting as an intermediary in the same way as we do with information available in hardcopy. We support the definition of “infomediary” in the glossary but prefer that the full term information intermediary be used. We support the inclusion (as part of addressing the challenges related to access to information on page 30) of an action to “Fund the delivery of broadband access, equipment upgrades, technical and staff training, and additional staff for public libraries and CABs”. We have some comments on the statement on page 30 that “Essential information that used to be published and available from public libraries or CABx is now provided only in digital form”. While this is true of some government information, we feel the strategy should not encourage government information to be made available only in digital form. There are a wide range of barriers to accessing digital information, and the internet and information intermediaries should not be the only options available for accessing government information. Creating the conditions: connection We support the inclusion of an action (page 52) to “Fund the delivery of broadband access for all public libraries and CABs”, and note that this also contributes to “content”. CABs are generally not in a position to become centres where individuals directly access the internet – we feel such direct access is best provided by libraries and others. CABs’ role as “online information centres” would be to access information available on the internet on behalf of individuals and support them with interpreting the information and their options; our role would not be to provide direct internet access for individuals. Realising the benefits Addressing the challenges (page 64) states that “Government funding will support the establishment of e-centres in community locations, such as marae, libraries, homework centres”. We assume an e-centre refers to a centre which provides direct internet access to individuals, as compared with an online information centre which refers to access to information. We recommend that the terms e-centre and online information centre be defined in the document to clarify their meaning and the differences between the two concepts. We support the development of community training programmes and a nationally available ICT infrastructure for community and voluntary groups use. We note that the strategy includes initiatives for improving general management capability for the private and public sectors. We feel such initiatives should be inclusive of the not-for profit sector, including Citizens Advice Bureaux. RECOMMENDATIONS That the terms e-centre and online information centre be defined in the document to clarify their meaning and the differences between the two concepts i.e. an e-centre provides direct internet access to individuals; an online information centre accesses information available on the internet on behalf of individuals and support them with interpreting the information and their options. That the strategy not encourage government information being made available only in digital form. That the term “information intermediary” be used rather than “infomediary” throughout the document. That the initiatives for improving general management capability for the private and public sectors be extended to be inclusive of the not-for profit sector, including Citizens Advice Bureaux.     Information | Contact Us | Volunteering | Social Policy | About Us