Welcome to the 2020 Communications Trust
The 2020 Communications Trust is a registered Charitable Trust established in 1996, initially to fulfil a variety of digital literacy projects and obligations set out under the Wellington City Council's InfoCity project.
Since then, the Trust's reach has expanded nationally via a number of highly acclaimed initiatives - each has a particular focus on empowering people to use ICT as a pathway to engage more fully in the communities, their countries and in today's global village.
The ongoing aim of the Trust is to promote dialogue and understanding through local action. Separate regional trusts have subsequently been established to ensure local responsiveness.
Collectively, this network of Trustees, along with our affiliates, operate under a common mission: To help ALL New Zealanders benefit from the opportunities of the new digital era - especially from the internet.
Latest News
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Government inquiry into digital literacy welcomed
Thursday 10 May 2012
The 2020 Communications Trust has welcomed the opportunity to present its views to the select committee inquiry into 21st century learning environments and digital literacy. The deadline for submissions to the select committee is on Friday 11 May.
"Our Trust has been working for over 15 years to promote digital literacy," said Laurence Millar, chair of the 2020 Trust. "So of course we are delighted to have the government turn its spotlight on this critically important aspect of our digital future, especially the issues around equity of access and digital inclusion."
"Digital inclusion is a foundation for our economic and cultural future, and digital literacy and skills are critical for New Zealanders to create, access, use and share information and knowledge." said Mr Millar.
The 2011 "ICT in Schools" survey, facilitated by the 2020 Trust, revealed that there is now an average of one computer for every three students with network access in most classrooms, but that many students do not have access to the internet from their homes, and this remains an on going concern in terms of providing equitable learning opportunities.
"The Government's UFB and RBI initiatives will ensure students are able to take advantage of digital education while at school," said Mr Millar. "But we believe that access to digital technologies in homes is just as important as having access in schools. It provides the opportunity to extend learning beyond the confines of the classroom, where students spend less than 20% of their time, to provide a true 24/7 learning environment."
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New Report on ICT in Schools Released: Schools will need help with ultra-fast broadband
Friday 16 December 2011A new report released today by the 2020 Communications Trust reveals that while most schools are ready and eagerly awaiting the roll-out of the government's ultra-fast broadband initiative, principals believe they will need help in making full use of the network capabilities. Specifically this includes further professional development for teachers, upgrades to existing information and communication technologies (ICTs) and better technical support.
Students continue to have good access to ICTs at school. There is now an average of one computer for every three students with network access in most classrooms. Over half of all classrooms are now equipped with a data projector and nearly one-third with an interactive whiteboard. Most principals report that the internet is having a significant impact on teaching and learning but bandwidth constraints and data caps are constraining usage.
"It appears that the deployment of school internal infrastructure is largely in good shape and the deployment of ultra-fast broadband is coming just in time to remove the internet bottleneck," said Laurence Millar, chairperson of the 2020 Communications Trust.
The relatively high penetration of computers and networks in New Zealand schools has been achieved at a significant cost. On average, schools are spending around 11 percent of their operating grants on ICT, compared with ten percent two years ago. This represents an annual spend by schools of $105M from a total operating grant of nearly $1B.As in previous surveys, there is very little correlation between socio-economic status and student:computer ratios. These have remained largely constant across various school decile rankings.
"We welcome this finding," said Mr Millar. "Our Trust is committed to ensuring that every child has equitable access to ICTs, in their schools and their homes. It is pleasing that the socio-economic status of a school does not appear to be limiting this access in any significant way, at least while students are at school. Other findings in the report however suggest that many students do not have access to the internet from their homes and this remains an ongoing concern in terms of providing equitable learning opportunities."
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2020 reaches 15 year milestone with election of new chair
3rd November, 2011
The 2020 Communications Trust reached a 15-year milestone today with the election of Laurence Millar as the trust's seventh chairperson. The outgoing chair, Earl Mardle completed a three-year term as chair. Earl's contribution throughout the last 15 years was acknowledged at the AGM of the trust, held in Wellington today. Earl was instrumental in the establishment of the 2020 Trust in 1996 when he was appointed as executive director, working with the inaugural chair at the time, Celia Wade-Brown.
"In 1996, our original vision for the 2020 Trust was to create a digitally-connected Wellington city, not only with emerging technologies like optical fibre cables and the internet, but more importantly we wanted to create a digitally-enabled and connected citizenry," said Mr Mardle. "Wellington certainly had a head-start into the digital economy with pioneering initiatives such as CityLink and W3, a web platform for community groups. But today and perhaps not surprisingly, a number of other cities and regions also see digital connectivity as a priority, including Wanganui, Dunedin, Christchurch and Southland."
Laurence Millar, who has been the trust's treasurer for 18 months, is a strong advocate of communities working in partnership with government to bring about social change.
"Central government is today playing a much stronger role in shaping our digital future than at the time Wellington City Council set up the 2020 Trust in 1996," said Mr Millar. "In the 1990's after the sale of Telecom, Government elected to take a hands-off approach to the recently deregulated telecommunications marketplace and let competition be the driver. After 15 years, we are now seeing a more balanced approach where central government accepts it has a critically important ongoing role to play in terms of both investment in infrastructure and investment in people. The roll-out of ultra-fast broadband is a good example of the former and baseline funding for the 2020 Trust's Computers in Homes programme a good example of the latter".