InternetNZ Funding

We are pleased to announce Internet New Zealand has awarded a $125,000 grant to a UC CEISMIC coordinated funding application, covering five digital archiving initiatives. This project will see Canterbury Museum, HitLab NZ, Lincoln University Department of Applied Computing, the Historic Places Trust, and UC CEISMIC itself, all receive funding for various projects. The content that arises from these projects will then be fed back into the UC CEISMIC federated archive of earthquake-related digital content at www.ceismic.org.nz.

Associate Professor Dr. Paul Millar, UC CEISMIC Project Leader, said he 'greatly appreciated InternetNZ's willingness to go beyond their core activities of promoting internet usage and uptake, and support a range of projects directly concerned with recording the impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes and digitally preserving aspects of Christchurch's heritage.' Millar also believes that the success of the bid can be attributed to the willingness of many organisations in Canterbury to collaborate for the common good. "The UC CEISMIC Canterbury Earthquakes Digital Archive has been developed through openness and collaboration," he said. "The fact that InternetNZ asked UC CEISMIC to coordinate this application suggests to me that our consultative and collaborative approach is the best model for making progress in the months and years ahead."

Dr. James Smithies, UC CEISMIC Project Manager from the University of Canterbury, says the five digital archiving projects will help with the cultural and intellectual recovery of Canterbury. "The Canterbury rebuild has so far focused, as it should, on the recovery of essential physical infrastructure. It is becoming apparent, however, that a vast amount of digital material has been created as a result of the earthquakes and the region doesn't have the infrastructure required to preserve it for future generations," he says.

The projects:

Canterbury Museum will use its funding to set up an Earthquake Collections Online project.

HitLab NZ will use its funding to enhance its CityViewAR smart-phone application, taking account of post-quake streetscapes.

Lincoln University will use its funding to build pre and post-quake 'solar exposure' maps of Christchurch.

The Historic Places Trust will use its funding to develop an online archive of geo-located images and audio relating to Christchurch's High Street precinct.

UC CEISMIC will use its funding to enhance its federated archive and QuakeStudies digital archive.