Mixed reaction to govt procurement rules
The principles of new government rules for procurement have much to recommend them to the local ICT industry, says Don Christie of Catalyst, president of local industry lobby NZRise.
Stories by Stephen Bell
Cautious rollout for school tracking system
An application being developed for the Ministry of Education to record student progress will be rolled out cautiously and with thorough testing, a ministry spokesperson says.
Microsoft, Maori developer form closer links
Whanau Tahi - the development arm of Te Whanau O Waipareira Trust – has signed memoranda of understanding with Microsoft and health software company Medtech, which “recognise a closer working relationship” among the organisations, says Whanau Tahi principal and Waipareira deputy CEO Steve Keung.
Aussie consumer law starts to bite ISPs
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken ISP ByteCard Pty. Limited (also known as Netspeed Internet Communications) to court in the first ICT-sector test of consumer legislation which has close parallels in a New Zealand Bill now before Parliament.
LINZ set to give public easier info
Land Information New Zealand is embarking on a project to make it easier for members of the public to find and purchase land records online.
Bid to get digital literacy on MSD training scheme
The 2020 Communications Trust aims to get ICT training included as an element of a major programme by the Ministry of Social Development to upskill jobseekers. It is approaching training providers who have bid for the $31 million Training for Work initiative (TFW),
Review: KiwiSkills gives good grounding - if you use Microsoft
KiwiSkills courses are aimed at that large army of computer users who have little technical knowledge. Now managed by the 2020 Communications Trust; they were brought into New Zealand by the NZ Computer Society (now the Institute of IT Professionals).
Putting rural broadband to work
The 2020 Communications Trust and local businesses have helped one of New Zealand’s most remote rural communities, in Kaingaroa Forest, near Murupara, to get connected to fast broadband
Telcos in the gun under fair-trading proposals
Telcos and some computer suppliers are likely to have to change the terms of some of their retail contracts and to tread carefully in enforcing other terms, owing to expected changes in contract law, the Consumer Guarantees Act and the Fair Trading Act, a lawyer prominent in the tele-comms field says.
Govt agencies to re-examine systems after Inland Revenue email misdirected
Government agencies are being asked to look at their email systems following the Inland Revenue's accidental release of 201 emails to the wrong people.
Proposals invited for digital historic Northland trail
The NZ Historic Places Trust plans to commission a digital “tourism trail” for Northland. This may include location-sensitive apps for portable devices to deliver sound and illustrative material telling the stories associated with historical landmarks in the region.
Ministry discussions stall Patents Bill
The Patents Bill continues to languish in the lower reaches of Parliament's Order Paper.
Govt telecoms interception framework to be updated - GCSB a focus
ICT Minister Amy Adams says planned changes to the law covering telecommunications interception do not invest government agencies with any extra authority to intercept phone and digital traffic. Rather the changes will affect only the framework in which telecommunications companies engage with the government, she says.
Data-sharing hub at early stage
All-of-government data-sharing plans - disclosed last week when a request for proposal for privacy consultancy went out -- will be aimed at collecting statistical information only.
Conference to become focus for 'virtual Australia/NZ' effort
Moves towards building a virtual database of building and terrain data over the whole of Australia and New Zealand will focus next month around a conference in Sydney.