IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Changing consumer behaviour in the rural services market is a reflection of steadily increasing rural broadband uptake, according to Nick Carter, sales and marketing director for rural broadband company Farmside.

“The Farmside customer base has grown 140% since January 2007. With so many more rural people now on broadband, particularly satellite, the pull through to rural consumer behaviour is really starting to emerge,” he says.

The State Services Commission has issued general advice to government agencies on the factors to consider when deciding whether to outsource ICT processes overseas but does not plan to issue firm guidelines.

The SSC is mindful that government agencies make their own independent decisions on ICT and other business matters.

A first draft national IT plan for health will be made available for sector comment on March 31 and is expected to be finalised by June 30.

Graeme Osborne, chairman of the National Health IT Board, says he expects the government’s Shared Services Agency to take the lead in deciding IT directions “with our support”.

Government agencies will share resources over a high-speed secure network in a major new $14 million e-government initiative announced today by State Services Minister Trevor Mallard.

The government shared network will use internet technology to improve inter-agency collaboration, reducing unnecessary costs and duplication. It will comprise two components: a fibre-optic network linking agencies in Wellington, and a wide area network linking regional government offices and secure Internet services.

Customers of New Zealand's ASB Bank Ltd. have to have cellphones in hand before transferring large sums of money over the Internet from their accounts.

ASB was one of the first to use two-factor authentication through cellphones to help keep thieves out of on-line bank accounts, a security precaution that's now attracting the attention of businesses of all types and sizes, thanks to the popularity of mobile phones and personal digital assistants with wireless Internet access.

Government agencies got the green light for numerous IT projects in the 2007 budget, including some at the core of the State Services Commission’s e-government initiative.

The SSC has received a $9 million vote over two years to develop its Identity Verification Service (IVS), with $5 million budgeted for the 2008 financial year backed by a further $4 million in 2009.

The government has approved the Initial Implementation Shared Logon project – which will enable New Zealanders to access government services online, State Services Minster Trevor Mallard announced today.

A public-private project has resulted in a link-up between two rival ID authentication schemes.

The project involves the State Services Commission and Datacom. In using the services of Microsoft’s Innovation Centre a link has resulted between Microsoft’s CardSpace identity scheme and the alternative Security Assertion Markup Language SAML, used in the SSC’s authentication scheme.

The Department of Internal Affairs is preparing for nation-wide consultations around its proposed Identity Verification Service (IVS).

The consultation will include submissions and a series of nine focus groups throughout the country to consult identified stakeholders including Maori and Pacific Islanders, privacy and human rights advocates and people in rural areas.

Inland Revenue is embarking on a second phase of its development of identity and access management systems, to allow organisations secure access to a range of transactions with the department.

The New Zealand Government wants to set up a partnership company with the country's IT industry to promote the export of public sector IT systems.

"The study found that 75 per cent of those surveyed in New Zealand had used the Internet in the previous month, an increase from 71 per cent in 2002. New Zealand�s usage rate was the highest of the 32 countries surveyed (which include Australia and the United States)."

The New Zealand Government is looking to develop more sophisticated ways of identifying people who access public services online. It is scheduled to approve a business case for a new e-services authentication system in March 2004.

Both Australia and New Zealand recorded high levels of people using government services online, although they were outstripped in that area by the Scandinavian countries, according to a government online survey by market research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS).

Communications Minister David Cunliffe told delegates at the Tuanz Telecommunications Day summit in Wellington yesterday the Government would soon outline an "ambitious" plan to set New Zealand on a course for widespread fibre to the home.