Stories by Computerworld Staff

Two million Census 2013 forms completed online

Almost two million forms were completed online in the 2013 Census, or about 35 percent of the total census forms submitted, Statistics Minister Maurice Williamson has announced. 
The online figure matches a prediction made by Statistics New Zealand on the eve of the census.
“The uptake of the online option makes New Zealand a world leader in terms of collecting census forms online," says Williamson in a statement. "At its peak on Census Day on March 5 the system handled 130,000 forms an hour."
Online uptake was higher in Oamaru, according to the ministry, where a pilot scheme was run that gave residents letters containing internet access codes only. Those people had to request hard copy forms if they wanted them. The rest of the country had forms and access codes hand-delivered.
Results are still being worked through for Oamaru, but Statistics says more than 65 percent of census forms were completed online in the pilot area.
“The success of this pilot will help in planning for the next census," says Williamson.
“In the meantime, Statistics New Zealand now has the enormous job of processing more than 5.6 million forms (online and hardcopy), with the results being available from December this year."

Telecom announces job cuts

In a move that has been widely anticipated, Telecom has today announced job cuts of between 930 to 1230 staff.

Axe to fall at Telecom: Labour

Telecom is about to announce it will be shedding 1500 jobs, according to the Labour Party’s communications and IT spokesperson Clare Curran, who predicted the redundancies would cause an "economic shock" in New Zealand.

Mahindra Satyam names head of ANZ business

Global consulting and IT services provider Mahindra Satyam has appointed Bobby Gupta to lead its Australia and New Zealand business. Telecom NZ is one of the company’s major clients.

Joyce creates special unit to tackle Novopay backlog

A special unit is being established to tackle the backlog of errors created by the teachers’ payroll system Novopay.
Minister responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce says the Backlog Clearance Unit (BCU) will commence operations today and schools will be briefed on what it means for them in the next week.

Maritime NZ signs Kordia for comms

Kordia and Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) have signed a new 11 year contract which will see Kordia retained to supply maritime distress and safety communications services via Kordia’s Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) in Wellington.

Novopay inquiry to cost $500K

A ministerial inquiry – one of five measures taken by the government to fix the troubled teachers payroll system – will cost $500,000.

Joyce to sort out Novopay

Responsibility for sorting out problems with the Novopay teachers’ pay system has been transferred to Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, as part of the Cabinet reshuffle announced by the prime minister today.

Callaghan Innovation board announced

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has announced an eight-member board to lead Callaghan Innovation—the new Crown entity set up to better connect New Zealand firms with science, engineering and technology.

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