Contents - please select... Survey Homepage Some Questions on an E-Commerce Strategy Maori Success in the Knowledge Economy Some Issues Already Raised SURVEY RESULTS 12 September 2000 Ministry of Economic Development Website Government Electronic Commerce Website E-Commerce Summit Auckland 1-2 Nov Knowledge Economy 6 key issues for NZ

 

Issues Raised at two hui in Gisborne

 

These notes come from the two meetings held in Gisborne on 9^th August 2000. The range of issues raised by the Maori hui were slightly different from those raised at the business meeting that evening. This is not surprising as the greater number of participants at the second meeting were actively involved in business.

Infrastructure

• Limitations of the current service provider Telecom in servicing the rural part of the region as well Gisborne city

• Limitation of service infrastructures like banks which are slow to respond to the needs of e-commerce and moving their services – especially banking services on-line

• There was a suggestion that SMEs should have good access to internet services at the least cost

• Technical support was a major issue and it was noted that there were severe limitations and this would impact on the Government’s decision to ‘flood’ 100s of computers into the region without the commensurate technical support

• Business advice should follow the development of infrastructure and the use of e-commerce

• Co-ordinate local demands and leverage offsets from Government

• An interesting observation was that as technologies improve and more ‘pipes’ become available eg power lines; tv satellite dishes the issue of lack of infrastructure may reduce

Central Government/ Local Government

• Tensions between the two and the allocation of responsibilities

• The need for Central Government to establish a better partnership relationship with Local Government

• One example was the provision of a regional kick-start fund to help the development of e-commerce

• There was also an issue about the tardiness of local government to embrace technology and thus lead its citizens into the future

• There was a suggestion that e-commerce was also about satisfying local needs

Central Government/Private Sector

• What should central government be responsible for and what should the private sector be responsible for

• Most thought that the role of central government was to provide a policy framework and leave the private sector to get on with business

Education & Training

• Key issue for Maori audiences who believed that there needed to be an education process to alert Maori to the opportunities before consultations about application and future use could be discussed

• There was a thought that there should be an opportunity for those interested in or conducting business by way of e-commerce ought to cluster for discussions and cross-pollination of ideas and opportunities

• As part of this initiative it was identified that a mentoring process should be introduced; however there was a proviso and that was that the current system of mentoring was probably mismatching old economy knowledge and practice with new economy needs and practice

• Training was a concern for some People: the indication were that there was not sufficient training resources in the region

• A strong point was made that the website had to be designed in such a way that it attracted attention – ‘take the website to the eyeballs’

• There was a concern raised about the ‘brain drain’ occurring with our younger brighter people leaving and not coming home

• Another thought was that the Government should establish a help desk/call centre facility for those wanting to get into e-commerce or wanting to improve their positioning

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