WETA
Supporting a sustainable future

Waitakere City will become a place where:

• All residents can understand, access, contribute to and benefit from information and communication technology and its application, and

• The full potential of relevant technologies is harnessed in pursuit of sustainable business and employment growth, management of the city's environment, and support for life in all its richness.

Objectives

1.  Residents, businesses and Council:

• understand the role that ICT can play in their lives and work

• have access to appropriate ICT and the skills to use it effectively

• use ICT to access, create and utilise information and knowledge

• share equally in the benefits of ICT and the campaign as a whole

2.  New business and employment opportunities are supported and encouraged

3.  ICT-based tools and concepts are actively utilised to improve the economic, environmental, social and political well-being of the City

Primary Needs

The City told us that the WETA campaign would have to address a number of primary needs.  These included (in no particular order):

 

action on the ground	high level integration
liaison and consulting	PR and awareness raising
education and training	infrastructure development
access for all	applications and content

Making it happen

Proposed Governance structure

a) An Information Common to continue and extend the present consultation and liaison

b) A small executive tam, in partnership with Council, to support and answer to the Information Common, work alongside Council, and drive action, through the project framework, in partnership with many champions and partners

c) A project framework that groups initiatives and ideas within a number of work streams:

Proposed priority actions

What follows is not intended to control or direct: the intent is to support and help drive initiatives within a synergistic and holistic framework.  The initiatives listed below have been selected because they enable other things to happen, or because they directly answer a primary need or objective.

• Establish the executive team and obtain funding to develop the Information Common, develop core communication channels and relationships, create a management structure for the project framework, and support those initiatives that are already underway

• Officially launch the WETA campaign and initiate PR activities

• Work with Council to improve bandwidth and help drive the Waitakere Online Strategy

• Initiate more focussed liaison and discussions with Maori and the Health Sector

• Work with Council and Enterprise Waitakere to establish the Business IT Board and, through this body, initiate research to analyse business IT usage and needs

• Develop the Waitakere In Touch strategy, starting by providing a common 'presence' (or 'branding') for all existing access centres and identifying the important gaps

• Develop a Waitakere-wide computer recycling initiative aimed initially at social service organisations who lack appropriate technology

• Establish an e-Rider network, again targeting social service organisations that require support

• Publicise a complete list of available training facilities

• Trial the Computer Club concept to assess feasibility

• Work through the Information Common to audit existing content and create new content as required

• Work with interest parties to establish a Sustainability Technology Agenda

• Encourage the development and use of appropriate discussion forums for civic participation

• Development of a Council Interaction Kit for distribution to all residents and business owners

• Encourage eco-monitoring initiatives in all schools

• Work with the education sector to establish the IT in Education Network and, through this, initiate a technology audit of all schools

• Pilot a telework promotion and support resource kit to assess the cost-benefits and results

The next steps are up to you.  WETA is based on consultation and involvement: your opinions matter. 

We want to hear from you, even if you just want to say "get on with it".

From the Office of the Mayor

This page is a very brief and updated summary of a report based on extensive consultation. 

We welcome your responses but suggest that the full report is downloaded and read first...  If you would prefer an email copy of the report, please let us know.