One stop online access to cultural information

Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture, and Heritage Helen Clark today launched the project to develop an internet portal to connect and project New Zealand's cultural sector.

Helen Clark said the cultural internet portal will allow New Zealanders and intending international visitors to access information and experiences in ways that are not possible at the moment.

"New Zealand’s digital cultural content is currently unconnected. Much of it can only be found – despite Google – if one already knows where to look. This portal will help connect up cultural content, drawing it together from a range of different websites," Helen Clark said.

"An integrated, user-friendly portal will make it much easier for information to be accessed quickly by New Zealanders and by those overseas who are planning to visit. Research suggests that the profile of New Zealand culture and its products among potential travellers from offshore is still low. Yet authentic cultural experiences are what many in Tourism New Zealand's target market of interactive travellers are looking for.

"The portal will be carefully built up over the next four years, and a cultural events and activities website should be online by July next year. This website will be a central feature of the portal, with information sorted by region, date, or activity.

"The following three years will see the content extended and enriched. The material already within the portal will increasingly be linked outwards to other sites and other repositories of cultural information.

"The portal will include research on New Zealand culture and cultural identity through access to the Dictionary of NZ Biography, NZHistory.net, and Te Ara: the online encyclopedia of New Zealand.

"There will be links to organisations including Te Papa, the NZSO, the Historic Places Trust, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Archives New Zealand. The portal will provide access to New Zealand broadcasters and links to local and regional cultural institutions such as art galleries and museums," Helen Clark said.

The government has invested $3.6 million, as part of its Digital Strategy, to develop the cultural portal.

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