InternetNZ funds more Christchurch rebuild projects

InternetNZ - the non-profit organisation that generates around $7 million a year from administering and wholesaling .co.nz web addresses - has awarded more than $370,000 of grants funding in a fresh Christchurch Funding Round.

Funding recipients are the Greater Christchurch Schools Network, the Lyttelton Information Centre / Sydenham Business Association, Computers in Homes and a consortium of five organisations co-ordinated by the University of Canterbury.

InternetNZ chief executive Vikram Kumar says  “our members wanted InternetNZ to dip into its reserves and support the rebuild of Christchurch. We committed support of half a million dollars and today marks the day when we make good on our promise".

“In addition to the $372,000 announced today, we have previously funded $65,000 and have earmarked the balance of $63,000 for further free community wireless Internet projects.”

The following projects are being funded:

Videoconferencing Service for Christchurch Schools – GCSN
This project will extend the GCSN’s Christchurch schools videoconferencing service for a further year, helping those with damaged communications infrastructure and students who have been physically dislocated.

Schools, teachers and students in Christchurch will continue to be affected by the impact of the events of 2011 for the next two to three years and probably well beyond, says the GCSN’s Mike Hilliard.

“In a number of cases, school sites, while temporarily re-opened, are in a state of limbo, with students housed in portable classrooms. Public transportation is also still limited. The videoconferencing service for Christchurch schools is a tool which can be used to help mitigate a number of these issues.”   

Wi-Fi Village – Lyttelton Information Centre & Sydenham Business Association
Working closely with TradeMe, this project will see free public Wi-Fi installed along the main streets of Lyttelton and Sydenham.  

The Lyttelton Information Centre and the Sydenham Business Association worked in close partnership to secure the grant.

“Free Wi-Fi for the Lyttelton and Sydenham town centres identified in Christchurch City Council’s Master Planning process will now become a reality thanks to InternetNZ’s generous grant,” says Wendy Everingham from the Lyttelton Harbour Information Centre.

“Our hats off to InternetNZ and our supporting partners for giving our communities another good news recovery story."  

Mobile Stepping Up Digital Learning Centre – Computers in Homes
This project will provide digital literacy training to families in some of the worst affected earthquake areas in Christchurch. A bus will be converted into a digital learning centre, similar to a mobile library.

Ongoing road re-construction, particularly in the eastern suburbs, means that public transport services are often rerouted, making it difficult, if not impossible, for families to attend training sessions, says Sue Davidson from Computers in Homes.   

“The mobile learning centre with its own power supply and satellite internet access will mean that adult learners can continue on their digital learning journeys without worrying about ‘how to get there’,” she says.

Digital Archiving initiatives – coordinated by UC CEISMIC 
This project will see five digital archiving initiatives funded, with data to be fed back into the UC CEISMIC federated archive of earthquake-related digital content at www.ceismic.org.nz. Contributing organisations are the Canterbury Museum, HitLab NZ, Lincoln University Department of Applied Computing, the Historic Places Trust and UC Ceismic.

Canterbury Museum will use its funding to set up an Earthquake Collections Online project. HitLab NZ will use its funding to enhance its CityViewAR smart-phone application, taking account of post-quake streetscapes. Lincoln University will use its funding to build pre and post-quake "solar exposure" maps of Christchurch. The Historic Places Trust will use its funding to develop an online archive of geo-located images and audio relating to Christchurch’s High Street precinct. UC CEISMIC will use its funding to enhance its federated archive and QuakeStudies digital archive.    

Spokesperson James Smithies from the University of Canterbury says the five digital archiving projects will help with the cultural and intellectual recovery of Canterbury. “The Canterbury rebuild has so far focused, as it should, on the recovery of essential physical infrastructure. It is becoming apparent, however, that a vast amount of digital material has been created as a result of the earthquakes and the region doesn’t have the infrastructure required to preserve it for future generations,” he says.    

The focus of InternetNZ’s Christchurch Funding Round was on Internet/ICT-related projects that will contribute to the rebuild. The funding round was held between November 2011 and March 2012. Thirty-seven expressions of interest were received, seven of which were shortlisted.

Further details are available at www.internetnz.net.nz/christchurchfunding