IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

New Zealand is developing an approach to supporting the ethical adoption of AI — one that is focused on building an AI ecosystem on a foundation of trust, equity and accessibility right from the onset.

A crucial part of this approach is to involve key stakeholders in the planning. And that is exactly the reason why the government has designed the system so every New Zealander and every technology expert who matters can contribute.

Tony Rogers, North Shore City Council chief executive officer, said the website and system revamp meant a vast library of property information, including maps and aerial photographs, was now available online for the first time in the Auckland area.

"One of the highlights of this process was going through and looking at these sites from all the departments and seeing there is some really innovative and creative stuff out there," said Millar.

The New Zealand government is planning significant investment in cybersecurity to improve the resilience of health and disability systems in the country. Over 3 years, up to NZ$75.7 million from the national budget allocations will be committed to increasing the resilience of data and digital systems in the face of increasing cybersecurity risks.

The funds will go toward increasing security leadership and capability both regionally and nationally as well as contributing to upgrading software and systems. It will also help establish national security standards and guidelines, strengthen assurance and testing capability and increase the use of cloud security services as well as improve identity and access management systems.

Almost three-quarters of New Zealand’s 5.1 million citizens live in just 16 urban areas, with 30% living in the Auckland region. That’s driven the New Zealand Government to look at how technology can improve everything from public safety to energy efficiency to improve the quality of life.

But successful smart city projects aren’t just about technology. They require expertise in everything from law enforcement to public safety, transport and traffic management and require environmental experts who can work alongside technology experts. While technology can provide point solutions to many of the current challenges facing New Zealand cities and local government areas, the most significant benefits come when technology breaks down the barriers and siloes between different levels of government and their departments, the public and private sectors, and individual citizens.

New Zealand’s all-of-government approach to ICT procurement is starting to deliver, with five agencies poised to shift their internal desktops onto new shared services.

Other cloud products being readied for launch, as reported by ZDNet last month, include a document and records management service and an office productivity service that will standardise the approach to email and calendars.

A survey of New Zealanders conducted by Auckland University shows 29 per cent had communicated with government agencies by email or via the web during the past year, versus 41 per cent who did so by phone and 16 per cent in person.

But he conceded that it would require a huge investment by the Government. He confirmed previous reports that an IRD upgrade alone was expected to cost $1 billion plus.

"I think we've got a very good public service but we can't stand in the way of technology...and nor can we stand in the way of some of the advantages of having shared services," Key said.

Government, healthcare and software development are some of the leading areas shaping up the New Zealand IT market. But retaining talented staff is one of its biggest challenges.

In June, the New Zealand government released an ICT strategy stretching to 2017 with the aim of creating a one-stop shop for all government support and advice, looking to save about $100 million a year in the next four years.

The award is shared by six regional councils – Southland, Taranaki, Northland, Waikato, Horizons and West Coast – who have worked together to develop and share specialist technical software needed for their core functions.

The Integrated Regional Information System (IRIS) is one of the largest local government shared-services’ projects ever undertaken in New Zealand, and won the ‘Joined Up Local Government’ Excellence Award at this week’s Society of Local Government Managers annual meeting in Wellington.

Visiting Wellington, the Assistant Treasurer announced the formalisation of the Memorandum of Understanding on Standard Business Reporting (MOU SBR) with his New Zealand counterpart, the Hon Simon Power, New Zealand Minister of Commerce.

So what does it involve, and will it solve all our internet woes?

There's not much to the local loop. It's a pair of insulated copper wires that run from a telephone exchange to a customer. This is technology that Alexander Graham Bell would be at home with, designed to transmit the human voice and nothing more.

The standards have been revised to make them more usable and to ensure they can be measured and tested, making them more effective for Government agencies.

"A National Government will invest up to $1.5 billion to drive the roll-out of a 'fibre to the home' ultra-fast broadband network.

"I am focused on the issues that matter this election. Enhancing our economic performance is one of the vital issues that New Zealand must address.

New Zealand has ambitious plans to establish a rich e-government ecosystem that syndicates content and services through the national government portal, individual agency sites as well as the private sector.

Whanganui District Council's approach to climate change has helped the city win international recognition as a leading model for economic and social development – for the seventh time.

Whanganui has again been named a Smart21 City by America-based think tank the Intelligent Community Forum and is the only New Zealand community to make this year's list.

A common web platform is the latest product of the New Zealand government's push towards Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

Announcing the platform today, Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain said it would allow government agencies to share and reuse website features.

Government Chief Information Officer, Colin MacDonald, says,‘’This new service is an important building block in a suite of product offerings that will soon be available – all intended to simplify ICT management in government agencies, help them work together, and make them more efficient and effective.”

“Agencies can focus on creating more services that customers want and expect, rather than having to worry about owning, operating and maintaining large amounts of ICT infrastructure .”

“Whether prescribing, dispensing or administering a medicine, the New Zealand Medicines Formulary (NZMF) will be the first reference resource for health professionals wanting information on those medicines,” Mr Dunne said.

“It will be a true one-stop-shop covering clinical information as well classification and subsidy status,” he said.

An international expert on e-Democracy, Steven Clift, is visiting New Zealand to share his experiences of global trends in the use of the Internet in democracy, governance, and community.