Rationale for funding Google & Microsoft software for public schools in New Zealand
Dave Lane made this Official Information request to Ministry of Education
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From: Dave Lane
Dear Ministry of Education,
I am keen to understand the decision making process and other considerations surrounding the profound decision by the Ministry of Education to supply, based on national-level agreements, Microsoft and Google digital services to (nearly) all primary, secondary, and tertiary educational institutions in Aotearoa NZ.
These services are now deeply woven into the fabric of almost all of our schools, and have become crucial dependencies across the curriculum and communications between students, schools, and the community. They frame and mediate almost every digital activity taking place in almost all our educational contexts. This has profoundly influenced (and limited) the now - especially since Covid - pervasive incorporation of digital technologies through our entire education system.
I request the following information from the Ministry:
1. any documents/reports/evaluations describing the requirements which digital technology would be procured to fulfil for NZ education.
2. the tender documents that allowed
3. the role(s) within the Ministry responsible for signing-off the decision to procure Microsoft and Google technologies for schools.
4. the timeline, i.e. key dates, on which decisions were signed-off and any communications including the reasons/justification for these sign-offs.
5. the name(s) of the Ministry department(s) (and in which Ministry) which negotiated the contracts with Microsoft and Google.
6. any documents by external experts, identifying and comparing digital technology options with relevance to this decision.
7. digital technology marketing materials considered by Ministry decision makers.
8. dated minutes (including list of attendees) of meetings in which the options of selecting Microsoft and/or Google technologies were discussed.
9. any documents identifying alternatives to Microsoft and Google technologies, that were considered but dismissed, and any documents explaining reasons why.
10. a timeline of meetings between the Ministry staff and Microsoft and Google employees (or their commercial partners) including minutes and attendance.
11. a list of any external experts consulted in the course of this process, including any declarations of pecuniary interests (or noting that those were never requested).
12. any documents pertaining to the 'terms of use' or 'terms of service' of the Microsoft and Google services adopted (e.g. MS Office 365 and Google Classroom/Hapara), including any reviews covering the legal liabilities, e.g. legal opinions.
13. any documents/communications offering information/guidance to school boards adopting these technologies or raising concerns.
14. any documents/communications (internal or otherwise) discussing the balance of responsibility/liability between the Ministry of Education and school trustees, especially regarding the relationship between Microsoft & Google and school students and/or their parents/guardians. This should include an discussion of informed consent or compliance or related concerns.
15. any documents/communications discussing legal liabilities related to procurement of these digital technologies (or competing technologies, subsequently not selected) in relation to NZ's obligations under the CPTPP agreement and its Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions.
16. any documents/communications discussing how the Ministry would respond to either small or large scale refusal (by school boards or parents/guardians) to accept the terms of use of either the Microsoft or Google digital services, and any advice the have had, either legal or from adjacent organisations like the NZSTA.
17. any documents/communications discussing the Ministry's role in informing and advising school trustees on the terms of use of Microsoft and Google digital technologies and managing liabilities like breaches or responding to changes to those terms which the vendors claim the right to make at their whim.
18. any documents/communications discussing concerns about ways in which Microsoft or Google might use (for profit or otherwise) the data or metadata generated by members of the education community, e.g. students, educators, staff, and parents/guardians, on whom the use of these technologies was imposed.
19. any documents/communications mentioning the term 'colonisation' in relation the adoption of Microsoft and Google digital tools.
Many thanks for your assistance in this matter.
Noho ora mai,
Dave Lane
From: Enquiries National
Ministry of Education
Tēnā koe mō tō īmēra mai ki te Tāhuhu o Thank you for your email to the
te Mātauranga. Ministry of Education.
He urupare aunoa tēnei hei whakaatu kua This is an auto generated response
tae mai tō īmēra confirming your email has been
ki a mātou. Kaua noa e whakautu i tēnei received. Please do not respond to this
karere. message.
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tō īmēra. as possible.
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From: Enquiries National
Ministry of Education
Kia ora,
Thank you for your request for information below. The Ministry will
consider and respond to your request in accordance with the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act).
Under section 15(1) of the Act, we are required to make and inform you of
our decision on your request as soon as reasonably practicable and in any
case not later than 20 working days after the day on which your request is
received. You can therefore expect to receive our decision on your
request on or before the 14/09/2023. If more than 20 working days are
needed due to the potential workload and/or consultations involved in
answering your request, we will notify you accordingly.
The Ministry may publicly release on our website the response to your
request five days after you have received it. Any personal information
will be removed.
In the interim, if you have any questions about your request, please email
[1][email address].
Ngā mihi,
Enquiries National Team | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of
Education | SW
[2]education.govt.nz
We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent
outcomes
He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai
ōna huanga
[3]Te TD huhu o te MD tauranga
show quoted sections
From: Enquiries National
Ministry of Education
Tēnā koe Dave
Thank you for your email of 17 August 2023 to the Minister of Education
requesting the following information:
1. any documents/reports/evaluations describing the requirements which
digital technology would be procured to fulfil for NZ education.
2. the tender documents that allowed
3. the role(s) within the Ministry responsible for signing-off the
decision to procure Microsoft and Google technologies for schools.
4. the timeline, i.e. key dates, on which decisions were signed-off and
any communications including the reasons/justification for these
sign-offs.
5. the name(s) of the Ministry department(s) (and in which Ministry) which
negotiated the contracts with Microsoft and Google.
6. any documents by external experts, identifying and comparing digital
technology options with relevance to this decision.
7. digital technology marketing materials considered by Ministry decision
makers.
8. dated minutes (including list of attendees) of meetings in which the
options of selecting Microsoft and/or Google technologies were discussed.
9. any documents identifying alternatives to Microsoft and Google
technologies, that were considered but dismissed, and any documents
explaining reasons why.
10. a timeline of meetings between the Ministry staff and Microsoft and
Google employees (or their commercial partners) including minutes and
attendance.
11. a list of any external experts consulted in the course of this
process, including any declarations of pecuniary interests (or noting that
those were never requested).
12. any documents pertaining to the 'terms of use' or 'terms of service'
of the Microsoft and Google services adopted (e.g. MS Office 365 and
Google Classroom/Hapara), including any reviews covering the legal
liabilities, e.g. legal opinions.
13. any documents/communications offering information/guidance to school
boards adopting these technologies or raising concerns.
14. any documents/communications (internal or otherwise) discussing the
balance of responsibility/liability between the Ministry of Education and
school trustees, especially regarding the relationship between Microsoft &
Google and school students and/or their parents/guardians. This should
include an discussion of informed consent or compliance or related
concerns.
15. any documents/communications discussing legal liabilities related to
procurement of these digital technologies (or competing technologies,
subsequently not selected) in relation to NZ's obligations under the CPTPP
agreement and its Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions.
16. any documents/communications discussing how the Ministry would respond
to either small or large scale refusal (by school boards or
parents/guardians) to accept the terms of use of either the Microsoft or
Google digital services, and any advice the have had, either legal or from
adjacent organisations like the NZSTA.
17. any documents/communications discussing the Ministry's role in
informing and advising school trustees on the terms of use of Microsoft
and Google digital technologies and managing liabilities like breaches or
responding to changes to those terms which the vendors claim the right to
make at their whim.
18. any documents/communications discussing concerns about ways in which
Microsoft or Google might use (for profit or otherwise) the data or
metadata generated by members of the education community, e.g. students,
educators, staff, and parents/guardians, on whom the use of these
technologies was imposed.
19. any documents/communications mentioning the term 'colonisation' in
relation the adoption of Microsoft and Google digital tools
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act).
Your request, as currently worded, is very broad in nature and scope and
lacks due particularity. As it stands, many of the questions asked in your
request would cover a large quantity of information, which would require a
substantial amount of time and resource to collate. Of particular note,
the scope of questions beginning with the wording “any documents” is
extremely broad and could include a large number of documents, many of
which may not be of relevance to what you are actually seeking. Collating
this information would have a significant and unreasonable impact on the
agency’s ability to carry out its other operations. As such, it is likely
that aspects of your request, as it currently stands, would be refused
under section 18(f) of the Act as the information requested cannot be made
available without substantial collation or research.
In the hope that we may be able to avoid refusing your request, we would
be grateful if you could provide further detail around the nature of the
information you are looking for, including a specific timeframe you would
like this information from, so that we might be able to determine the
information that is most meaningful to you.
We would also like to invite you to have a conversation over the phone
surrounding your request, in the hopes that this will assist in refining
your request. If you could provide your availability and a contact number
to us, we can call you when is most convenient. Please provide this
information to [1][email address] as the FYI website
will publish all correspondence, which would include your phone number.
However, if you prefer, please email the above a refined request.
The following responses to past Official Information Act requests are
publicly available and may assist you in refining your request:
o [2]https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/...
o [3]https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/...
o [4]https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/...
I look forward to hearing from you. Once we have your clarification and or
a conversation over the phone, we will commence work on your request.
Please note that in line with Section 15 (1AA) of the Act, if a request is
amended or clarified after the date on which it is received, the Ministry
may treat the amended or clarified request as a new request that replaces
the original request.
Nāku noa, nā
Enquiries National Team | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of
Education | SW
[5]education.govt.nz
We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent
outcomes
He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai
ōna huanga
[6]Te TD huhu o te MD tauranga
show quoted sections
From: Dave Lane
Dear Enquiries National,
In response to your request, I am reducing the scope of my request for information as follows:
1. I would like copies of the tender documents from which the Google and Microsoft agreements resulted. If there are none, I'd like an explanation of why not.
2. the role(s) within the Ministry responsible for signing-off the decision to procure Microsoft and Google technologies for schools.
3. the timeline, i.e. key dates, on which decisions were signed-off and communications including the reasons/justification for these sign-offs.
4. the name(s) of the Ministry department(s) (and in which Ministry) that negotiated the contracts with Microsoft and Google.
5. any consultation documents from external experts identifying and comparing digital technology options with relevance to the initial decision to procure Google or Microsoft software, especially those listing concerns or liabilities.
6. digital technology marketing materials considered by Ministry decision makers related to the Microsoft and Google deals.
7. dated minutes (including list of attendees) of meetings up until the completed agreements in which the options of selecting Microsoft and/or Google technologies were discussed.
9. any documents identifying alternatives to Microsoft and Google technologies, that were considered but dismissed, and any documents explaining reasons why.
10. a timeline of meetings between the Ministry staff and Microsoft and Google employees (or their commercial partners) including minutes and attendance.
11. a list of any external experts, including legal advisors, consulted in the course of this process, including any declarations of pecuniary interests (or noting that those were never requested).
Noho ora mai,
Dave Lane
From: Enquiries National
Ministry of Education
Tēnā koe mō tō īmēra mai ki te Tāhuhu o Thank you for your email to the
te Mātauranga. Ministry of Education.
He urupare aunoa tēnei hei whakaatu kua This is an auto generated response
tae mai tō īmēra confirming your email has been
ki a mātou. Kaua noa e whakautu i tēnei received. Please do not respond to this
karere. message.
Mea ake nei ka urupare tonu atu mātou ki We will respond to your email as soon
tō īmēra. as possible.
show quoted sections
From: Enquiries National
Ministry of Education
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Kia ora Dave
Please find the response to your request of 17 August 2023 attached.
Ngā mihi
Enquiries National Team | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of
Education | AG
[1]education.govt.nz
We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent
outcomes
He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai
ōna huanga
[2]Te TD huhu o te MD tauranga
show quoted sections
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Dave Lane left an annotation ()
Apologies for my misnumbering (missed out 8).
Link to this