TUANZ MEDIA RELEASE: TUANZ to host Connected Marae National Hui in partnership with Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru at end of March

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4th March 2020

TUANZ and Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru are excited to announce that they will be hosting a national hui at the Millennium Hotel in Rotorua on the 26th March on the topic of Connected Marae. The one day hui will be centred around the whakatauki “Titiro whakamuri, kia anga whakamua“ (Look to the past to progress forward into the future).

“The idea for this event arose out various hui and conferences on the topic of rural connectivity, where there has been a recognition that there was a significant gap in the delivery, the lack of connectivity to Marae across Aotearoa.” said Craig Young, CEO of TUANZ.

The Government in 2019 allocated funding to Te Puni Kōkiri and Crown Infrastructure Partners to specifically address this need. However at the most recent NetHui, hosted by InternetNZ, various delegates expressed their concern over the lack of progress and that any national programme would not meet the specific local needs of hapū and iwi.

Mr Young expressed his organisation’s pleasure to be partnering with Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru (NPeW).  “We want to ensure that many representatives of Māori organisations, marae, and other decision makers can come together to kōrero to help in the sharing of knowledge and stories on how to successfully implement connectivity at marae.” says Adam Ellis, CEO, NPeW.   “It will also be one way of gathering shared aspirations for the connected marae programme which can be shared with the broader user community, the media, and decision makers in both Government and the technology and connectivity industry.” 

The overall vision for the day is to collectively identify solutions for the way forward and the stories and ideas shared on the day will be publicly released in the form of a post-hui communique.

The event is also being supported by InternetNZ and Vodafone NZ as partners.

For more information please contact either of the following:

 

Craig Young, CEO TUANZ,

 craig.young@tuanz.org.nz, 021488188

 

Adam Ellis,   CEO NPeW, Director of Technology Mb3 Ltd, 

Tainui – Ngati Koata – Whakatohea

adam.ellis@mb3.nz 022 406 0937

 

Attendees can register for the day at this website.

(https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/2020-connected-marae-hui-tickets-96316424017)

 

About TUANZ

We have a vision that NZ will be in the top 10 countries for the use of digital technology.

We are here to help our members make sense of the digital future. We’re the group helping our members make sense of the digital future through sharing experiences and knowledge about using current and new technology.

We are the voice of our members and all users in a complex digital world. We’re the only truly independent and representative voice for all users, both corporate and individual.

We know that connectivity is key to digital businesses, a growing digital economy and a force for social good.

With our members we are investing in our future leaders to equip them to be the best they can be in their own careers, in our members businesses, and which is bringing vitality to our membership.

 

About NPeW

In 2015 The Nga Pumanawa Education Trust in Rotorua tasked itself with a vision of “Rotorua is a great place to learn where all learners are engaged and excelling in their education supported by great teachers and their whanau.  Their education is enhanced by the provision of a personalised device with assured connectivity at school, at home and in their communities”

Using a collective impact strategy based on a case study out of Stanford University, NPeW took this philosophy and looked to “facilitate change” within critical areas of our community.

With understanding the current state of Rotorua, NPeW facilitated change within 5 functional areas.

We felt capability needed to be built in 5 areas within our community

  • Leadership
  • Learning
  • Engagement
  • Measurement
  • Technology.

 

From a technical perspective we understood the issue existed where, although connectivity is abundant in Rotorua the issues remain where those who can’t afford a service fall behind.

A way in which we looked to increase connectivity between whanau was to look at how we could connect our Marae to an internet service that was safe, robust & trusted. 

Then work with individual Marae to contextualise the technology to the needs of their hapu.

NPeW has worked with a number of partners since to continue on leveraging equity in the Rotorua community that leads to sustained change.