Fibre broadband expansion to 95% of NZ gets green light – a win for rural connectivity
The Infrastructure Commission has endorsed a plan by Chorus to expand fibre broadband to 95% of New Zealand much to the delight of rural women.
The director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says the UN has a role to play in leveraging the power of digital technologies.
In an address to a High-Level United Nations Dialogue on the Progress and Future of Digital Cooperation, QU Dongyu noted that agriculture is one of the world’s biggest challenges, because digitally rural areas are lagging behind, adding that it is time to bridge the digital gap between urban and rural areas.
“Digitalisation is reshaping our world at its very core, and is having a deep impact on our societies and economies, and our mindsets,” he said, stressing that digitization may have a significant positive impact on agrifood systems transformation to make them more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.
However, he pointed out that new emerging issues related to safe and ethical use of digital agriculture should be taken into consideration.
This is crucial “to ensure a holistic perspective and an open, free and secure digital future for all as outlined by the Global Digital Compact and other key UN led initiatives towards which we are working together”.
He reiterated FAO’s commitment to continue working closely with all stakeholders in an efficient, effective, and coherent manner to establish a global digital ecosystem to address global challenge.
The session was part of the UN’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which brought together UN leaders to present their respective mandates within the WSIS process and their perspectives on digital for development.
While the District Field Days brought with it a welcome dose of sunshine, it also attracted a significant cohort of sitting members from the Beehive – as one might expect in an election year.
Irish Minister of State of Agriculture, Noel Grealish was in New Zealand recently for an official visit.
While not all sibling rivalries come to blows, one headline event at the recent New Zealand Rural Games held in Palmerston North certainly did, when reigning World Champion Jack Jordan was denied the opportunity of defending his world title in Europe later this year, after being beaten by his big brother’s superior axle blows, at the Stihl Timbersports Nationals.
AgriZeroNZ has invested $5.1 million in Australian company Rumin8 to accelerate development of its methane-reducing products for cattle and bring them to New Zealand.
Farmers want more direct, accurate information about both fuel and fertiliser supply.
A bull on a freight plane sounds like the start of a joke, but for Ian Bryant, it is a fond memory of days gone by.

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