Completed Programmes

 e-Rider IT Support

e-Rider was a project aimed at providing community groups and organisations with IT advice and support geared to their special needs. The project grew from the fact that, while these organisations use IT facilities in their work, they may not have all the skills required to evaluate their needs. In many cases the lack of financial resources also limited their ability to pay market rates for IT support.

Secret Level

The purpose of the Secret Level project was to extend the value and benefits of the Secret Level Youth Centre by providing access to ICT and associated tools that youth can use for educational activities, research, skills development, preparing CVs, and generally improve their participation in the Knowledge and Information Societies.

Secret Level

Secret Level is a youth centre established in Hutt city by the Youth Wise Trust with the support and financial assistance of the Hutt City Council (HCC). The Centre’s vision is:

To increase positive opportunities for youth development so that young people can become resourceful, responsible, socially aware, interactive and positive.

Secret Level aims to achieve that Vision by:

  • Promoting the positive well-being of youth in Hutt City.
  • Providing activities and events in the city either in the youth space (Secret Level) or out in the community at large.
  • Promoting safe fun in a safe atmosphere and a safe and positive space with a wide variety of activities possibilities available to our youth.
  • Working closely with all youth support agencies.

The centre offers a wide range of youth activities and is strongly supported by youth. It also has positive links to youth community support services, and has the potential to become the venue of preference for youth in Hutt City.

The Project

The project involved the acquisition, building and installation of a Community ICT facility which will help  Secret Level Youth Centre to achieve its vision, and meet the defined needs of youth in Hutt City.

Project Partners

The project was managed by Wellington ICT in partnership with the Hutt City Council and the Youth Wise Trust. Massey University was contracted to provide an independent evaluation of the project against its community outcomes.

Funders

The cost of the project was been met through grants obtained from the Digital Strategy’s Community Partnership Fund, the JR McKenzie Trust, the Hutt Mana Charitable Trust, The Tindall Foundation, the Lottery Grants Board, and contributions from the project partners.

Wellington ICT appreciates the decision by the Department of Management, Massey University to sponsor part of the cost of the independent evaluation.

WEC

In 2003 the Wellington Region 2020 Communications Trust (Wellington ICT) secured a contract to design and develop a search-based website for the Wellington Education Cluster (WEC). This website would provide people considering tertiary education with ‘one-stop’ access to information on courses at the participating polytechnics

  • Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec).
  • The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.
  • Whitireia Community Polytechnic.

The business requirement for the website included the following key criteria:

  • It will provide basic information on courses conducted by the Wellington Insititue of Technology (WelTec), the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, and the Whitireia Community Polytechnic.
  • It will be hosted and maintained on the Wellington Community Net (WCN).
  • A designated person from each educational institution will update their institutional data using secure remote access.
  • It must allow for ease of updating of each educational institution’s information, preferably via a web browser.
  • It must display the logos of the participating educational institutions (and Wellington ICT).
  • It must have links to existing websites operated by the participating educational institutions.
  • It must allow for the inclusion of other members of the WEC.

Wellington ICT adopted an innovative approach to the design of this website:

  • Each ploytechnic would retain ownership of their data.
  • A central, search-based database would be developed which contained data supplied and updated remotely by the respective polytechnics.
  • The results of each online search would be presented as a summary in table format.
  • The information displayed would link directly into the relevant page in the database contained in the polytechnic’s website.
  • It would provide useful links to, for example:
    • Websites providing information on the area where a polytechnic is located.
    • Visa and passport requirements for New Zealand.
    • Currency converter.

The project was completed within the agreed timeframe.

Titiro Whakamua

The Timberlea project involved the installation of a server and additional terminals in the computer facility providing educational and administrative services at Titiro Whakamua – Looking Forward (TWLF), a centre set up to provide teenage parents with the opportunity to further their formal education. The centre is located in Miro Street, Upper Hutt.

Aim

To enhance and extend the existing IT facilities supporting the education and administration activities of the education and childcare components in the TWLF centre.

The project was set up to overcome critical IT system deficiencies, so that educational commitments required from a Ministry of Education funded institution could be met. Funding limitations and the scale of unusual operating costs facing a centre of this type meant the centre did not have the resources (people, money and equipment) to carry out the full range of improvements needed without the support of community funding agencies and Community ICT organisations like Wellington 2020.

Architecture

The architecture for the TW Project is based on the commercially proven thin client model. The system comprises:

  • A commercial-standard server running Microsoft Server 2003, Microsoft Office Professional 2003, security, antivirus and backup software.
  • Fifteen (15) Windows 2000-based terminals running Microsoft Terminal Services.
  • Several printers linked into the network.
  • Category 5 cable network (10/100).

A dial-up connection to the Internet was provided via a dial-up modem, however the capability exists to switch to broadband if/when the need arises and funding is available.

Partnerships

Partnerships played a key role in achieving a successful outcome for the project. Contributions by these partners included the following:

  • Wellington 2020 coordinated and managed the project, provided funding for the new server, secured the donation of core Microsoft software, and provided the technical volunteers who designed, built and installed the system.
  • Microsoft donated software installed on the server.
  • Heretaunga Rotary provided funding for some of the network cabling and the balance of the PC terminals and printers.
  • Transpower donated some of the PCs set up as terminals.

Wellington ICT volunteers provided essential technical support to the building and installing of the system. The volunteer who provides IT technical support to TWLF also committed a considerable amount of time and effort during the course of the project.

Timeframe

The project was initiated in May 2004 and the operational system was handed over to TWLF in August 2004.

Project Costs

Wellington ICT provided core funding comprising several thousand dollars from its own financial reserves. Heretaunga Rotary provided additional funding. Project costs were contained by purchasing items at cost price, by donations of equipment and software donations, and by the use of volunteers who provided their technical expertise at no cost.

Outcome

The project achieved its aim by establishing a server-based network capable of meeting current educational and administrative needs as defined by TWLF during the initial needs anlaysis. The system installed achieved the aim using a mix of new and modern second-hand IT equipment and current versions of Microsoft software. The system installed by Wellington 2020 can be supported by existing volunteer technical support arrangements. The project was completed on time and within budget.

Smart Newtown Pilot

The Smart Newtown Pilot programme was established so that a particular community could participate in the digital knowledge economy.

Newtown was chosen because of its diverse needs, breadth of ethnic groups (over 40), corridor of educational institutions, geographic closeness of participating institutions, and accessibility to broadband internet connections.

The vision of the Smart Newtown (SN) Pilot project was to facilitate the creation of a community where all residents will have the skills and access to become active participants in our on-line world.

Each of the computer hubs (centres) had its own unique challenges, but all of them had to meet six key requirements:

  • Robust and secure technology.
  • Consistent availability of the network and internet connection.
  • Low operating costs.
  • Manageable by non-technical IT people.
  • Provide commonly used software applications and access to the Internet.
  • Serve the needs of people unfamiliar with computing technology and competent users requiring access to standard computer software.

As the SN Pilot project was the first Community ICT project undertaken by Wellington 2020, it provided the opportunity to establish a set of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) which are now applied to all Wellington 2020-coordinated projects.

The following facilities were established by the project:

  • Computer ‘hubs’ in what was known at the time as the Pacific Island Network Centre (PINC), and in the Newtown Community and Cultural Centre (NCCC)
  • Each hub consisted of a series of networked PCs with free access to the Internet and a range of PC-based applications.
  • A small number of standalone desktops PCs in the Newtown Library.

All the facilities were built using recycled equipment.

The project was the result of a partnership primarily between the Wellington City Council (WCC), Wellington Region Economic Development Agency (WREDA, but now called Grow Wellington) and the Wellington Region 2020 Communications Trust (Wellington ICT):

  • WCC provided core funding via WREDA.
  • WREDA provided the managed the distribution of WCC funding to the project, and coordinated the development of the Fujitsu-sponsored NPF hub.
  • Wellington ICT managed the project and obtained the additional funding required from Government and private funding agencies.
  • Massey University provided some PCs and conducted independent user surveys in conjunction with the project.

Other agencies and organisations conducted other projects in conjunction with the SN Pilot. One example was the WREDA-managed project to install a computer hub in the Newtown Park Flats

Setting up the two SN Pilot centres began in 2001. The project became a programme following the public launch in October 2002. Wellington 2020 retained an association with the programme until mid-2003 when maangement of the pilot programme was handed over to a team of representatives appointed by the WCC.

The SN Pilot project was completed below budget. Project costs were contained by using second-hand equipment and the maximising the use of volunteers who provided their technical expertise at no cost.

WalkIT

The project came from the New Zealand Transport Strategy, “Getting There: On Foot, By Cycle”, a strategy document developed by the Ministry of Transport. The Government’s aim is to encourage physically active modes like walking and cycling as an alternative to driving.

In 2006 the Wellington Region 2020 Communications Trust (Wellington ICT) entered into a contract with Living Streets Aotearoa to develop WalkIT, an online database through which people can access policy, regulatory, and other information about walking in New Zealand.

The comprehensive business requirement developed for WalkIT specified two key criteria:

  • It had to cater for a broad range of walking stakeholders including Territorial Authorities, regional sports trusts, central government, non-government organisations, community organisations, professionals, such as urban designers, transport planners and engineers, politicians, advocates, and individuals interested in walking.
  • The first stage of the project would be an online database for walking promotional initiatives capable of being developed further as required, and possibly incorporated in a larger Resource Centre/Centre of Excellence with wider functions.

Wellington ICT’s initial assessment of the requirement included a number of key factors in the design of WalkIT, which were adopted by the project Steering Group:

  • Website-based with a secure, integrated database.
  • The website and database will be hosted on the Wellington Community Net (WCN) and technical support will be provided by Well2020.
  • Registered users from participating organisations will have access so that they can submit their own data remotely via a secure link.
  • Updating a participating organisation’s data should be carried out via a web browser.
  • It must have links to the primary website of each participating organisation.
  • It must allow for the inclusion of other participating organisations as the website grows and develops.

These requirements and associated discussions with the Project Manager resulted in the adoption of a browser-based solution (website and attached database) coupled to an Open Source content management system that is stable and supported. Mambo was selected as it met those requirements.

Living Streets Aotearoa is responsible for managing the website and Wellington ICT is responsible for providing technical support as required.

Timberlea

Timberlea is an economically low-decile community in Upper Hutt. The community had a small community house but no other community resources. Wellington 2020 was asked by the Upper Hutt City Council (UHCC) to investigate the provision of a Community ICT facility (hub) in the community house, which would be available for the community as a whole and particularly young, school-age children. The Timberlea Project was established by the Wellington Region 2020 Communications Trust (Wellington ICT) to address this perceived need.

During the early stages in the ICT project it became apparent there would be insufficient space in the community house to run an ICT hub, maintain the small range of community services already in place, and cater for the wider range of services the community lacked but needed. This capacity issue led to the formation of a much bigger project involving the provision of a community hall, which would allow the hub to be located in the existing community house. The Timberlea Project became a separate, but linked component of this much greater requirement.

The aim of the Timberlea project was to provide an ICT facility capable of meeting the needs of the Timberlea community, leading to increased opportunities for Timberlea and the wider community.

The objective of the Timberlea Project was to meet confirmed community needs by providing the following services:

  • Communication (whanau, etc).
  • After-school programmes including homework.
  • Internet services (email, job search, homework research, education, etc).
  • Adult education (literacy, etc).
  • Computer education (PC introduction, Internet use, etc).
  • Publicity (website).
  • Community Centre administration.

This objective reflects Wellington ICT’s policy of focusing on the services required by the community (their needs) and ensuring the underlying ICT is simply the means for providing those services.

The hub architecture is based on the commercially proven thin client model. The system comprises:

  • A commercial-standard server running Windows Server 2003 Standard, Microsoft Office Professional 2003, plus security, antivirus and backup software.
  • Ten (10) Hewlett Packard thin client terminals running Microsoft Terminal Services.
  • Two printers linked into the network.
  • Category 5 cabling (10/100).
  • Internal wireless network for community service providers.
  • External wireless link to the broadband network provider.
  • ISP services.

Partnerships played a key role in achieving a successful outcome for the project. Contributions by these partners included the following:

  • Wellington ICT coordinated and managed the project.
  • The Timberlea Residents Association represented the interests of the community throughout the project.
  • The Department of Internal Affairs provided 50% of the funding.
  • The UHCC managed the bid submission process, managed the contract with Wellington 2020 for the provision and installation of the ICT hub, and supplied the person who would be the system administrator when the project ended.

Wellington ICT volunteers developed the system architecture and worked with the IT provider when the system was installed. The volunteer who provides IT technical support to TWLF also committed a considerable amount of time and effort during the course of the project.

The project was initiated in 2006 and the operational system was handed over to the Timberlea community in August 2004.

The Community Partnership Fund in the Government’s Digital Strategy programme provided funding for the ICT component of the overall project (the balance was raised by the Timberlea Residents Association). The hub component of the overall project was completed within budget,

The project achieved its aim by establishing a server-base hub capable of meeting the community needs as defined by the Timberlea Residents Association during an initial and extensive needs analysis. The system installed by Wellington ICT is capable of being supported by the systems administrator provided by the UHCC.