Over the last five years the current Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been in the process of being rolled out by Chorus and Vodafone, bringing better broadband capability to those living and working outside urban centres. The programme has the promise of connecting over 95% of rural schools to fibre, and fixed wireless broadband capable of 5 Mbps to over 85% of rural households and late in 2015 the rural connectivity target was increased to 50Mbps by 2025. However, rural NZ is yet to see the full impact of improved RBI capability and there remains gaps in coverage and uptake. This event combined with an election year gives you the perfect opportunity to help shape the future of rural connectivity.
TUANZ, RHĀNZ and NZYF have identified that the challenge in rural connectivity remains a strategic imperative for each organisation. The Government has been progressing their RBI2 and the Mobile Blackspots programmes but we have yet to see the outcome of this process.
After the successul events of 2015 and 2016, the focus of the 2017 event is to hear from a range of speakers of how connectivity is helping improve emergency and disaster responses in rural New Zealand, rural health outcomes, rural business opportunities and rural living in general. We look forward to you joining us in this critical event.
This year, the Rural Connectivity Symposium is also day one of an exciting programme where two individual days are being linked together to strengthen the message of the need to ensure communities and individuals are able to “live, work and play well” where they choose in NZ. Providing services and care “Closer to Home” demands that we address the many challenges this places on us to think at least 10 years ahead and work back from there. Day one (Rural Connectivity Symposium) provides a focus on the future needs of rural communities and the importance connectivity has on them. Day two is the Emerging Tech in Health day brought to you by NZ Health IT and Health Informatics NZ and challenges us to look at how healthcare will be provided in ten years’ time, especially closer to home, what part technology will play in this and the need for the country’s infrastructure to support all of this. People living in rural communities have specific challenges when it comes to their healthcare and the providers of this care are having to design and implement new ways that meet the demands of a diverse population whilst facing chronic workforce shortages and increased pressure to perform. The solutions for rural communities are also transferable to urban areas and technology is the conduit by which all of this can be brought together.
You can choose to register here for the Rural Connectivity Symposium, as well as take advantage of the special pricing to attend both days of this two day programme.
