Digital, AI & Comms training built for councils, agencies & NZ Police.
Five packaged, certification-aligned courses mapped to the Government Chief Digital Officer's Public Service AI Framework and the shift to AI-first citizen search. Delivered live by Zoom per seat, or in-house as a dedicated group session.
The Catalogue
Five courses, modular and stackable
AI Literacy & Responsible GenAI for the Public Sector
1-day · foundational · mandate-alignedThe course every agency has a budget line and a mandate to buy. Maps directly to the GCDO Public Service AI Framework — safe, transparent, responsible AI adoption that protects public trust.
- Safe prompting & the anatomy of a good AI brief
- Data sovereignty, privacy & the Privacy Act 2020
- Bias, hallucination & human-in-the-loop checks
- The Public Service AI Framework, in practice
- Te Tiriti & cultural considerations in AI use
- Approved tools, red lines & an agency AI playbook
Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO/GEO) for Government Services
1-day · differentiated · few competitorsCitizens now ask ChatGPT and Gemini before they Google. If your content isn't machine-readable, your council simply won't appear in the answer. This is the course almost no one in NZ teaches.
- Why 53% now ask AI first — and what breaks
- Structural clarity & factual density for crawlers
- Schema.org markup for services & FAQs
- Optimising for GPTBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended
- Measuring AI citation & answer visibility
- Rewriting "rubbish dates" & "consents" pages live
Digital Communications Essentials for Local Government
1-day · core comms · certification trackThe direct, live-delivered answer to the self-paced courses already in market — but with certification, council-specific compliance, and a facilitator in the room.
- Mapping resident & ratepayer journeys
- NZ Govt web standards & WCAG accessibility
- Channel strategy: web, social, EDM, SMS
- Plain-language & bilingual content practice
- Measurement, reporting & proving ROI to elected members
- Newsletter strategy across council departments
Crisis & Issues Digital Communications
1-day · high-stakes · underservedEmergencies, public-health events, infrastructure outages and disinformation carry political and safety stakes. This is specialised, defensible spend — and barely served in NZ.
- The first golden hour: holding statements & cadence
- Multi-channel coordination under pressure
- Countering disinformation & rumour control
- Working with media, emergency partners & iwi
- Social monitoring & sentiment triage
- Live tabletop simulation & debrief
Social Media & Community Engagement for Public Trust
1-day · engagement · trust-buildingAuthentic, two-way engagement that rebuilds trust — with iwi partnership and the digital divide designed in from the start, not bolted on.
- Lo-fi video & real-voice content that lands
- Two-way engagement & community moderation
- Reaching low-connectivity & older audiences
- Culturally inclusive, iwi-partnered campaigns
- Consultation & submissions promotion
- Handling pile-ons & protecting staff wellbeing
Pricing · Option A
Live online — per student (Zoom)
Scheduled public cohorts, capped at 16 seats. Live facilitator, workbook, recording access and IDNZ certificate of completion. All prices exclude GST.
| Course | Per seat | 2–4 seats (ea.) | 5+ seats (ea.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Literacy & Responsible GenAI PS-AI-101 · flagship | $695 | $625 | $545 |
| Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO/GEO) PS-AEO-201 | $745 | $675 | $595 |
| Local Government Comms Essentials PS-LG-301 | $695 | $625 | $545 |
| Crisis & Issues Digital Comms PS-CRISIS-401 | $795 | $715 | $625 |
| Social Media & Community Engagement PS-COMM-501 | $650 | $585 | $510 |
Per-seat rate falls automatically with volume — tiers apply per booking, per course. Crisis Comms is priced higher to cover the live simulation facilitation.
Pricing · Option B
In-house group — fixed day rate
A dedicated facilitator delivers to your team, on your premises or your Teams/Zoom. One flat fee covers up to the group cap — the more people you put in the room, the lower your effective per-head cost. All prices exclude GST.
| Course | Group day rate | Includes | Effective / head* |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Literacy & Responsible GenAI PS-AI-101 | $4,500 | up to 15 staff | ~$300 |
| Answer Engine Optimisation PS-AEO-201 | $4,900 | up to 15 staff | ~$327 |
| Local Government Comms Essentials PS-LG-301 | $4,500 | up to 15 staff | ~$300 |
| Crisis & Issues Digital Comms PS-CRISIS-401 | $5,400 | up to 12 staff | ~$450 |
| Social Media & Community Engagement PS-COMM-501 | $4,200 | up to 15 staff | ~$280 |
*Effective per-head assumes a full room. Additional seats above the cap: $180–$240 ea. Travel/venue charged at cost outside Auckland; fully remote in-house has no travel fee. Materials & certificates included.
1:1 executive coaching option. For directors, GMs and comms leads who want tailored support, any course converts to a 1:1 format delivered over 3 sessions: $1,850 per person (Zoom) or $2,400 on-site. Ideal for an agency's comms manager building an internal playbook before rolling training out team-wide.
Packages
Stack courses, save per head
AI & Discovery Bundle
The flagship pairing · PS-AI-101 + PS-AEO-201
per seat (Zoom) · or $8,400 in-house (up to 15)
- AI Literacy & Responsible GenAI
- Answer Engine Optimisation
- Combined agency AI + AEO playbook
Council Comms Certificate
3-course track · LG-301 + CRISIS-401 + COMM-501
per seat (Zoom) · or $12,600 in-house
- Local Government Comms Essentials
- Crisis & Issues Digital Comms
- Social Media & Community Engagement
Whole-of-Agency Programme
All 5 courses · annual capability uplift
per seat (Zoom) · or POA for in-house rollout
- All five public sector courses
- IDNZ Public Sector Certificate
- Annual refresh + priority scheduling
Important · Funding
A note on MCDF eligibility
MCDF co-funding does not apply to most public sector buyers. The Management Capability Development Fund is restricted to privately owned businesses and Māori Trusts/incorporations trading commercially. Councils, central government agencies and NZ Police are public bodies and are not eligible — so the 50% subsidy lever used for SMEs should not be offered or implied in public sector proposals.
These prices are therefore built to stand on their own against agency professional-development and procurement budgets, with no funding dependency.
Where MCDF can still help: Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) and private contractors, agencies or suppliers in the public-sector supply chain that hold an NZBN and trade commercially may qualify. For those buyers, the standard IDNZ MCDF pathway (up to 50% co-funding via a Regional Business Partner Growth Advisor) can be applied to the per-seat rates above.
Institute of Digital Marketing New Zealand · id.ac.nz · Indicative pricing, ex GST · 2026