Stories needed to unlock net cash

Joseph Stuart of Northland Inc is hoping Northlanders will share their hopes for better connectivity in the region and help build the Digital Enablement Plan. Photo / John Stone

Action is well under way to help Northland tap into its digital potential.

Joseph Stuart, general manager of business growth at Northland Inc, and the team at the Cameron St regional economic development agency are leading the charge and hoping Northland will get a slice of $360 million national broadband funding.

The Ministry of Communications has launched its Ultra Fast Broadband Initiative (UFB) and the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) search, which would open up a huge range of business, educational and community opportunities.

The ministry has already received Northland's bid for funding in the first part of the project, which revealed that almost 86 per cent of Northlanders were unhappy with their internet services.

The region must now show how it would spend any funding received, and so a Digital Enablement Plan must be presented to Central Government by September 18.

"The plan was being devised anyway, as we have a draft digital strategy, but this plan will show just what we could do with the funding," said Stuart.

He said it was unknown yet just how much funding Northland needed to boost its connectivity. However, Northland was up against other regions in New Zealand for its share in the funding.

A new website has been launched to help communities and companies upload their stories and ideas.

Collaborativenorthland.nz focuses on community engagement and seeks to unearth the region's potential.

The site contains a selection of stories from across NZ but Stuart hopes it will be bursting with Northland stories in the next fortnight about how better access to the internet will benefit the people of Northland.

The categories of stories include economic opportunities, social and community support and environmental opportunities.

Stuart says that while there is existing technology in some sectors, such as primary industries, there was poor infrastructure to support it.

There were four major parts to the Digital Enablement Plan - increased connectivity, innovation, capacity (skills and training) and doing better with what we have.

"For example, at a recent training event I was surprised at the number of people who didn't know what LinkedIn is."

He said there were barriers preventing Northlanders from reaching their full online potential, such as slower broadband speeds.

"Northland is unique in that it's not flat and our population is dispersed."

- Individuals and companies can upload their stories to the new website at the heart of the project, collaborativenorthland.nz or email Stuart and his team at joseph@northlandinc.co.nz.