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The Development of Learning Regions in New Zealand: an ICT perspective By Janet Mary Toland A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Systems Victoria University of Wellington 2010 ABSTRACT The term “Learning Region” is used to identify a region which is innovative, economically successful, and inhabited by citizens who are active members of their local community. Such regions are characterised by strong links between local businesses, community groups, and education providers. Within a regional area interaction and exchange of information is easier and cheaper than in a national or international context. The success of an individual organisation is directly related to the quality of information available locally. Information technology can be an important tool in improving the flow of knowledge between the stakeholders within a region. The study examines the role that information and communication technologies (ICTs) play in the development of learning regions in New Zealand, and how they can be used to improve the quality of information flows both within the region itself, and between the region and the outside world. In particular the research considers what contribution ICTs make to organisational learning and innovation. Historical methods are used to build up a picture of the significant changes that have taken place within two contrasting regions of New Zealand between 1985 and 2005. The two selected regions are Southland and Wellington. Data was collected by searching regional newspapers, and conducting interviews with key figures in each region. A “6- I”framework of the “ideal” features of a learning region was developed from the literature review and this was used to analyse the data. The findings show a clear linear progression in terms of the development of hard ICT based networks, but a less clear pattern in terms of soft social networks where the same issues were revisited a number of times over the years. Though there was evidence of a relationship between the soft networks that existed at the regional level and the utilisation of hard ICT networks within a region it was difficult to quantify. Hard and soft networks evolve differently over time and the relationship between the two is nuanced. Both regions were successful in setting up high quality ICT networks. However, with the exception of the education sector, both regions struggled to co- ordinate their soft networks. Though good social capital existed in each region, especially in Southland, it was located in different interest groups and was not easy to i bring together. This lack of co-ordination meant that the possibilities opened up by ICT infrastructure in terms of increasing innovation were not fully realised. Both regions demonstrated many of the characteristics of learning regions but neither region was able to bring all aspects together to reach their full potential. The thesis demonstrates the important role that soft social networks play in the successful utilisation of ICT networks within a regional setting. ii I dedicate this thesis to my parents Thomas and Kathleen Kennedy, my mother and father-in-law Norah and Jim Toland, and my grandparents Archie and Frances Fryer and Thomas and Annie Kennedy for their love, support and encouragement. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my supervisors Professor Pak Yoong and Associate Professor Peter Murphy for their assistance in developing this thesis. Their guidance and critical thinking was invaluable in improving the quality of my research. My thesis has had a number of false starts and I would like to thank the people who helped along the way, Andy Gillespie, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, Nimal Jayaratna at Sheffield Hallam University, and Tony Adams and Dharmendra Sharma at University of the South Pacific. I thank Victoria University of Wellington for supporting my research. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance I have had from University of the South Pacific, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and the University of Northumbria at Newcastle. I would like to thank the participants in my research for their time and insights, and also the staff at the National Library for their assistance with finding research materials. I would also like to thank the examiners whose questioning insights have helped to strengthen this thesis. Thanks to the academic and administrative staff at the School of Information Management for their support, and in particular to my colleagues Tony Hooper and David Mason who helped to lighten my teaching load during the final stage of thesis preparation. Also a big thank you to the members of the PhD Learning Set for their friendship and encouragement. Last but not least a very special thank you to my family for their patience over the years; to my children Eleanor, Rory & Frankie and especially my husband Martin. iii Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Motivations for the Research ........................................................................................................ 2 1.2 Research Problem ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Question ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.4 Research Methodology ................................................................................................................. 4 1.5 Thesis Overview ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Terminology .................................................................................................................................. 5 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 7 2.1 The Regional Perspective ............................................................................................................. 8 2.1.1 Definition of a Region ........................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Regions of New Zealand ..................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Organisational Learning .............................................................................................................. 16 2.2.1 Introduction to Organisational Learning ............................................................................. 17 2.2.2 Factors that support Organisational Learning ..................................................................... 17 2.2.3 Collective Learning ............................................................................................................. 19 2.3 Social Capital .............................................................................................................................. 20 2.3.1 Human, Cultural and Social Capital .................................................................................... 21 2.3.2 Robert Putnam‟s Italian Study ............................................................................................ 22 2.3.3 Bonding and Bridging ......................................................................................................... 25 2.3.4 Is Social Capital Declining? ................................................................................................ 25 2.3.5 Trust .................................................................................................................................... 29 2.3.6 The Individual, the Organisation, and Society .................................................................... 31 2.4 Learning Region .......................................................................................................................... 35 2.4.1 Regional Systems of Innovation .......................................................................................... 36 2.4.2 Elements of the Learning Region ........................................................................................ 40 2.4.3 Shape of a Learning Region ................................................................................................ 43 2.4.4 Quantifying the Learning Region ........................................................................................ 46 2.4.5 Critique of Learning Region ............................................................................................... 48 2.5 Relevance to New Zealand.......................................................................................................... 49 2.5.1 Growth and Innovation Framework .................................................................................... 50 2.5.2 Project PROBE ................................................................................................................... 50 2.5.3 Digital Strategy ................................................................................................................... 51 2.6 The Research Question ............................................................................................................... 52 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................

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