Understanding digital exclusion locally. Testing practical responses. Sharing what we learn.
Digital Inclusion Whanganui is a locally focused initiative exploring the barriers people experience in an increasingly digital world, what those barriers look like in practice, and what can be done about them.
We listen to local experience, test practical approaches, gather evidence and learning, and connect what we find with the people and organisations that can help make digital participation more accessible, safe and meaningful.
Digital inclusion is about more than getting online
Having a device and an internet connection does not necessarily mean someone is digitally included.
People can still be excluded when online services are difficult to understand or use, when they cannot afford the technology or data they need, when confidence or skills are limited, when accessibility has not been properly considered, or when there is no safe way to get help.
As more everyday services move online, these barriers can affect people’s ability to communicate, learn, work, manage money, use essential services and take part in community life.
Digital inclusion is therefore not simply about technology. It is about whether people can participate effectively, safely and with confidence in a digital society.
For Digital Inclusion Whanganui, that means paying attention not only to the individual using the technology, but also to the systems, services and support around them.
From local experience to practical learning
Digital Inclusion Whanganui does not assume that one programme or one organisation can solve digital exclusion.
Our role is to understand what is happening locally, explore responses that may help, learn from what happens in practice, and make that learning useful.
Listen
We listen to people and organisations experiencing digital barriers and pay attention to where difficulties repeatedly occur.
Test
We explore practical responses through small-scale initiatives, pilots, research and community-based activity.
Learn
We gather evidence from real experience — including what works, what does not, and what needs to change.
Connect
We connect local experience and learning with community organisations, service providers, decision-makers and the wider digital-inclusion sector.
The aim is not for Digital Inclusion Whanganui to deliver every solution itself. It is to help ensure that local experience is understood, useful responses are tested, and what we learn can influence better practice and better systems.
What we’re working on
Digital Inclusion Whanganui’s work changes as new issues, opportunities and evidence emerge. Our current work reflects the questions we are exploring now — through research, practical testing, community engagement and collaboration.
Each piece of work has a different purpose and stage of development. Some may involve direct community activity; others focus on research, learning or improving the systems around digital participation.
SENSE
SENSE is Digital Inclusion Whanganui’s practical digital safety and confidence initiative. Regular weekly drop-in sessions are currently paused while the next stage is considered, but the learning from SENSE continues to inform DIW’s wider work around trusted, effective digital help.
Local evidence and emerging barriers
DIW continues to build a local picture of the barriers people and organisations are encountering as everyday services become more digital. This builds on the Digital Inclusion Needs Analysis and helps identify issues that may need further research, practical testing or attention from the organisations responsible for the systems involved.
Good digital help in practice
DIW is developing and sharing practical thinking about what good digital help looks like — particularly how support can build confidence, capability and judgement without unnecessarily taking over. Current public work includes When Helping Means Not Taking Over and the Socratic-Informed Digital Help — Practitioner Primer.
Evidence and Learning
Digital Inclusion Whanganui aims to turn local experience into useful evidence and practical learning — not simply record activity. What we learn through research, community engagement and testing can help inform future work in Whanganui and contribute to wider digital-inclusion practice.
Digital Inclusion Needs Analysis
Our local Needs Analysis brought together evidence about digital inclusion in Whanganui, the barriers people experience, groups most likely to be affected, and areas where further action is needed. It remains an important foundation for DIW’s work.
When Helping Means Not Taking Over
Good digital help is not always about fixing a problem as quickly as possible. This work explores how support can strengthen a person’s confidence, understanding and ability to deal with similar situations in the future.
Socratic-Informed Digital Help — Practitioner Primer
A practical resource for people providing digital help, using questions, guided discovery and careful judgement to support learning while keeping the person receiving help in control.
Connect with the work
Digital inclusion involves communities, service providers, researchers, funders, government, businesses and the people who experience digital barriers themselves.
If you are seeing an issue, working on something related, interested in what we are learning, or have experience or evidence that could help, we would like to hear from you.
Digital Inclusion Whanganui is locally grounded, but we are keen to connect local experience with people, ideas and initiatives elsewhere in New Zealand and beyond.