I am looking forward to being one of the facilitators for Barriers and Bridges to Digital Inclusion: Taking Action in the Community session. We are expecting around 70 participants in our discussion. It is great to see there has been interest expressed in Computers in Homes and what lessons, learned from our experiences, can be used to assist libraries and other community-focused organisations.
Digital Literacy is now an important priority, which has become increasingly urgent to address. The cost of not doing anything impacts on everyone’s prosperity. Investment in digital literacy is not only compassionate; it produces significant positive outcomes to increase economic capital in communities through productivity gains, higher tax income, savings on benefits, and increased educational attainment.
The Computers in Homes 100,000 Challenge identifies there are still over 100,000 low-income families in NZ without a computer at home and an internet connection. In Whanganui, the last Wanganui District Council Community Outcomes survey of residents, undertaken in February 2011, identified 19% of residents (sample 400) did not have the internet at home. This equates to 3,207 households in the District.
So there is plenty of work to be done yet to transform NZ and realise our potential. It is no accident the Computers in Homes programme is now included in the NZ Government’s Budget as a cabinet appropriation. It is good that we have been recognised as a worthwhile intervention. However, this investment is only scratching the surface to address low ICT uptake. Now it is clear investment makes money for us all by increasing GDP. Our high return also enables funding for other programmes to be supported.
