19th June: A new trust was established this week to help all people living in the Far North develop their digital skills and the literacy necessary to participate in a world that is increasingly being driven by digital technologies.

The new trust, to be known as The 2020 Far North ICT Trust, is modelled on the successful national 2020 Communications Trust, originally set up in Wellington some 12 years ago. The Far North trust joins four other affiliated local community-based ICT trusts in Wellington, Porirua, Rotorua and Hamilton.

Laurence Zwimpfer, a trustee of the national 2020 trust and spokeperson for the new trust, said that this is an exciting opportunity for the Far North. “The 2020 Trust and a number of other groups have had to lobby government and the telecommunication companies for a long time to get decent digital connectivity for rural New Zealand, including the Far North,” he said.

View the Full Press Release (PDF - 84KB)

June 2008 - Prime Minister applauds eDay for diverting toxic waste from our landfills.

As part of the World Environment Day week of celebrations, the 18th annual Green Ribbon awards were presented to nine recipients last night in a special award ceremony at Wellington Town Hall.

The Computer Access New Zealand Trust (CANZ), organiser of the national eDay programme, was honoured as the recipient of the award for Community Action for the Environment.

"The winners and all the nominees for these awards are providing leadership which is inspiring and invaluable," said the Right Honourable Helen Clark, Prime Minister, who attended the awards last night.

View the Full Press Release (PDF - 135KB)

June 2008 - (Press Release): “e-Waste Eddie” helps schools kick the e-waste habit

As part of World Environment Day week, e-Waste Eddie the puppet and the eDay collection truck will be visiting selected Wellington schools to raise awareness of the hazardous nature of electronic waste (e-waste) when dumped in landfills.

e-Waste Eddie, puppeteer Tony Collis and the eDay collection truck are visiting schools
during World Environment Day week to educate schools and children about the dangers of
e-waste in landfills and the importance of IT energy conservation while at the same time
providing a method for schools to recycle their old computer equipment.

View Full Press Release (PDF - 83KB)

May 2008 - (Press Release): Education Minister makes virtual visits to two schools

The Minister of Education, the Hon Chris Carter, made a virtual visit to two schools today without leaving his car. The Minister joined in an audioconference with students at New Plymouth Girls’ High School and City Impact Church School in Browns Bay from his ministerial car in Auckland while driving between two engagements to open school buildings.

View Full Press Release (PDF - 66KB)

April 2008 - (Press Release): Sustainable Management Fund helps keep more toxic waste out of landfills

Environment Minister Trevor Mallard has announced a funding boost for eDay 2008 with $200,000 granted from the Government’s Sustainable Management Fund. The funding will help build eDay local capacity, allowing the event to expand to more regions across the country, as well as aid in developing local skills in handling e-waste.

View Full Press Release (PDF - 24KB)

April 2008 - ICT in Schools Report for 2007 Now Available

The 2007 ICT in Schools Report - a project run by the 2020 Communications Trust - is now available for download and review. Hard Copies of the Report are also available upon request.

The report presents a glowing picture of ICT infrastructure in schools with one computer for every four primary school students and one computer per three students in secondary schools.  This is in striking contrast to the ratio of 1:18 in primary schools and 1:10 in secondary schools in 1995.  Furthermore, most of these computers are connected to the Internet.

For full findings of the report - please view either the full, or summary versions of the report, available below.

View Full 2007 ICT in Schools Report (PDF - 5MB)

View Summary 2007 ICT in Schools Report (PDF - 4MB)

View Press Release (PDF - 111KB)

The 2020 Communications Trust was established in 1996, initially to fulfil a variety of projects and obligations set out under the Wellington City Council's InfoCity project.
Since then, the Trust's reach has expanded nationally via a number of highly acclaimed initiatives - each has a particular focus on empowering people to use ICT as a pathway to engage more fully in their communities, their countries and in today's global village.

The ongoing aim of the Trust is to promote dialogue and understanding through local action. Separate regional trusts have subsequently been established to ensure local responsiveness .
Collectively, this network of Trustees, along with our affiliates, operate under a common mission:

To help ALL New Zealanders benefit from the opportunities of the new digital era - especially from the internet.