Labour’s Communications and IT policy will invest in local people, business and intellectual capital to drive our economy forward.
Labour will ensure that all Kiwi families can access the internet and high-speed broadband no matter what their background.
Some of our greatest innovations can come out of the most deprived areas. Labour has commitment and plans to establish New Zealand as a digital nation.
This means ensuring that we develop comprehensive digital infrastructure and that no-one misses out and that all of our potential whizz children of the future can flourish.
Our policy sets out an ambitious forward-thinking strategy to converge the policy and regulatory environments for ICT, telecommunications, broadcasting and the internet realm. The broadcasting component will be announced separately in the coming weeks.
Many countries including Malaysia, the EU, UK, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and South Africa have already taken this approach.
Australia and Canada are moving in that direction.
As the technologies converge, a number of issues arise around the networks that will be needed to carry both content produced inside New Zealand and content from outside the country.
Each action that we propose is underpinned by the recognition that a growing economy is dependent on building local skills.
Labour will
· Address the current skills shortage in the ICT sector and wider community by promoting digital careers, matching tertiary courses to IT industry needs and attracting more skilled ICT practitioners to New Zealand
· Lift the number of IT Industry interns from 200 to 1000 nationwide
· Establish a Communications and IT Ministry based in the Economic Development Ministry to bring together all policy involving broadcasting, communications and IT issues
· Establish an independent network regulator to investigate the impact of monopolies in both the telecommunications and broadcasting marketplaces
· Appoint a Chief Technical Advisor responsible for producing technology roadmaps for New Zealand
· Review the functions of the Broadcasting Standards Authority, the Press Council and the Advertising Standards Authority
· Investigate a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to open-source software
· Introduce a government ‘App store’ to provide a short circuit for fledgling New Zealand software developers to get to market
· Set an aspirational target of 2/3 of government agencies using some form of open-source software for a reasonable proportion of their software needs by 2015
· Encourage greater diversity in IT suppliers in the public sector
· Establish a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for open-source software development
· Improve New Zealand’s Cyber Security Strategy
· Establish a Computer Emergency Response Team for New Zealand.
The ICT policy also contains details of Labour’s policy on Copyright, which will remove the clause for internet account suspension for infringing file-sharing as a remedy that the District Courts can impose.
It also commits to conduct a full review of the Copyright Act, with the aim of introducing a new Copyright Bill within 18 months that updates and extends the framework for digital copyright in New Zealand.
Labour will properly address the issues of ICT in the digital age and will involve New Zealanders in that discussion.
Clare Curran is an elected Member of Parliament from Dunedin South and Labour Party’s Spokesperson for Broadcasting, Communications and IT. The above article is exclusive to Indian Newslink ©
