ICT hubs benefit 16,000 visitors during first year

In one year the Marton and Ratana ICT hubs have already reached nearly 16,000 people, their managers say.

The Marton hub celebrated its first birthday on November 30, with Rangitikei Mayor Chalky Leary there to enjoy the refreshments.

Since opening a year ago, the ICT hub behind the library in Marton has helped 10,466 people to use a computer. Of those, 162 also got assistance with job hunting and 379 received basic computer training.

The Ratana ICT hub supports another 450 people a month, bringing the total across both hubs to almost 16,000 people.

"The internet, in particular, has opened up virtually endless possibilities for our communities to connect, play, work, create and share," Ratana hub manager Puawai Hagger said.

The hubs are especially attractive to young people, with 80 per cent of users under the age of 30. And they are important in the Rangitikei district, where rural areas struggle to get quality broadband and Ratana has a waiting list just to be connected.

Marton hub manager Angela Coleman said her challenges for the next year were financial sustainability and expanding the hub's repertoire to more advanced computer skills.

The initial set-up funding for the hubs will be gone in 12 months, and the charitable trust that runs them will need to find $70,000 a year to keep them going. Each has a part-time paid manager, and many volunteers and donations.

The Marton hub is looking for groups or businesses that would like to use it for training or other services. Ms Coleman would also like to hear from people who can offer advanced programming and creative computer skills.

It's open from 11am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, and welcomes visitors from the wider region.

At the Ratana hub, Ms Hagger's two main issues in the coming year are the new copyright file-sharing legislation, and how Rangitikei can co-operate to use the opportunities created by ultrafast broadband.

The Marton and Surrounds ICT Hub was established in 2010. Its goal is to provide affordable access to computers and to teach computer skills. The target audience is people who are rural and isolated, younger, older, low-income, Maori or Pasifika.