Computers+in+Homes

=Name Of Project= **Home page**:http://www.computersinhomes.org.nz
 * Main Country of Operation:** New Zealand
 * Other Countries of Operation:** Canada, Samoa
 * Contact:** Barbara Craig

The //Computers in Homes// project and the follow up digital literacy training programme //Stepping UP// is the flagship initiative of the 2020 Communications Trust which is a registered non-profit charitable trust that delivers digital literacy projects in disadvantaged communities in New Zealand (and more recently the Pacific) empowering all people to use the internet and new technologies and thus engage more fully in their local communities.

In Aotearoa/New Zealand there are an estimated 100,000 families with school-aged children in low-income communities without access to a computer or the Internet for their children’s education. These families are further disadvantaged because of unemployment or isolation, with little knowledge of technology or even knowing someone who owns a computer. The Computers in Homes programme aims to impact the literacy of such families by providing them with a refurbished computer, ICT and literacy training, 6 months free internet access and technical support for a year. To date more than 5,000 low-income and refugee families have been connected through the project and there have been unexpected results such as parents completing degrees or running businesses online and schools reporting lower truancy rates. The Stepping UP programme offers further opportunities for digital literacy training for the home and for work. On completion family members attend a graduation ceremony and receive certificates that can be used on CVs.

Computers in Homes project featured as an exemplary community initiative in the Labour government’s Digital Strategy and has the support of the current Minister of Information Technolgoy Steven Joyce and the co-leader of the Maori Party, Turiana Turia. It has won a number of awards including the International Stockholm Challenge Award for Education in 2001, ComputerWorld Excellence Award 2004 and more recently as Finalist in the NZInternet Industry Social Impact awards.

In the current Government budget the 2020 Trust received funding to take the programme to a further 3,000 families in the most remote and/or socially disadvantaged communities in New Zealand.