The digital divide is a significant and growing form of inequality. In New Zealand, approximately 300,000 households lack home internet access, and many more have access that is too slow, too expensive, or too limited to enable meaningful participation in modern life. As essential services — government, health, education, employment, banking — shift increasingly online, digital exclusion means exclusion from modern life itself.
Philanthropic funders have an important role in addressing digital inequity — funding access, devices, and skills alongside the community organisations that reach the people most affected.
Digital exclusion is concentrated in specific communities:
These groups overlap significantly — low-income rural Māori older adults face multiple, compounding barriers.
Digital equity requires three things:
Access: Physical connectivity — a fast, reliable, affordable internet connection at home. Without access, nothing else is possible.
Devices: The hardware to connect — a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. A smartphone can access the internet but is limited for tasks requiring a larger screen or keyboard. For education, employment, and many government services, a laptop or desktop is significantly better.
Skills: The ability to use digital tools effectively — from basic internet navigation to more complex skills like online safety, digital financial services, government portals, and workplace digital tools.
Digital equity grants may address one or more of these components.
Schools and education: The Ministry of Education's digital infrastructure initiatives have improved device access in schools, but gaps remain for home access. Digital learning from home — as demonstrated starkly during COVID-19 lockdowns — requires connectivity and devices at home, not just at school.
Connected Communities: Government programmes supporting community access through libraries, community centres, and other public access points.
Spark Foundation and Vodafone Foundation: Corporate foundations of the major telcos have invested in digital inclusion through device donation programmes, digital skills training, and community connectivity initiatives.
Recycles and device donation programmes: Organisations like 20/20 Trust, DeviceHub, and various regional programmes refurbish donated devices and distribute them to people who need them.
Community tech hubs: Organisations in libraries, community centres, and marae providing internet access, devices, and support.
Digital skills training: Age Concern, libraries, community learning centres, and various nonprofits provide digital skills training tailored to different audiences (older adults, migrants, job seekers).
Device donation and refurbishment programmes: Funding the logistics and technical work of refurbishing and distributing donated devices. These programmes need funding for staff, storage, refurbishment costs, and distribution logistics.
Internet access subsidies: Some funders have supported subsidised internet plans for low-income households. This requires partnership with telcos and typically government co-investment.
Community connectivity in rural areas: Infrastructure investment to bring connectivity to remote communities is capital-intensive. Philanthropic grants can fund feasibility, community engagement, and co-investment alongside government rural connectivity programmes.
Skills training programmes: Digital literacy training tailored to specific communities — older adults, migrants, job seekers, people with limited formal education. The most effective programmes are peer-led, local, and intensive enough to build real capability.
Accessible digital services: Funding organisations that work to make digital services accessible — including for people with disabilities, people with limited English, and people with low literacy. This includes plain language digital content, accessible design, and multilingual digital resources.
Digital safety: Online safety — scam awareness, privacy, security — is part of digital equity. Older adults and recently arrived migrants are particularly targeted by online scams. Grants supporting digital safety education improve confidence and protect communities.
Community navigator models: Trusted community members trained to provide one-on-one digital support — navigating government websites, setting up accounts, troubleshooting problems. This model leverages trusted relationships and is particularly effective in Māori, Pacific, and migrant communities.
Don't fund devices without skills: Giving someone a laptop without support to use it effectively produces limited impact. Device grants should be paired with ongoing support.
Don't fund skills without access: Training someone to use the internet when they can't afford to connect at home is similarly limited. Address both.
Centre the communities experiencing exclusion: The most effective digital equity programmes are designed with and for the communities they serve, by people who understand the specific barriers those communities face.
Rural broadband requires different approaches: Urban digital equity models don't translate directly to rural contexts where the barrier is infrastructure rather than primarily cost and skills.
Government programmes are the primary lever: Philanthropy can't solve digital exclusion alone — the scale of investment required is too large. The most effective philanthropic role is complementary to government programmes, filling gaps, piloting innovations, and amplifying impact.
Tahua's grants management platform supports digital equity funders — with the grant tracking, impact measurement, and reporting tools that help funders understand whether their investment in digital inclusion is reaching the communities that need it most.