The Digital Boost programme was designed in partnership with industry experts and small businesses to facilitate the Government’s vision for New Zealand to have the most digitally engaged small business sector in the world. Through Digital Boost Educate, small business owners have access to a variety of resources to help them build knowledge, skills, confidence, and trust in digital business tools, and help them adopt those tools within their own business models.
Digital Boost Checkable is an extension of the Digital Boost Educate platform. It offers businesses insights into their online presence and creates personalised Digital Action Plans, which support small business owners to identify and understand areas where their business can improve through the use of digital tools.
Why is the scheme being established?
The Digital Boost programme employs a one-to-many digital approach. To date, this approach has proven effective in helping build core digital skills with over 46,000 users on the platform.
This scheme has been created to provide small businesses with additional support and encouragement to adopt and practically use the Digital Boost Platforms. The scheme is targeted towards small businesses who are in the initial stages of their digital journey, are unfamiliar with the Digital Boost platform and have a desire to improve their digital skills so that they can apply them to their business.
Business intermediaries will:
- Identify their group (or groups) of small businesses
- Encourage prioritisation of digital training and adoption
- Support their group to effectively use the Digital Boost platform (including the Checkable component)
- Facilitate and encourage peer-to-peer learning within their group of businesses
- Support their group to utilise learned digital skills in their own business
- Businesses in these groups will need to:
- Be sole traders/self-employed or between 1-20 employees,
- Not be an existing Digital Boost Educate user, or not a registered user prior to 1st of April 2022,
- Be operating in a commercial environment,
- Must be a privately‐owned business, Māori Trust or incorporation under the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 or similar organisation managing Māori assets under multiple ownership,
- Want to improve their digital skills and utilise more digital tools for their business.
Eligible intermediaries:
- Must have a New Zealand Business Number. If you do not have a New Zealand Business Number, you can register to get one on the NZBN website.
- Must recruit 15 eligible businesses to form a group
- Must agree to appropriate use of funds and relevant reporting requirements
- Must be able to demonstrate facilitation expertise or agree to resource an external facilitator
- Must have appropriate capacity to deliver scope of work over agreed period
- Must have a New Zealand bank account
Application Process
All applications need to be made by business intermediaries (on behalf of the group of businesses).
Please contact your local Regional Entity to access the application form. Before you apply, please ensure you have read the business intermediary requirements and expectations to ensure that your application meets the scheme criteria.
Applications for the Digital Facilitation Scheme will open on 18 May 2022 and close on 17 June 2022. Please note that the applications will be processed and approved as applications come through, and funding will be assigned to eligible business intermediaries until exhausted, this may be prior to 17 June 2022.
The Regional Entity will track all applications and notes of contact.
Step-by-Step Application Guide:
1) Identify and group 15 businesses that meet the eligibility criteria.
2) Contact the Regional Entity supporting the delivery of this scheme in your region to discuss eligibility and access application form.
3) Submit your application form to your local Regional Entity.
4) If the application is approved, a funding agreement will be established with the Regional Entity.
West Coast Regional Entity: Development West Coast
Contact: Development West Coast
Ph: 03 769 7000