The Digital Porirua Trust
"Digital Porirua aims to make access to technology easy: Whether it's meeting the broadband needs of our high tech industries, better connecting our communities with the use of community portals, or bringing the benefits of technology within the reach of all in our community. It is exciting to see access to technology having such a profound influence on the lives of people from all ages in our City.”
The Digital Porirua Trust has been set up by Porirua City Council, with support from the Porirua business community, to provide a supportive environment for people to explore and learn about Information Communications and Technology (ICT).
The Digital Porirua Trust has established a network of community learning environments in church halls, marae, community centres and schools within the community. Free ICT training is also available through a programme called Stepping UP.
These community learning environments and training opportunities form part of the wider Digital Porirua project that recognises the important part technology plays in joining our communities, helping people work together, increasing business productivity and helping individuals reach their aspirations.
The growth of the community learning environments has been made possible by a $400,000USD Education Grant from Hewlett-Packard, along with support from Microsoft and the Department of Internal Affairs.
ourporirua.com aims to establish Porirua as a ‘Digital City’. It is designed to be an ongoing technology resource for the Porirua community, to assist businesses to build on assets and services already in place and work with people to help get what you need.
Portal Porirua has the capacity to constantly review new technological developments and ideally, will make it easier for residents and visitors to find out what is going throughout the community.
Portal Porirua has the potential to be used for workforce development. With webhosting features and blogs, many people in the community have the opportunity to acquire new skills by using the community portal as an interactive, hands-on learning tool.
This work is supported through the Government’s Community Partnership Fund (CPF).
