The new government digital inclusion action plan—has it done enough for a MallowPuff?

Government has recently done a quiet release of its Digital Inclusion Action Plan for 2020-2021. I took a look to see how it measures up. 

On the plus side, it provides a handy summary of what the Government has on the go in the digital inclusion area. While it mainly canvasses existing work, there are some bouquets for new money and new initiatives to bolster digital skills for individuals and small businesses. But, overall, the level of ambition and government investment comes up short of what we were hoping for at a time when COVID-19 has shown us how essential digital inclusion is for wellbeing and economic recovery. I can’t help but think, if not now, when? 

New money and new initiatives

Let's start with some areas of new spend. There is some good stuff here: 

• $30 million to upskill librarians to support digital literacy and reading. While I’m not sure how this will be allocated, this is a very welcome funding boost for libraries who have been providing digital inclusion support for years without being resourced to do it. Libraries also get $4 million to extend their public Internet service, providing an important safety net for those who can’t afford connectivity at home. That said, affordable connectivity at home should be a priority (especially in times of COVID when people need to stay home for various reasons)—more about this below. It's great to see libraries getting this support, though it's a shame to see other intermediaries, such as Citizens Advice Bureau, missing out.  
• $10 million to help improve the skills and confidence of individuals and whānau to use the Internet and digital devices. This is a very welcome  investment in digital skills. At this stage the funding is tagged for 2020/21 without a plan for future years. I hope there’s scope to keep it coming, as it won’t solve the digital skills issue in one year and providers gearing up to provide support will need funding certainty.  
• $5 million for SME digital skills. It’s great to see support being offered to SMEs owned by Māori, Pasifika and people with disabilities. This pot is being allocated by the Department of Internal Affairs. The earlier Budget announcement allocated $10 million to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to help small businesses get into e-commerce.    
• UFB connections for Kāinga Ora homes. The details on this are still to come, but hopefully it means fibre will be connected to all Kāinga Ora homes in a UFB connection area. It can be tricky to impossible for tenants to organise this, so it's about time it's made standard. I pick up the issue of affordability below. 

Things that were already on the go or that are being expanded

The Action Plan brings together a number of things that were already on the go, such as the ultra fast broadband (UFB) and rural connectivity roll outs. Some of these have a bit of new money: 

• Regional connectivity. Savings from the UFB programme are being used to upgrade rural Internet infrastructure, providing broadband coverage for 30,000 households and businesses in remote areas. Not mentioned in the plan is the  $50 million for rural broadband allocated from the COVID-19 infrastructure fund. This money will be used to fill capacity gaps and relieve congestion.
• Marae connectivity. There is already a programme underway (funded through the Provincial Growth Fund) to connect 300 marae by July 2021. This includes training for the kaitiaki of marae on how to make the most of the connectivity and hardware packages.  
• Sponsored data. The Ministry of Social Development and Ministry of Health have been providing zero or low rated websites. This can be helpful for folks on pay as you go, but doesn’t help if you have reached your data cap. I get the point behind this—people shouldn’t have to pay to access information about essential government services, but a more equitable approach would be to look at making connectivity affordable, rather than making decisions for people on what they should be able to access.   
• Regional digital hubs. $5 million has gone into offering wifi and digital skills for business purposes.  

You can check out the Digital Inclusion Action Plan 2020–2021 | NZ Digital Government for a full list of the initiatives already underway. 

Affordable connectivity was the loser on the day, but might be on the agenda for next year

The big gap in the Government’s Action Plan is affordability, of connectivity and devices. The benefits of the new investments in digital skills and the ongoing broadband rollout cannot be realised for people who cannot afford to connect to the Internet. Relying on access through free wifi in public places isn’t good enough, especially during an ongoing pandemic where people need to be able to connect to the Internet from their homes.  

Affordability is something the Action Plan contemplates discussion on in the coming year. The Department of Internal Affairs has put up its hand to get the conversation started. This needs to be matched with a strong ministerial commitment, at least commissioning advice on options for affordable connectivity, to feed a budget bid for next year. 

The Ministry of Education, working with the telco sector, showed it was possible to get the Internet and devices to families who needed it during the first COVID-19 lock down. This programme comes to an end at the end of September, and while it wasn’t perfect, there is a lot that can be built on. The telco sector is keen to discuss how these short-term fixes can be turned into more permanent solutions. This will require government investment.  

I think the following needs to be considered in the next phase of work:

• subsidised connectivity through public housing (and for other groups in need)
• the experience gained through the Ministry of Education programme (what worked well and what didn’t)
• the Ministry of Social Development’s knowledge and experience on how to get the essentials to those in need.  

Accessibility is another area that isn’t being sorted fast enough

The good folks at the Department of Internal Affairs have committed to finding out why many government agencies aren’t meeting the Web Accessibility Standards. The plan is for this research to lead to better support and guidance for agencies. They are also looking to put in place accessibility KPIs. I think this won’t go far enough. Web accessibility is an area that should be mandatory for government agencies. The Ministry of Social Development is showing leadership with the Accessibility Charter work programme. I hope this will be given enough teeth to do the job, and applaud the Access Alliance for its work in this area. 

The role of government

In addition to stock taking initiatives, the Action Plan canvasses some more foundational issues, such as the role of government and what it means to be digitally included.  

The Action Plan talks about a role for government in providing support and information to communities, which includes making the case for investment to address priority areas. What the plan doesn’t mention is the role of government in making the actual investments. We think government should have a role in investing in community digital inclusion programmes, community capacity, and in affordable connectivity.    

Of course, it's not just a case of government taking responsibility. A number of agencies are involved and need to work together. It’s been great to see more agency interest in digital inclusion recently. The Action Plan talks about a 2030 vision for digital equity that will be implemented across the public service. This is a good idea if the scope is right. It would be a shame to limit this to government digital services. I would love to see a government strategy that locks in agency commitment to digital inclusion more broadly. The existing Government Blueprint doesn’t do this.   

We also encourage government to review at some point the framework a number of us have been using to describe what it means to be digitally included, to see if it still works. The elements are: access, skills, motivation and trust. This could be considered as a vision for digital equity is developed. 

The digital inclusion community will have a keen interest in being part of the process to develop a 2030 vision for digital equity. So, it's good to see the Action Plan ends by talking about further collaboration with the wider digital inclusion sector.  

How does the Government Action Plan stack up against the five point plan?

In May, InternetNZ and others in the digital inclusion community called on the Government to implement The five point plan for digital inclusion: COVID-19 and beyond. Fifty-one organisations have signed onto the plan and pledged their support to help get it done. You can read more about the five point plan here. So, how does the Government plan stack up? It's a mixed bag.

While it's a shame the Government’s Action Plan hasn’t covered all the bases, it has done pretty well on digital skills and infrastructure, and signalled there is scope to do more on affordability. InternetNZ will take up the invitation to work with government on this, and do all we can to bring a wide range of voices to the mix. If you are interested in being part of the digital inclusion conversation, please get in touch.