New Zealand Community Development Trust

( New Zealand Communities Online )

PO Box 51-000
Pakuranga
Phone 09-5771144
Fax 09-5773467

This website contains a directory of a number of businesses and also a listing of clubs and organisations

To look at this site www.communities.co.nz here or just to look at Manukau

Welcome to the New Zealand Community Development Trust. The Internet explosion has generated enormous interest, bucket loads of hype, and many new opportunities and dangers. This Trust was formed in order to facilitate access to the new opportunities that the Internet makes possible. The most obvious benefits of the Internet are cheap access to information and the ease at which any business or organisation can create a web site in order to promote their products or services. The down side is that the Internet is already swamped with mind-blowing quantities of information so that any single web site is buried out of site. Search engines can help, but they are far from an ideal answer. Another major benefit to consumers is the new capability to buy products like books and CDs at the cheapest price from anywhere in the world. But this also represents a major threat to our local book and music stores who offer a personal service, but can no longer compete on price or availability. And book music stores are not the only businesses under threat. The Internet also makes it possible for businesses and organisations with common interests to network together, pooling resources, problem resolution and even buying power. Click through to the NZ Communities Concept to see how the system works.

The Communities Concept

The foundation of the Communities project is a structured directory in which any business or community group can create and maintain information about themselves and their web sites. The structured directory is publicly owned and the specific business or community data is owned by the business or community group concerned. Additionally, the Trust makes available a set of data management and web site building tools that allow business and community groups to manage their own directory listings and web sites. The Trust provides a neutral foundation for communities which may contain many competing businesses and organisations to have equal access. Another foundation is that businesses and community groups take ownership and responsibility for their own information. The Trust is providing the tools - it is up to each business and community group to make use of them. While the Trust is committed to lowering the threshold cost and complexity of setting up an Internet presence, it is not setting out to compete with web site developers or internet service providers. Creating an environment where businesses and community groups can easily promote themselves or share information will also create many more opportunities for web developers to build more comprehensive web sites embracing product directories and e-commerce, or other advanced features. The community web sites are organised around real geographically-based communities in New Zealand towns. Navigation is also map-based where appropriate as this provides a natural and intuitive interface. Communities of interest are also provided for and are accessed through the appropriate directories by subject. Funding for the services provided comes from a small annual subscription paid by businesses for their web pages to have a link from the various directories. Non-profit community groups, clubs and support organisations will have a free link. The income generated is used to cover the cost of providing and marketing the service, with any surplus being returned to the community.

This website contains a directory of a number of businesses and also a listing of clubs and organisations

To look at this site www.communities.co.nz here or just to look at Manukau