Hon Bill English to address NetHui participants

15 June 2011 (also online at: http://bit.ly/leAb1c)

InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc) is pleased to announce that Deputy Prime Minister Bill English will deliver a leadership address at the inaugural NetHui conference on the afternoon of Thursday 30 June.

InternetNZ Chief Executive Vikram Kumar says there are a number of Ministers and Members of Parliament participating at NetHui 2011, giving community, business and academic sectors a unique opportunity to engage with their political representatives.

“NetHui will expose Ministers and MPs to the major issues facing New Zealand in maximising the economic and social benefits from the Internet. At the same time, it will allow everyone to benefit from the perspectives of politicians. This multi-faceted dialogue is critical to the theme of the conference, ‘Shaping our Future Together’,” he says.

Over 350 people are registered for NetHui, which runs over three days from Wednesday 29 June to Friday 1 July at SkyCity, Auckland. A vast array of topics are up for discussion, including cybersafety, online privacy, digital literacy, human rights and the Internet, technology in education, open data & open Government, digital copyright and online content, cloud computing, IPv6 and net neutrality.

"The first two days are Ngā Kōrerorero, roundtable discussions where participants can get to the detail of issues. The key driver of these two days is participants themselves," says Kumar.

For the third and last day on the Friday, individual streams will come into one, Te Kotahitanga. Participants will hear a special International Keynote from Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig. This will be followed by a specially arranged screening of the "The Virtual Revolution". Next is a panel on the "Globalisation, the Internet and the Law" with Hon Chris Finlayson, Professor Lessig, Judge David Harvey, Google’s Ross Lajeunesse and Lawyer Rick Shera.

Two more important panel discussions follow, on Government & Openness and Access & Diversity. All panels will feature an open mic, encouraging participation. More information on the sessions and panels is available at www.nethui.org.nz/session-outlines

Other keynote speakers over the three days include Xero-founder Rod Drury, Minister for Communications and IT Steven Joyce, Xero Founder and CEO Rod Drury, World Internet Project researchers Jennie Billot and Philippa Smith, and prominent business commentator Rod Oram. Sean Plunket will be the MC on the Friday of the event.

NetHui sponsors include Google at Gold level, Scoop Media Cartel, TradeMe and FX Networks at Silver level, Alctatel Lucent as Innovation and Emerging Issues Stream Sponsor, TelstraClear as Digital Citizenship Stream Sponsor, Catalyst IT as Education Stream Sponsor and Citylink at Bronze Level.

More information about NetHui is available at www.nethui.org.nz .

ENDS

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