Over the last four weeks, Rural Connect has explored three of the government’s five points on its action plan for the benefits of broadband.

For the government, e-Government is about delivering better services on-line for less cost.

e-Health fits within the government Health IT plan and also is about delivering better services, and yes reducing the costs to major hospitals will be a part of the objective.

e-Education has been a prime focus of successive governments.  It is the primary driver of the $1.8Bn spend on urban and rural broadband networks and includes a significant spend on a National Education Network and on upgrading the internal computer wiring of schools and so is not an area of cost savings.

One thing that each of these digital applications does, besides reducing operating costs, is to build a culture of use of the internet.  Without that use, the investment in our fibre future may never be realised.

The fourth point in the government’s action plan is labelled e-Development.

On-line education, or e-Education, is changing the way we learn.  Sir Ken Robinson is an author, speaker, and international advisor on education and considers our education system to be industrialized.  He compares education to catering, where there are two models of quality assurance.  The first is the fast food approach where everything is standardized and you know exactly what you are going to get.  The other is equivalent to the top restaurants where things are custom prepared. (See his video here)

Many look forward to our digital futures being centred on High Definition video downloads, social networking and on-line gaming.  Others see much wider societal benefits.  New initiatives in e-Health and e-Education are two areas set to have a significant impact in our lives.  These government-led initiatives drive taxpayer investment in urban and rural broadband programs, forcing New Zealanders to be more than passive participants in the ultra-fast digital economy.

Developing a culture of use of the new technologies is key to ensuring a return on the broadband investment.  Last week, Rural Connect explored e-Government, an area where the government is directly encouraging our day to day use of the Internet.  This week we look at e-Health, another area that the government have a strategic interest in.

A phrase from the movie Field of Dreams has been used in our Ultra Fast Broadband debate as a justification for the $1.5Bn investment.   “Build it and they will come.”  I am not aware of ICT Minister Steven Joyce using that justification - he does not need to because he and his fellow Ministers have direct influence over how the fibre networks get used.