Telecom Information Technology Roadshow

The Telecom Information Technology Roadshow toured nationally from 1998 to June 2007. The IT Roadshow was operated by the National Science-Technology Roadshow Trust with support from Telecom. The IT Roadshow delivered ICT education programmes in Enterprise, Movie Making, Robotics and Web Development to school students, teachers and communities throughout New Zealand.

The IT roadshow integrated many of Telecoms products and services into the education programmes to provide students and teachers with authentic and exciting learning experiences. These technologies included automated fax on demand, text auctions, barcode ticketing to mobile, database searching and online auctions to name a few. As technology advanced in the late 90's so did the integration of new technologies in the programmes.

In the early years Telecom provided dual ISDN connections to the trailer at each venue. Fax bookings could be received in the trailer via a large Motorola Bag phone on the old 025 network. In time an online bookings system was created and fax bookings eventually ceased. The next major leap forward was the introduction of ADSL technology and SchoolZone. Consequently in time the trailer would have a high speed SchoolZone connection along with a ADSL connection for telephone and additional broadband support.

The IT Roadshow was also utilised to support other relationships that Telecom had with community groups. These included Senior Net and sporting activities such as Americas Cup. The trailer was open to the public on Saturdays at each venue and during school holidays. The public display provided the general public with an opportunity to explore the various technologies of the day and to ask questions that they may have.