Digital efforts pay off

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

Wanganui District Council has suffered an unfair amount of criticism - scorn, even - from some quarters for its pursuit of the digital future.

Efforts to hasten the rollout of ultra-fast broadband and make the city a more connected community have brought a place among the top 21 Smart Cities around the world for the past two years - but uncertainty about what that actually means seems to have only added to the flak.

The appointment of Marianne Archibald as council digital facilitator also prompted a few rebukes from ratepayers footing the bill for her salary.

However - as today's front page story suggests - maybe the council was being "smart", for the ease of access to the internet is paying off with families moving here to work remotely from home and enjoy a less pressured and less expensive lifestyle away from the big city.

The three families featured in the story came to our attention when they commented on our website - wanganuichronicle.co.nz - reacting strongly to criticism of the trip to the Intelligent Community Forum summit in New York by mayor Annette Main, Ms Archibald and council community and culture officer Sally Patrick.

Even though the threesome paid their own way to the Big Apple and had other costs covered by the Forum, which runs the Smart City programme, there were still the sad jibes about ratepayer-funded junkets and the mayor dining in New York at our expense.

Well, it's the critics who should be dining ... on their own words.

It seems the council's digital initiatives are paying off in the best way - people and jobs.

And if word gets around about switched-on Wanganui, there could be more to come.