NZTech: the year in review

The 2017 Annual General Meeting will mark yet another milestone in the continued growth and strategic relevance of NZTech. The past year has seen both membership and influence continue to expand as the strategy of focusing on connecting, promoting and advancing the sector continues to progress. Here is an update and the year in review;

CONNECT
Through membership growth and the signing of formal alliances NZTech now represents over 400 organisations, who collectively employ more than 67,000 people. We have facilitated the launch of FinTechNZ, Internet of Things (IoT) Alliance and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Forum. During the year we continued to bring together tech associations into a national tech alliance that now boasts 13 groups. Within NZTech, we have also launched and grown focus groups such as Tech Women, Tech Leaders and Tech Marketers. The past year also saw the delivery of over 100 member events across the tech alliance, a highly read weekly update, increased social media presence and greater media coverage.

PROMOTE
Our flagship research project in 2016 was Digital Nation New Zealand, an economic impact study report which was well received and now serves as a bedrock for the tech sector. This year we completed a similar piece of extensive analysis on the economic opportunity from IoT and we helped craft and support the highly successful LookSee Wellington campaign, attracting high quality senior developers to New Zealand.

Building on the success of last year’s Techweek in Auckland, NZTech presented the showcase, Techweek’17. Techweek’17 unfolded nationwide over 9 days, with 287 events in 24 locations, hosting more than 20,000 people. It was inspiring to see so many bright minds tackling global challenges with local ingenuity.

Likewise, the ShadowTech Day programme, inspiring girls into tech, was extended throughout New Zealand; Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

ADVANCE
Our Member and Government Relations lead, Andrea Hancox, based full-time in Wellington has been able to proactively engage across a broad range of agencies and initiatives. Ministerial briefings continue to be an important part of our Government engagement. In May, NZTech CEO Graeme Muller attended a Prime Ministerial trade delegation to Japan. We are also involved in the Ministerial Advisory Group on Trade, Digital Technology Curricula Implementation Reference Group and the Digital Skills Forum. In anticipation of the 2017 General Election, we have helped coordinate 20 tech associations in the preparation of a Tech Manifesto to support tech as a growth sector.

To advance the sector, we have also focused on cybersecurity, EdTech and GovTech. Following our third annual NZTech Advance Cybersecurity Summit in October, a briefing paper was published on cyber skills shortages. Following our second NZTech Advance Government and Technology Summit in February, a briefing paper was published on better use of Government data. The NZTech Advance Education and Technology Summit in June focuses on accelerating the uptake of digital tech in schools. Read our latest reports.

For an overview of our 2017 work programme, read the highlights here.