In the run up to the 2011 election, it seems clear that broadband in rural New Zealand has been forgotten about by the political parties.

Neither the Labour nor Green parties have specific and actionable policies to ensure that rural New Zealand participates in the coming digital society.  The Maori party have some great policies but they are aimed at Maori.

National think they have done all that is required for infrastructure and those living in urban areas will benefit from fibre-to-the-home with no connection cost.  However those living in rural areas are, by government policy, facing a new urban/rural digital divide based on those who have ultra fast broadband and those who do not.  This is despite Mr Key’s principle of 'equal opportunity of access' stated in Monday night's election debate on TV1.

So what specific and actionable policies might the government adopt so that rural New Zealanders have the opportunity for equal access to the digital society?

The first policy item is obvious: commit to developing an all-party digital society strategy. 

A digital society strategy must be focused on participation and engagement by everyone.  None must be left out because of 'difficult' economics.  So access to infrastructure is an important principle of a digital strategy, as are education and trustworthiness.  The appointment of a national figure to champion the digital society is a good policy objective.

As well as encouraging participation and engagement by all, the areas of health, education and the delivery of government services are being actively following.  To this we must added demand building, community involvement, smart-grid technologies and teleworking as well as equal access to ultra fast broadband.

In our digital strategy, we do not need to set comparative goals.  For example, being among the world’s 'leading digital economies' is meaningless because all countries will soon need to be digitally-led economies.  What is needed are goals that will make New Zealand communities resilient and prosperous.  Digital communications networks have a role to play in both areas.  For example, the National Party see economic growth through businesses as being the saviour of our current economic woes.  So a 'digital enterprise' initiative that encourages and educates businesses in the coming digital economy would be a good policy objective.

Rather than the negativity of the ETS and carbon taxes, a pro-active digital strategy around the many environmental issues facing us could create economic growth and new jobs as well as reducing our green house gas emissions.  For example, a policy around smart grid technologies that actively manage energy demand and small-scale distributed renewable energy generation networks would be beneficial.

Professor Sir Paul Callaghan has proposed a national objective of "creating a place where talent wants to live".  I expect that he did not restrict his vision to urban areas only, but unless rural users have access to the same digital services that our urban cousins will come to take for granted, then we will see talent moving from rural areas to urban centres.  This would be a disaster for both rural and urban areas, so a digital strategy needs to include teleworking objectives.

This leads to the most important policy objective of any digital society strategy:  To give rural people the same opportunity of access to ultra fast broadband services as urban people.

That no political party has embarked on a digital strategy is curious and brings to mind a conversation in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland when Alice asked the Cheshire Cat: "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. "I don't much care where--" said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat. "--so long as I get somewhere." Alice added.

The government clearly believe that broadband is important for they have invested $1.8Bn in the infrastructure. But not having a digital strategy tells me that the politicians who aspire to govern our country are not clear about where New Zealand's place is in the world.