NZTech Inform – recovery, trust and inclusion

This year’s New Zealand Techweek has been the best tech industry festival week to date, with 356 events including 166 physical, 148 virtual and 41 hybrid events. Plus, 67 Techweek TV events! 

At the end of the week-long series of events around the country, this year also saw the largest NZ Hi-Tech Awards event, with 1300 attendees from throughout the sector. Due to the sheer number of nominations, there were  more than 80 judges across the award categories. This is an exciting sign of industry growth as well as the number of stand out Kiwi companies, both domestically and internationally.

Alongside this year’s many finalists and winners, NZTech and our Tech Alliance were recognised as the winner in the ‘Best Contribution to the NZ Tech Sector’ category. This recognition is unique in that we are not just one company but a community of hundreds of passionate people and committed organisations, who have come together to connect, promote and advance our technology innovation ecosystem since NZTech’s establishment as a not-for-profit entity in 2008. (We were known as the NZICT until 2013.)

Today, our Tech Alliance consists of over 20 industry associations, plus alliance partners, with the strengths of 1500 fee-paying members and an army of volunteers who serve on boards, sub-boards, executive councils, working groups, advisory panels, project teams and more. The work we do isn’t just a contribution to the New Zealand tech sector, but engages tech across our diverse economy and society. Plus, it  also helps enable and accelerates New Zealand to be #goodfortheworld.

Last year, the widespread Coronavirus pandemic saw the world accelerate digital transformation overnight – something that probably would have taken up to a decade to achieve otherwise. However, this accelerated digitisation has also exacerbated the digital divide. The New Zealand Government has established a Digital Economy & Communications portfolio and assigned a minister who is leading a ministerial group to develop the Digital Strategy for Aotearoa to take the country forward. Globally, conversations about recovery, trust, inclusion, equity, sustainability, ESG (environment, social, governance) and other types of impact are fast becoming mainstream drivers for business, industry, community and government activities.

These initiatives will all rely on the power of innovation with the combination of data and digital technologies. This is truly an opportunity for our tech sector to continue to be a key enabler, growing in both engagement and impact, across both the economy and our society, in New Zealand and globally. I am excited and look forward to continuing to help make a difference together in the coming years.

Ngā mihi

Mitchell Pham
Chair
NZTech

To receive our full newsletter including additional industry updates and information, subscribe now.