Stephen Bell

The potential to improve Maori language skills is among the possible advantages of electronic media being looked at by the ministry of culture

Country will have to wait for part 3 of institute's study, due in a few weeks

New Zealand needs to stop relying on its food industries, says a leading software executive in attacking a new government fund for innovation in agriculture and food science.

Banks in New Zealand are seeking access to customer PCs used for online banking transactions to verify whether they have enough security protection.

Government needs to reflect the changes in communications that have resulted from Web 2.0 technology and help facilitate two-way communication between citizens. This was the message Canadian Web and "unmarketing" guru Tara Hunt delivered at the Govis conference in Wellington, New Zealand, last week.

A massive cyber-terrorism and hacking attack is on the radar for New Zealand. Kiwi organizations will find their online defences tested for the first time in a huge international cyber-security exercise being coordinated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security next year.

A number of government agency Web sites are still not fully compliant with accessibility guidelines and are unlikely to be so until at least the latter half of this year, but the New Zealand State Services Commission is already revising its guidelines.n

The State Services Commission in New Zealand has chosen IBM as its preferred supplier of network management and service delivery for the Government Shared Network (GSN), but nobody will say how much the contract is worth.