Tuesday evening was a special and humbling experience. I had the opportunity to present a talk on the progress of Digital Inclusion Whanganui, sharing where we are at and outlining our first major milestone coming up : presenting a needs analysis report at Techweek 2025, scheduled for 19-20 May.
This was, in many ways, my first real public talk. It was a chance to articulate what I’ve been working on and where I see this enterprise heading. Fortunately, it was a small and supportive group, including several friends, which made it a comfortable space to step into this new challenge.
Was my presentation seamless? Not at all. But that was never the point. Instead, it was an opportunity to practice, to refine my storytelling, and to encounter fresh perspectives.
A Story That Shifted My Perspective
The following morning, as I reflected on the experience, I found myself running through a list of ways I could improve my delivery. But then, a particular contribution from one of the attendees stood out and shifted my entire perspective.
One of the men in the audience shared that he had been attending free computer skills classes at UCOL Whanganui for one specific reason: to learn how to create a PowerPoint presentation.
Not for work. Not for a business pitch. Not for a university assignment.
He was creating a slideshow of digitised photos from different stages of his life—a presentation that would be played at his own funeral.
The most remarkable part? He didn’t actually need to learn PowerPoint. He simply wanted to be in an environment with the right tools and atmosphere to make it easy to create his personal digital legacy.
That moment was profound.
It made me realise that this is exactly what Digital Inclusion Whanganui is all about—empowering people to shape their own digital journey in ways that matter most to them.
My Own Digital Journey
This realisation resonated deeply. Over the past year, my work with Digital Inclusion Whanganui has been more than just an initiative; it’s been a reflection of my own journey.
For more than two decades, I’ve been involved in digital inclusion. But this year has given me the rare opportunity to pause and reassess everything I’ve learned and done—to shape something meaningful that extends beyond me.
Going forward, the next few weeks will be filled with stakeholder engagement—conversations with organisations, community leaders, and individuals. I’m looking forward to these dialogues, knowing they will shape how we move forward and ensure this initiative meets real needs.
Even at this stage, I feel confident that by mid-May 2025, I’ll have a robust and insightful needs analysis ready to present.
The Next Speaking Opportunity: Positive Ageing Forum
Next week, I have another speaking engagement—a 15-minute talk at the Positive Ageing Forum, run by the Whanganui District Council. This forum brings together key local support organisations for seniors, making it a privileged opportunity to engage with those who work directly with older adults.
My focus will be on seven key questions to guide organisations in understanding their role in digital inclusion:
1️⃣ Organisational Context – How does digital inclusion fit into your mission?
2️⃣ Infrastructure – Do you have the right digital tools to support your clients?
3️⃣ Client Needs – What digital barriers do your clients face?
4️⃣ Internal Capacity – Does your staff have the digital skills to assist clients?
5️⃣ Partnerships – Are you working with other groups to strengthen digital inclusion?
6️⃣ Challenges – What’s stopping digital inclusion from growing?
7️⃣ Support from Digital Inclusion Whanganui – What do you need from us?
Each opportunity to speak to a group is also an opportunity to talk to myself—to reflect, refine, and challenge my own thinking.
The Road Ahead
I’m learning that not everything will unfold as I expect, but that’s the nature of meaningful work. The unexpected insights, the shifting perspectives, and the evolving strategies all contribute to making this a successful and sustainable initiative.
I’m certainly not planning on leaving this world anytime soon.
But when that time comes—hopefully far into the future—I want to leave behind a resource that others can reference, build upon, and strengthen.
Just like the man creating his PowerPoint slideshow, I want to shape my own digital legacy—one that continues to make a difference long after I’m gone.
Because at its core, digital inclusion is about more than just access to technology—it’s about helping people tell their stories, connect with the world, and shape how they are remembered.
And that? That’s something worth dedicating a lifetime to.
This blog post is a collaborative creation by Alistair Fraser, with the innovative assistance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o and DALL-E , highlighting the synergy of human creativity and advanced AI technology.