RECOMMENDATION 14: NBN REGIONAL HUB HOSTING ARRANGEMENTS

NBN Regional Hub Partners should be hosted by an organisation that can provide access to professional back office support (including finance, human resources and IT), line management and office facilities.

Any funding framework agreement should require that NBN Regional Hubs are hosted in this way as a condition of funding. The NBN National Hub should broker such arrangements to ensure that each Regional Hub Partner is matched with a suitable host.

In return for payment for provision of back office support, each host should champion the wide use of services provided by the NBN Regional Hub to ensure that these services are equally available to all users across the region and not dominated by the needs and servicing of the host itself.

Hosting arrangements with organisations that also facilitate reach into one or more key communities (e.g. local or national government, eNGOs, academia or the commercial sector) should be especially encouraged.