Published Nov 13, 2019
In November 2019, we were delighted to welcome a group of 25 senior level officials working in India’s e-Government sector to Wellington, to take part in a programme of learning developed by Viclink in conjunction with the Victoria Business School.
Viclink has coordinated the programme for the five-day visit, which is part of the Government of India’s Digital India Programme. This programme is tasked with transforming the country into a more connected, digitally-empowered society and knowledge economy.
“New Zealand’s reputation as being number one in the world for ease of doing business is one of the primary reasons for the Government of India engaging here,” explains Jeff Howe, Viclink’s General Manager of International Development. “The programme we have developed specifically for this group focuses on areas that New Zealand has extensive experience in, including digital governance, building common ICT capability, collaborative engagement and public sector innovation.”
Viclink has been able to leverage strong connections to government, thriving Wellington digital private sector companies and Victoria University of Wellington’s leading experts in digital technology and policy to develop a programme that enables the Government of India delegates to gain deep insights into the lessons learned from New Zealand’s digital government journey. “We were able to directly connect participants with New Zealand Government departments who have successfully implemented e-Gov initiatives such as SmartStart—and the University’s School of Government to leverage research on the introduction, management and use of digital technologies in the public sector,” says Jeff.
The programme includes input from G2G, Department of Internal Affairs, Silverstripe, Social Investment Agency, 8 Wire, Ministry for Primary Industries, Ministry of Education, Education New Zealand, Business.govt.nz, Theta, FishServe Innovations NZ, Capital & Coast District Health Board, Creative HQ and KiwiNet.
Photo above L-R: Malcolm Millar-G2G Know How, Mischa Mannix-Opie-G2G , Professor Ian Williamson-Victoria University of Wellington, Paramjeet Singh-High Commission for India, Vinay Thakur-National-eGovernance Division, Government of India, M. S. Rao-National e-Governance Division, Government of India, Anne Barnett-Viclink, Jeff Howe-Viclink. Photo credit: Victoria University of Wellington Image Services.