RURAL CONNECTIVITY SYMPOSIUM 2020
Insights & Communique
Rural Connectivity Insights
We have an opportunity to reset the dialogue around improving rural connectivity to provide real long term benefits to rural communities through ensuring the current programmes deliver on time.
The Rural Symposium 2020 was hosted online on September 16-17th and bought together a diversity of voices, all with the common vision of improving rural connectivity in New Zealand. You can download the programme here.
The post-event workshops delved further into the our rural connectivity challenges, priorities and actions. As an output of these discussions, we’ve identified five high level actions that we believe will make a difference and that we, and our partners, should advocate for.
Download the Rural Symposium 2020 Communique here.
Building on the work and investment to date, we support the call for a 10 year strategic, multilateral plan for improving rural connectivity in NZ.
Our end goal should be to ensure that the rural experience is at least equivalent to urban, recognising the requirement for a multi-technology approach.
This will require a change to the funding model to a more transactional and end-user focused approach to ensure continued investment in network capacity, capability and offering enhancements such as free installs of CPE, as is the case in UFB.
This end-user focused approach should be supported by rolling out a publicly available national connectivity register, allowing users and providers with a view of the best form of connectivity available at their location, as well as providing real life experience reporting.
All of this will fail though if users are not aware of their options or the opportunities they are missing out on. We need a concerted and planned awareness programme delivered at the community level.
DAY 1
16th Sept, 1pm – 3:30pm
1:10pm – Ministerial Welcome
1:30pm – Update on the Government’s Programme
1:45pm – Update on CIP’s Connected Marae Project
2:00pm – Setting us up for success over 10 years
2:45pm – Recent developments in Satellite Broadband
3:00pm – Our progress and update on what’s coming
DAY 2
17th Sept, 1pm – 5pm
1:10pm – Setting the Scene on Technology
1:30pm – A new emergency services network
1:55pm – Support Partner Panel – What’s happening in Rural NZ
3:00pm – Connectivity on Marae are transformative
3:30pm – Setting the scene for aspirations post COVID-19
4:20pm – What’s next Panel
Premier partner for 2020
Conference Partners
Partners
