E-activity needs to be going somewhere

Even the Government seems surprised at the success of the e-commerce summit.

It was driven by Communications Minister Paul Swain, and in earlier times he might well have been left to carry the flag alone.

But while his predecessor, Maurice Williamson, was forced to wear the sackcloth of being the cabinet's lone cybergeek, Mr Swain has company aplenty.

Ministers Trevor Mallard, Pete Hodgson, Michael Cullen and Parekura Horomia showed their faces at the Aotea Centre in Auckland, as did Steve Maharey, Jim Anderton and Prime Minister Helen Clark herself, albeit 10 minutes late for her keynote address.

Not that Helen Clark said much of substance. But it may not be too unfair to surmise that she and her cabinet have spotted an opportunity to again present a business-friendly face, and one that casts it firmly with the new economy, not with those old economy dinosaurs she has found so unkind of late.

With the 500 places snapped up and summit sessions well attended, there can be no doubt that the Government has struck a chord. Belief is widespread that if we fail to capture the efficiency gains and trade opportunities with foreign markets possible through internet commerce, the technology will not go away, but instead will be every bit as effective in sucking value out of New Zealand.

If the occasion was one of rah-rah and buzz words, there was palpable relief that the Government had departed from hands-off neutrality to the extent of providing leadership and encouragement while still falling short of downright intervention.

That leadership also involves creating a sense of urgency. If the Government is to succeed, it will have to set not just goals, but a timetable for their achievement.

It is doing so with its own e-government initiatives. But getting the e-economy rolling involves a lot more than that.

Large and medium-sized enterprises are better placed to take care of themselves. If they don't, they will die, we were told forcefully by a variety of speakers at the summit.

New Zealand will have to find ways to make itself more attractive as a knowledge economy incubator, possibly by attracting skilled migrants.

But the biggest challenge will be to drive the e-world down into smaller enterprises and rural communities.

Consciousness raising will be essential, but so too will be access to suitable infrastructure at reasonable cost.

That is no more so than in rural areas, many of which do not even have dial-up internet access.

Mr Swain recognises that work has to be done, and promises to address some of those concerns when the Government releases its telecommunications policy next month.

But in the end, New Zealand is still only just starting its e-development, and while the activity of the past two days has been encouraging, it would be a mistake to confuse activity with achievement.