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NZTech Inform – achieving diversity and inclusion in tech
Kia ora Readers,
Our award-winning mentoring programme ShadowTech is back for 2019 and launches during Techweek19. Last year, ShadowTech hosted 650 students and 300 mentors. More than 100 organisations participated in six cities. ShadowTech provides girls (years nine to 11) an opportunity to experience what working in a tech job could be like. Once again we are on the lookout for mentors, so if you’re interested, please sign up. Our goal is simple, to inspire more girls into tech.
Unfortunately, the Ministry of Youth is no longer supporting this initiative, so we are still crowd sourcing funds to ensure we can reach as many students as possible. If you, or your organisation can help with financial sponsorship please contact us. A special thanks to Spark, Xero, Jade, Oracle, University of Auckland and University of Otago for their great support. Every little bit helps so we can encourage more young women into tech.
Recently, I have also been catching up with the emerging tech group, Pasifika in IT, to share ideas on how to connect, promote and advance their community. With 193 members on their Linkedin page this group can make a real difference in encouraging more Pacific youth into tech.
There has also been a ground swell in activity focused on encouraging Maori youth into tech and helping grow an ecosystem of Maori tech firms. With initiatives such as T3W, Te Tech Tribe and Hack Tairawhiti we can expect a growing interest in tech as a viable future for our tamariki. An unprecedented number of firms applied for the Hi-Tech Kamupene Maori o te Tau — Maori Company of the Year for this years Hi-Tech Awards. The quality of the finalists is inspiring – Augmented Reality Applications, Healthcare Applications, Robotics Plus and Takiwa Ltd.
Realising how critical diversity and inclusion is to create a prosperous New Zealand underpinned by technology, NZTech is allocating 10 percent of its membership fees to help address this challenge. To increase the focus of this important issue, the NZTech Board recently created a sub-Board to oversee and govern our approach to diversity and inclusion initiatives.
On another theme, I noticed that the Government would like to hear about your experience regarding Government procurement. Each year approximately $41 billion is spent by the Government on a range of goods and services, including tech, and for many it can be a difficult and expensive process. If this is relevant to you, please take 15 minutes to let them know about your experience to help them improve.
Have a great week!
Ngā mihi
Graeme Muller
CEO
NZTech
CONNECT
Join NZSA tomorrow in Auckland. Meet Xero’s Sam Daish at The Digital Workforce on 1 May in Wellington. Join Canterbury Tech on 20 May.
Join Agritech New Zealand, BIOTechNZ and the New Zealand IoT Alliance on 9 April in Christchurch, 10 April in Wellington and 11 April in Auckland. Please email us for Christchurch and Wellington discount codes.
Join EdTechNZ and TechWomen on 13 June in Wellington, 20 June in Auckland and 26 June in Christchurch to discuss how to achieve diversity in tech.
PROMOTE
ShadowTech is on 23 May in Gisborne, 7 June in Auckland, 11 June in Christchurch, 14 June in Palmerston North, 18 June in Dunedin and 27 June in Hamilton. Access more information for mentors, teachers and students.
Join Agritech New Zealand at the Primary Industries New Zealand Summit and Awards, 1–2 July in Wellington. Includes changing consumer preferences, strategy review, climate change, geopolitical and trade outlooks. Register for updates.
Following last year’s success, Hack Tairawhiti 2.0 returns 17–19 May in Gisborne. The dynamic event is looking for business mentors and design thinkers to work with companies to help them solve challengers and accelerate ideas with tech innovation. Learn more.
ADVANCE
Attend the Changing Face of Government Procurement on today in Auckland and tomorrow in Wellington. Learn more about Standards New Zealand (SNZ) and its role in the digital economy, including key future tech standards: AI, Blockchain, IoT and other emerging tech.
Save the date for Identity Conference 2019 – Identity as taonga: now and in the future, 26–27 August in Wellington. Entries are now open for the 2019 AmCham-DHL Express Success and Innovation Awards for companies doing business with the USA.
Attend the T-Tech19 conference, 6–7 May in Christchurch. Attend Automation for Business on 23 May in Auckland. The New Zealand Esri User Conference is 12–14 August in Auckland. The Canterbury Tech Summit is 12 September. The 2019 NZ Cyber Security Summit is 15 October in Wellington.
Be part of Scale-Up New Zealand, a free online platform for our innovation ecosystem.
