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| .nz New Zealand |
Overview Socioeconomic snapshot The country of New Zealand (Aotearoa) lies in the southern Pacific Ocean, approximately 1,600 kilometres east of Australia. It comprises the North and South Islands and a number of smaller islands, with a total land area of 268,021 square kilometres (Statistics New Zealand, 2000a). Polynesian settlers arrived in Aotearoa around the 10th century, with European colonisation commencing with British naval captain James Cook’s visit in 1769. In 1840, after protracted war, Maori and the Crown signed the Treaty of Waitangi, and New Zealand became a British colony. The Treaty provides for recognition of the bicultural governance of New Zealand by Pakeha and Maori, though European settlers effectively became the country’s administrators by 1852; and it is only since the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975 that Maori have received reparation for illegally confiscated lands (Waitangi Tribunal, 2002). New Zealand gained independence from Britain in 1947 and is now an independent state within the Commonwealth. The population of New Zealand in 2000 was 3.79 million, with 2.85 million living on the North Island and 0.92 million on the South Island. Among New Zealanders, 79.6 percent were identified as of European/Pakeha descent, 14.5 percent New Zealand Maori, 5.6 percent Pacific islanders and 2.2 percent Chinese. The proportion of European/Pakeha New Zealanders is significantly higher in the South Island, while almost all Pacific islanders live in the North Island city of Auckland. Auckland is by far New Zealand’s largest city with a population of 1.07 million, compared to Wellington, the nation’s capital and second largest city, with 340,000 (Statistics New Zealand, 2000a). New Zealand’s economy has traditionally relied on the export of agricultural products to the UK, though Asia is now more dominant. Dairy and meat exports still make a large contribution to the economy. However, industries such as forestry, horticulture, fishing, manufacturing and tourism have become increasingly significant. Over the longer term, biotechnology, ICTs, and the creative industries have been identified by the government’s economic development arm, Industry New Zealand, as three sectors for future economic development in the Growth and Innovation Framework (Office of the Prime Minister, 2002). In many respects, New Zealand’s economy is more structurally advanced than almost any other economy in the world. After a long period as a leading social welfare state, in the 1980s it went through one of the most radical processes of economic liberalisation seen in the Western world. After this failed to produce long-term, sustainable growth, since 1999 the government has been slowly involving itself in the economy -- not so much through stimulating development but by aligning and focusing private sector activity. As a small country, the economy can change quickly in response to trends, but the key issue is finding sustainable value for its products and services in a global economy. ICT use New Zealand has high per-capita levels of ICT use, which continue to grow, with 46.6 percent of private households having access to a computer in 2001, up from 32.9 percent in 1998 (Ministry of Economic Development Information Technology Policy Group, 2002a). In addition, 58.3 percent of households have access to a cellular phone, and 30.8 percent have access to satellite or cable television. According to ACNielsen, at the end of 2001, 53 percent of the population had used the Internet in a one-month period preceding the survey. Despite high consumptive adoption of IT, OECD reports that New Zealand has registered 8.1 domains per 1,000 residents, placing it in the lower half of OECD member countries (Ministry of Economic Development Information Technology Policy Group, 2002b). Adoption of e-mail and Internet use in the education sector has increased dramatically in all areas since 1996. In the southern provinces, for example, 100 percent of schools use e-mail and 99 percent use the Internet (Otago Southland Broadband Communications Committee, 2001). One of the key drivers of New Zealand’s Internet uptake and use has been the availability of flat-rate telephony and. . . . . . the complete text of this chapter is available for purchase and immediate download as a PDF file, please click here for more information. |
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