Celebrating growth and collaboration across Aotearoa

This month we’re celebrating one year of boosting digital acceleration in Aotearoa. The Digital Boost Alliance has been working hard to help shape a more productive, inclusive, digital New Zealand. Together we’re driving productivity and wellbeing in a way that benefits everyone. Now, it’s time to showcase our collaborative efforts and explore what’s next. In April, Waipawa was declared the most digital town in Aotearoa New Zealand! We were there helping make it easier to work, live and shop locally. Digital Boost, Central Hawke’s Bay District Council and Digital Boost Alliance members, The Mind Lab and Zeald, created e-commerce websites for 14 of the town’s small businesses. Spark provided a temporary tower to power the town with a stronger signal. Google Cloud came along to help celebrate the launch of Checkable, a tool they helped build which is designed to help business owners better understand their online presence. In Waipawa, more than 70 of the 130+ local businesses now have an online presence. Plus, the new online directory, Shop Waipawa lists all local businesses in one place. Watch the video to learn more about how the Alliance supported Waipawa. Our Alliance members Zeald and BNZ have also partnered to launch the Digital Cluster initiative. The visionary model aims to achieve greater regional economic development through digital transformation. Business groups were shown what’s possible when the latest e-commerce and digital collaboration tools are put at the heart of Kiwi business communities. A celebration of our collaborative efforts will be held by the Digital Boost Alliance in Auckland on 14 September. This event will focus on promoting an inclusive, safe and sustainable digital Aotearoa through public and private initiatives. Through the course of the event we will showcase the public and private initiatives supporting the digitalisation of Aotearoa. The evening will begin with an audience address from Rt Hon. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern via a pre-recorded video. Hon. Minister David Clark will launch the new Digital Strategy for Aotearoa and walk the audience through intended initiatives, followed by a pre-recorded address from Hon. Minister Stuart Nash to acknowledge our collective impact. As the broader shift to digital continues, the Digital Boost Alliance remains committed to developing the resilience of small businesses. In the coming months we’ll be featuring more collaborations from our members. Stay tuned for more updates. He waka eke noa! We are all in this together!