Digital Inclusion Whanganui

04/10/2026

🔐 It’s Cyber Smart Week — and scams are getting harder to spot.
AI is helping scammers create emails, texts, phone calls and websites that can look remarkably convincing. That makes one simple habit more important than ever: stop, check and question before you trust. 🧐

SENSE Whanganui is supporting Cyber Smart Week 2026, and we’ve brought together some useful information and practical ways to stay safer online on the Digital Inclusion Whanganui website.

There’s also a free online session tomorrow especially relevant for older New Zealanders — “You’ve got mail… But is it real?” — looking at current scams, warning signs and what to do when something doesn’t feel right.

👉 Have a look at our Cyber Smart Week page here:
https://digitalinclusionwhanganui.nz/cyber-smart-week-2026-find-a-scam-before-it-finds-you/

And if you’re at the Living Well, Ageing Well Expo tomorrow at the Whanganui War Memorial Centre, come and say hello. 😊

02/10/2026

Digital Inclusion Whanganui has a new home online. 🌐

Over the past few weeks I've been building a standalone website for Digital Inclusion Whanganui — somewhere to bring together the work, the evidence and what we're learning locally.

It's not intended to be a glossy finished product. DIW is evolving, and the website will evolve with it.

You'll find more about why digital inclusion matters, the work underway in Whanganui, evidence and learning we're drawing on, and ways to get in touch.

And there's already something very current there: with Cyber Smart Week beginning on Monday, I've added information and resources about staying safer online, including a free webinar for older New Zealanders.

Have a look around — and if something resonates, I'd be very pleased to hear from you.

https://digitalinclusionwhanganui.nz/

Digital Inclusion Whanganui shares practical work, evidence and learning to build digital confidence, stay safer online and participate fully.

21/09/2026

There’s a lot happening around Digital Inclusion Whanganui at the moment — and this image feels like a pretty good way of describing it.

Digital inclusion can look simple from the outside, but once you get into it, there are layers everywhere: devices, confidence, safety, access, services, systems and, most importantly, people.

🔎 Sometimes we need to look closely.
🧩 Sometimes we need to spot the patterns.
🌐 Sometimes we need to connect the dots.
🧭 And sometimes we need to lift our eyes and remember where we’re trying to go.

For us, the mahi is increasingly about more than fixing a digital problem.

It’s about helping people build confidence, make good decisions, stay safer online, and keep control of what they’re doing.

There are some exciting things taking shape in Whanganui, and we’re looking forward to seeing where the next part of the journey leads.

Different lenses. A fuller picture.

14/09/2026

📱 Sometimes the best digital help is not taking over.

If someone hands you a phone and you can see the problem straight away, it can be very tempting to just fix it.

And sometimes that is exactly what is needed.

But often, good digital support is about something more.

It is about helping the person understand what is happening, encouraging them to try, letting them keep control of their own device, and building enough confidence that the next problem feels a little less daunting.

That is something I have been thinking about a lot in my Digital Inclusion Whanganui work.

I’ve written a new blog about it:

👉 When Helping Means Not Taking Over
https://crystaladventures.co.nz/when-helping-means-not-taking-over/

There is also a free downloadable Socratic-Informed Digital Help practitioner primer in the blog for anyone interested in the practical side of this approach.

💡 Good digital help is not only about fixing today’s problem.

It is about helping people become more confident, more capable and more in control.

And perhaps one measure of success is that they need us slightly less next time.

Good digital help is about more than fixing a problem. Explore how Socratic-informed support can build confidence, dignity and independence for older people.

07/09/2026

A small evolution in our identity. 🌐

Digital Inclusion Whanganui has a refreshed visual identity — but the thinking behind it is very much the same.

At the centre of the new mark is people and human connection.

The circles represent the many people, services, technologies and opportunities that make up our digital world. The lines represent the relationships and pathways between them. The smaller dots suggest ideas, conversations and possibilities still emerging.

Different people start in different places, need different things, and take different pathways.

That’s why this sentence feels especially important to us:

Digital inclusion is not about putting technology at the centre. It is about connecting people to what they need, so they can participate with confidence.

The new identity is an evolution of what has come before — still colourful, still connected, but perhaps a little clearer about what the work is really about.

People. Participation. Confidence. Connection.

That’s the heart of Digital Inclusion Whanganui.

20/08/2026

🔐 HELPING SOMEONE ONLINE SHOULDN’T FORCE THEM TO BREAK THE SAFETY RULES.

Here in Whanganui, I think we need to talk about this.

Not everyone can manage MyMSD, myIR, online banking and other essential digital services entirely on their own.

And that is not unusual.

Sometimes the person helping is a daughter or son. A partner. A friend. A neighbour. A carer. A community worker. Someone they know and trust. 🤝

That help can be the very thing that keeps somebody connected to an essential service.

⚠️ But here is the problem.

What happens when the service itself doesn’t provide a simple, understandable and safe way for that help to happen?

People improvise.

They share passwords.
They read out security codes.
They stay logged in on somebody else’s device.
They hand over their phone.

Then we tell people: “Never share your password.”

There is something wrong with that picture.

💡 This is not simply a digital-skills problem. It is also a service-design problem.

A major new UK Government digital inclusion report has now recognised exactly this issue. It says some people cannot use digital services on their own and need somebody they trust to help them — and that unsafe workarounds can result when proper pathways don’t work.

So here is my nudge to all of us in Whanganui — government agencies, banks, health and social services, Council, community organisations, libraries, funders, businesses, digital providers and everyone involved in helping people participate in an increasingly digital world:

👉 Can somebody safely get help from a trusted person without giving that person their password?

👉 Can they actually find and understand the official way of doing it?

👉 Is the process proportionate to the simple thing they are trying to accomplish?

👉 And have we ever sat alongside the people who need help — and the people helping them — and watched what actually happens?

Those are questions worth asking.

Because digital inclusion isn’t achieved simply by putting services online and then teaching people how to use them.

The services themselves have to work for real people, living real lives, including people who sometimes need another human being beside them.

🌱 Whanganui is small enough to get the right people around the table.

Perhaps we should.

27/07/2026

📉 New Zealand’s digital government score should make us pause

The OECD’s latest Digital Government Index gives New Zealand a score of 0.48, compared with an OECD average of 0.70.

New Zealand was below the OECD average across all six areas assessed. One of the most concerning results was for user-driven digital government, where New Zealand scored just 0.34, compared with the OECD average of 0.71.

What does that mean in everyday life?

It does not mean every government website or online service is poor. But it does raise important questions about whether digital services are being designed around the real needs and experiences of the people expected to use them.

🔎 What happens when someone:

• cannot complete an online identity check
• does not have the right device or reliable internet
• becomes stuck and cannot recover from an error
• finds the language or process difficult to understand
• needs a family member, advocate, librarian or community worker to help?

As more essential services move online, we need to understand not only whether a service exists, but whether people can actually use it successfully.

Here in Whanganui, we regularly see the importance of patient, trusted and accessible support. Community organisations often provide the human help that makes supposedly “self-service” systems work.

💡 The OECD score does not tell us exactly why New Zealand is performing poorly.

But it does tell us that we need to look more closely, listen to people’s experiences and act on what we learn.

Have you experienced difficulties using an essential government service online? What would have made the process easier?

OECD New Zealand country report:
https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/digital-government-outlook-2026_d46c0555-en/new-zealand_98d772ea-en.html

23/07/2026

👀Seeking a research partner for a Whanganui Internet research proposal 👀

InternetNZ has opened its 2026 Internet Research Grant round, offering one-off grants of around NZ$20,000–$30,000 for community-driven research into Internet-related issues affecting people in Aotearoa.

I am looking for a research partner interested in developing a strong Whanganui-based Expression of Interest.

My practical digital-inclusion work has identified several worthwhile lines of inquiry, particularly around the barriers people face as essential services and everyday life move online. However, I am deliberately not locking in a research question before finding the right partner.

I would equally welcome someone with an existing research priority that could be explored meaningfully with Whanganui communities.

I can contribute established local relationships, practical digital-inclusion and community-engagement experience, access to potential research settings, and previous experience contributing to successful government-funded research initiatives.

The right partner would bring complementary research expertise and help shape a rigorous, achievable project with value beyond Whanganui. The intention is genuine co-design—not endorsement of a predetermined proposal.

The Expression of Interest closes on 20 August 2026.

Please message me if this interests you, or introduce me to someone I should speak with.

30/06/2026

It’s fantastic to see the momentum building behind the Whanganui Tech Network and the people who are working so hard to strengthen our region’s future.

Digital inclusion is an important part of that future. Technology only reaches its full potential when everyone has the opportunity to participate, learn and benefit.

If you’re curious about where technology is heading in Whanganui, or you’d like to be part of the conversation, I’d encourage you to come along to future events. Whether you’re a business owner, educator, community organisation, student, retiree or simply interested in learning more, you’ll be made very welcome.

Congratulations to everyone involved for the vision, leadership and commitment you’re bringing to our community.

Whanganui glimpsed the future through Techweek

The Whanganui Tech Network, a local group of people and businesses exploring how technology can build prosperity in the city, leads Techweek Whanganui as its main event, alongside the national programme. Its aim is simple: to reach everyone in the community who wants to think about the future of tech in business and the role of technology in daily life.

Alan Nixon, one of the founders of the Whanganui Tech Network Charitable Trust in 2023, Techweek organiser, and part of Inc Creative and Display Technology, a local business selling interactive design technology to the world, explained this year’s programme also included several community-focused events, with most hosted by libraries across the city. He believes broad inclusion is vital if Whanganui is to benefit from fast-changing technology.

Techweek’s Rangatahi Tech Expo, organised by Ngareta Patea - Te Kaahui o Rauru, was held across six venues and hosted more than 220 rangatahi, immersing themselves in hands-on activities, emerging technologies, and future-focused learning opportunities. From digital innovation to creative problem-solving, the event showcased the exciting pathways available in the rapidly growing tech sector.

Alan recalls finding a career path that combined his passion for art, design and technology. “I was operating machinery every day, which was great, but I loved art and design. I enrolled at the Whanganui School of Design, earned a Master’s Degree in Computer Graphic Design, and I never looked back.”

Fellow organiser David Alexander, co-founder of Hive HQ, says technology can help people build the life they want in Whanganui. “Technology lets people work from anywhere and stay connected. It can help keep young people in Whanganui, have the careers and lifestyle they want to make Whanganui their home.”

One of the week’s two keynote events, Regional Energy Outlook: Insights and Opportunities, was hosted by Tim Easton from Whanganui and Partners and the Whanganui Tech Network at the Sarjeant Gallery, drawing a strong public audience.
David Alexander explains: “The regional energy outlook is about this region and our neighbours, so Taranaki and Manawatu. We’ve got this massive opportunity in renewable energy right now. It's a huge topic.

“There are $7 billion-odd worth of projects on the table right now in this region. And all of those projects are very heavily tech-dependent and supported by tech. So it made sense during Techweek to bring two big sectors together, tech and energy, and have an event.”

The second keynote event, Shaping Whanganui's Tech Future: A conversation about innovation, growth and opportunities in the Whanganui tech sector, brought together local leaders, industry voices, and community stakeholders to explore the future of technology in Whanganui.

Alan is grateful for the support from the Whanganui Tech Network members, ”who volunteered a great deal of their time to make Techweek’26 the success it was”, event sponsorship from UCOL; and the ongoing support of Whanganui and Partners, who help more businesses and individuals learn and grow in the tech sector. The Whanganui Tech Network will continue with regular monthly meetups, with the introduction of bimonthly ‘Tech Talks’ to be announced soon.

Alan encourages others: “Be brave and learn to embrace tech; you’ll be amazed by what it can do for you.” He adds, “People may not be working directly in the tech industry. Some have a specific topic they’re interested in. Some people come with little or no knowledge of what they want to learn. They connect with others in our network, join our monthly meetups, and sometimes share a drink afterwards.”
These connections help people learn and grow. For anyone running a tech business, planning to start one, or simply wanting to understand technology better, the Whanganui Tech Network offers a place to connect and learn.

Email [email protected] to enquire about joining the Whanganui Tech Network.

Photo: The second keynote event, Shaping Whanganui's Tech Future: A conversation about innovation, growth and opportunities in the Whanganui tech sector, which was hosted and MC'd by Michael Law at Hive HQ.

11/06/2026

Great to see Digital Equity Coalition Aotearoa sharing practical digital inclusion resources. 🌐
With more broadband options available than ever before, it’s worth checking whether you’re getting the right connection for your household, needs and budget.