[nznog] Fwd: Important Event - ICT Leaders Debate, this Thursday evening

In case some of you don't get this.

From: "Colin Jackson" To: "INZ Members Announce" Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 14:54:33 +1200

InternetNZ ICT Leaders Election Forum 2005

This Thursday evening InternetNZ is convening an Election Forum, for political parties to present and defend their policies relating to information and communications technology policy.

David Cunliffe MP (Labour Party), Maurice Williamson MP (National Party) and Mikaere Curtis (Green Party) will face questions from a panel of journalists (Paul Brislen, IDG / Computerworld; and Kate McLaughlin, National Business Review) on where they see the future of this industry, where they want to take it, and why.

Date: Thursday 1 September 2005

Time: 7.00pm - 9.00pm

Physical Venues: University of Auckland - Access Grid Suite (Main Venue) and Wellington - Media Lab Conference Room, L2, 205-207 Victoria St.

Webcast/Chatlink : Link page will be available at 6pm this afternoon at www.internetnz.net.nz/forum, with links to actual webcast and chat posted on Thursday.

Moderated by barrister Peter Dengate Thrush, the debate will commence with an hour-long session where the speakers respond to pre-prepared questions covering the wide range of issues relating to ICT and telecommunications policy.

In the second hour with the politicians will take questions from the audience, channelled through the journalist panel, and live questions from the Wellington audience. Online participants will be able to participate in the debate through submitting questions via a web based chat channel.

Communications between Auckland and Wellington will be by means of an Access Grid. The Access Grid technology provides realtime audio and video links between the two sites, making it an effective way to let audiences in different geographic locations interact in real time.

The only attendees in the Auckland venue will be the Moderator, the journalists, and of course, the politicians. Outside the room will be the technical providers, the feedback co-ordinators and the politicians advisory teams. There will not be any general audience at this venue.

There is a limited amount of space in the physical venue in Wellington for InternetNZ members to attend the event. Obviously we want to have a capacity audience at the venue. If you would like to attend, please advise office(a)Internetnz.net.nz as soon as possible. Physical attendance will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. For members outside of Wellington, we would value your on-line attendance and questions.

This InternetNZ Election Forum provides a unique opportunity for you to put questions to the politicians who will be making critical decisions about the future regulatory environment for communications and information technology in New Zealand. We welcome your involvement. We feel that this "proof of concept" of the technologies may lead to a whole new method of engagement in political discussions for special interest groups wishing to engage in detailed debates in specialised areas of policy. Please help us make this event a success.

Colin Jackson President - InternetNZ