Stories by Stephen Bell

Correspondence School silent on merit in rejected report

The NZ Correspondence School (Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu) has declined to comment on whether it followed any of the recommendations in a third of a series of quality assurance reports on its Student Management System (SMS).

Novopay wins two-month reprieve

Despite a wide range of faults identified in the current state of the Novopay school payroll system, Deloitte’s technical review says the system can be made stable to deliver payroll for the next eight to 10 years.

Music industry revenues climb again

The music industry is "recovering" from the depredations long said to be due to illegal digital downloads, says a report by IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).

Government shops for 21,800 desktops

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for desktop-as-a-service which will initially include 9800 virtual desktops.

Running social welfare like a marketing campaign

Social welfare swallows up a quarter of New Zealand's gross domestic product, so it is important to identify where that money can be most productively and efficiently used, says Mike O'Neil of the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).

LINZ suggests freemium model for imagery service

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) is considering a “freemium” business model as a way of ensuring free public access to a multi-sourced database of land imagery of “national significance”.

Privacy concerns raised in Big Data discussion

Opening up of large spatially-based data resources, particularly by governments, brings into contrast and potential conflict the personal and the objective or authorised views of the same set of data.

We're not forcing SilverStripe on you: DIA

SilverStripe’s successful bid for the all-of-government common web platform contract represents an initial stage of development and the New Zealand company may have as little as a year’s window to exploit its exclusive status.

Correspondence School development criticised

The New Zealand Correspondence School’s Student Management System is still incomplete in its core functionality, although the chief executive says everything required for day-to-day operation is in production.

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