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Nelson’s quest to become Gigatown ends

Nelson’s quest to become Gigatown ends

Nelson finishes behind Dunedin in the year-long competition to be New Zealand’s first city with broad access to 1Gbps internet speeds

26 November 2014

Nelson has finished behind Dunedin, who will become New Zealand’s first Gigatown, Chorus announced this evening at an event in Wellington.

Nelson was vying for the title along with Wanaka, Timaru, Gisborne, and winner Dunedin during the final phase of a year-long competition.

Clare Atkins, Gigatown Nelson campaign co-leader says she is gratified to have been part of the community-led, grassroots effort that galvanised people across the region.

“Members of the community pulled together over this campaign in a way I’ve not seen before. They clearly want a future for Nelson that includes digital capability,” Clare says. “This desire won’t go away just because we are not Gigatown. It is the beginning of something, not the end. Nelson now has a strong foundation on which to build.”

“I am incredibly proud of how the community competed in Gigatown and proud of those who saw an opportunity to step up to lead and took it,” says Clare. “We will find a way to capitalise on this energy. This campaign proved anyone can create the opportunity for change.”

Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese was in attendance at the Gigatown announcement, and says that she is proud to be a part of a community that joined together to make the Nelson Gigatown Campaign happen.

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“The Nelson Gigatown campaign brought our community together, and I want to pass on my sincere thanks to those involved who built a platform for success. We may not have won this competition, but the digital community and strategy that has been created, means we are in a far better position to make the most of our city’s digital future.

“Nelson’s future is bright. We have learned a lot from this competition, and this will help us shape our city’s digital transformation. The Gigatown competition has highlighted the opportunities that exist in the digital space, and we are in a better place now to capitalise on those.”

Gigatown Nelson campaign co-leader Matthew Dodd says Gigatown will have a legacy for Nelson.

“The Gigatown core volunteers founded the Nelson Digital Futures Society so we could take the lessons from Gigatown and learn from them, whether or not we won the competition. The Gigaplan for Success, a digital strategy developed for the competition, is going to guide NDFS to continue down the path Gigatown paved. Organisations from councils, businesses, and educators through to community development groups have all been inspired about the digital possibilities.”

“Nelson’s future is a digital future, we know the community is hungry for this, we know businesses are ready for this,” says Matthew. “Things are happening, opportunities are there. This is only the beginning.”

Matthew and Clare would like to thank all of the volunteers and the companies who donated thousands of hours of time, goods and services, sponsorship dollars, and their talent and advice.

Clare says, “I’m humbled by the contributions we’ve had and by the lengths people and business have gone to so that Nelson would get to the finals and compete to win. There is so much goodwill in Nelson, it will serve us well moving forward. I’d like to particularly thank Nelson City Council and the Nelson Regional EDA whose contributions were key to the campaign.”

As for what’s next for the Gigatown campaign and volunteers, Matthew says, “We’re going to rest for a few days, that’s for sure. NDFS and other stakeholders will consider lessons from Gigatown and agree on next steps in our region’s digital evolution. The pace may no longer be as frenetic as the Gigatown competition, but the benefits will be just as profound.”

About #Gigatown Nelson
The #GigatownNelson campaign was run by dozens of volunteers, funded by generous donations from hundreds of Nelson Tasman businesses, including key sponsorship from Nelson City Council and the Nelson Regional EDA. Thousands of community members actively participated at some point in time during the campaign, a grassroots effort that galvanised the community. The leadership group has created the Nelson Digital Futures Society (NDFS) as a result of this community spirit to move forward with the lessons and the legacy from Gigatown. NDFS aims to work with Chorus to help implement ideas from the Gigaplan for Success created for the Gigatown competition.

About Gigatown
The Gigatown competition to find New Zealand’s most active town online ended 24 November after 13 month long campaign that included social media activism, preparing a digital strategy, and enlisting broad community support. The prize is entry level connection to 1Gpbs internet, or gigafibre, (on average 80 times faster than standard broadband) for businesses and households connected to the new fibre networks. The winning town receives a $200,000 innovation fund and a $500,000 community development fund. The Gigatown is expected to become a test bed for new technology and innovation, and lead the way through collaboration and innovation.

ENDS

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