Stats NZ, New Zealand’s official data agency, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment have released a new domain plan that will measure the country’s ongoing evolution into a digital nation.
According to a recent press release, Government Statistician Liz MacPherson highlighted that the release of a digital nation domain plan is a step towards making sure that essential data is being collected.
This will be done in order to track and understand how new and emerging technologies are affecting New Zealand.
Why is the digital nation domain plan important?
The aim of this work will be to ensure that policy makers have a rich and credible evidence base to hand as they grapple with the effects of digital transformation on the society and the economy.
It is all about having good data because good data is needed in order to understand and respond to the impacts of New Zealand’s digital transformation.
Particular focus will be on the improvement of the way information on the country’s digital industries is collected and coordinated.
Additionally, there is a need to build a better knowledge of the way digital technologies are impacting the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of New Zealanders.
The Purpose
The digital domain plan sets some strategic priorities for data relating to the digital domain and outlines the following four key areas for action:
- Digital inclusion
- Defining and valuing the digital sector
- Digital security
- Digital technologies and their impact
The Ministry’s Deputy Chief Executive, Labour, Science and Enterprise Mr Paul Stocks said that the data captured will be used to inform future policy decisions and continued investment in New Zealand’s digital economy.
The society is becoming increasingly digitised, which have led to many new challenges and opportunities.
Ensuring digitally-savvy Kiwis
These will require fresh thinking and innovative solutions from digitally literate and equipped Kiwis, and it must be made sure that New Zealand remains digitally advanced.
In the changing nature of work, it is fundamental that Kiwis have the skills to understand emerging technologies, and that businesses have access to the right people with the right skills and experience.
To achieve these goals, there is a need to understand the value of the digital technology sector to the economy. Accurate measurement approaches are imperative in order to do this.
The domain plan was co-developed by Stats NZ and MBIE.
The project team gathered feedback from government and industry experts, throughout the development process, to guarantee that the best direction was taken.
With this plan, the Government is taking a ground-breaking approach to safeguard that New Zealand is ready to measure its digital future.
