ITP Techblog

The launch of the Digital Boost programme saw industry and government come together last night at AUT's Mind Lab facility in Auckland.

Digital Boost is part of the Budget's promised $44 million spend on up-skilling small and medium-sized businesses to make better use of digital capabilities. With only half of New Zealand businesses running a website, the last 20 years of e-commerce growth and the digital revolution appears to have passed many by. But as Minister for Economic Development, Stuart Nash, said at the event, in the next two years business owners will need to digitise if they want to do business with the government.

"There is no going back from the digital revolution that has occurred across the globe due to COVID19.  Millions of companies and business owners have adopted digital tools and technologies to meet new expectations of customers and suppliers, and drive productivity." Says Nash in a written statement following the event.

From the commercial world, more than 20 companies and organisations have lined up to support the Digital Boost initiative, including multinationals Google, Facebook, Microsoft, HP and Amazon, the five major trading banks, Xero and MYOB as well as local operators like Datacom, Zeald, TUANZ, the Mindlab, as well as telcos Spark, Chorus and 2Degrees, CERT New Zealand and the Warehouse.

For participants, the programme offers everything from website build and support, training and re-training programmes, cyber-security and digital marketing support right through to moving accounts online and taking advantage of the cloud.

The Digital Boost website can be found here.

(DISCLAIMER: Brislen counts Datacom among his clients)