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Newmarket Innovtion precinct

Members Tour of the Newmarket Innovation Precinct

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The Committee for Auckland has prioritised action on the innovation and knowledge pillars of the State of the City report. Although there is good progress underway, the report tells us we rank lowest in these areas when compared to our peer international cities. A small group members tour has been arranged of the University of Auckland’s Newmarket Innovation Campus to provide an inside look at the groundbreaking work happening at the precinct, including cutting-edge research in sustainability, advanced engineering projects, collaborations with industries driving technological innovation and the thriving co-locator ecosystem that has been established.
Michael Rose 1

A Conversation with Michael Rose, Chair – Committee for Sydney

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Recently, several member of the Committee for Auckland (CfA) board had the privilege of spending a couple of hours with the long-serving chair of the Committee for Sydney (CfS).   CfS has been in existence for a similar period of time to CfA having formed out of a desire to see Sydney maintain the momentum generated by hosting the 2000 Olympic Games.   CfS experienced a low ebb coinciding with a period of relatively low investment and engagement by the state government. That changed when a more ambitious government was elected and former deputy mayor, Lucy Turnbull joined the CfS board as chair.   CfS has subsequently gone from strength to strength, rising to its current position with membership capped at around 150 organisations and a highly-capable executive, policy and policy team, wielding considerable influence.   Michael categorised advocacy as the single most important thing CfS does.

 There were many insights that flowed from the discussion with Michael.   Some key ones were:

  • CfS benefited from initially employing a high-energy CEO to re-launch the organisation (ie: a start-up mindset) and then subsequently transitioned to different leadership team and approach as the organisation grew and matured.
  • The importance of having an advocacy plan to support any report produced or sponsored by the organisation.
  • The breadth of (a carefully curated) membership ensures a whole of city focus, with the “room” always full of interesting people.   CfS is respected for its convening power.
  • In the absence of a big VC sector (relative to the likes of California) it is important to have the government “prime the pump” to drive innovation.   Interestingly, the big technology companies have advised that a major impediment to an expanding tech sector in Sydney was the cost of housing.
  • Social resilience and cohesion are growing concerns, with significant disparity in wealth and opportunity across the city.  This inequity had both geographic and intergenerational dimensions.
  • CfS derive considerable value from engaging speakers from equivalent organisations offshore (ie: leveraging the committee for city’s network).

A warm thanks to Michael for making time to spend with members of the CfA board during his recent visit to Auckland.

Lorraine Mentz

Former Future Auckland Leaders programme lead awarded NZ Order of Merit

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We’re delighted the huge contribution Lorraine has made to education and philanthropy has been recognised in the King’s Birthday honours, with Lorraine being made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Lorraine is an experienced social entrepreneur and network leader who has built a strong reputation working with public, private and ‘for purpose’ organisations in New Zealand and abroad.   Lorraine’s focus over the last 30 years has largely been on influencing and developing organisations and growing leaders.  Lorraine is currently Chief Executive of Hugh Green Foundation, a role she has held since January 2021.

Lorraine led CfA’s Future Auckland Leader programme for 13 years,  developing a curriculum that was agile and relevant to Auckland’s changing dynamic and demographic makeup included emerging leaders from all sectors – business, iwi, local government and the philanthropic sector.  During this time she coached over 100 of Auckland’s  ‘emerging leaders’.    The Future Auckland Leader Alumni are now widespread and hold many of the top jobs throughout New Zealand and overseas.

Lorraine was also the Founder and CEO of Springboard Trust from 2002-2019.  Springboard Trust (SBT) is focused on developing and scaling an impactful cross-sector enterprise assisting educational leaders throughout New Zealand.

In 2019 Lorraine initiated and started EPIT and is currently Co-Chair alongside Dr. Hana O’Regan.  The ‘Education Partnership and Innovation Platform’ (EPIT) addresses inequity in education through impactful, transformative partnerships. Lorraine has raised $12 million in order to ensure its sustainability through to 2028 as a collaborative platform and organization.

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Insights for Auckland from the Southeast Asia Trade Mission

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Arriving in Singapore, the business delegation, PM Christopher Luxon and Minister Watts and local NZ officials

In a strategic move to bolster New Zealand’s economic ties with Southeast Asia, Committee for Auckland Board Director and AcademyEx Founder/Director Frances Valintine recently joined Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts with a New Zealand business delegation to Southeast Asia.

With Southeast Asia collectively forming the world’s fifth-largest economy, New Zealand’s NZ$9.1 billion export figure in 2023 speaks volumes about the existing commercial bonds. The purpose of the visit was not only to reinforce existing ties but also to explore new avenues for collaboration, particularly in high-growth sectors such as green energy that promise mutual benefits.

The visit kicked off in Singapore, where PM Luxon’s discussions with Singaporean leaders resulted in agreements to upgrade the Enhanced Partnership. These agreements introduce a new focus on supply chains and green economy initiatives and are expected to open doors for increased trade and cooperation in essential areas like energy, defence, and technology.

A particular highlight of the time in Singapore was The Centre for Strategic Futures (CSF), a forward-thinking institution nestled within the Strategy Group of the Prime Minister’s Office. Its core mission is to position Singapore effectively for future challenges and opportunities by identifying and analysing long-term trends that could significantly impact the nation. 

The core focus of CSF is Futures research and scenario planning, crafting narratives that explore possible future developments across multiple domains and includes working with Singaporean government agencies to integrate strategic foresight into their planning processes and public engagement efforts to instil a broader societal understanding of future uncertainties and preparedness.

From Singapore, the delegation travelled to Thailand, where Prime Minister Luxon met with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to unveil ambitious plans, including elevating bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership by 2026 and tripling trade volumes by 2045. These discussions underscored a shared vision of deepening economic cooperation.

The journey concluded in the Philippines, where Prime Minister Luxon’s discussions with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. culminated in a commitment to elevate the Philippines-New Zealand relationship to a Comprehensive Partnership by 2026 and to boost bilateral trade by 50 percent by 2030. The visit was marked by significant agreements, such as a strategic cooperation arrangement between NZTE and the Ayala Group, which promises to open doors for New Zealand businesses in innovative and green economy sectors.

Highlighting the synergy between New Zealand’s technological and environmental expertise and Southeast Asian economic dynamism, Morrison Global announced an investment in a Philippine renewable energy company, signalling strong confidence in the region’s green energy sector. Additionally, the delegation’s involvement in the Manila-headquartered Asian Development Bank’s Energy Transition Mechanism emphasised New Zealand’s commitment to supporting sustainable energy initiatives across Southeast Asia. 

The trip not only emphasised the economic potential but also showcased New Zealand’s readiness to play a significant role in the region’s future growth and sustainability initiatives. It underlined New Zealand’s proactive, forward-looking approach, fostering ties that extend beyond trade to cultural and environmental cooperation.

New Zealand hosts a Aotearoa inspired event in Bangkok for local dignitaries and New Zealand connected business leaders

Fireworks at the Palace with President and First Lady Marcos, Manilla, Philippines. PM Christopher Luxon embraces the President and First Lady at a spectacular fireworks display

State of Brisbane

The State of Brisbane

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The Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA) recently released its inaugural State of the City Report, highlighting Brisbane’s growth and opportunities as an emerging global city.  Headlining the report is the city’s predicted economic increase of 68% to $275 billion in 2041.  Driving the momentum of growth are factors such as having Australia’s strongest demand for prime real estate, largest health ecosystem, most efficient trade network, highest professional services growth and the strongest tourism recovery after Covid. 

Judith Collins

Innovation in Auckland Judith Collins

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Hon Judith Collins at this year’s Asia Tech x Summit in Singapore

Continuing the Committee’s focus on boosting innovation in Auckland, the Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology Hon Judith Collins has accepted our invitation to speak to the Committee this month. Auckland is New Zealand’s innovation engine, but there is more the city needs to do to reach and surpass the levels of the competitor cities that Auckland is benchmarked against in the State of the City report.

Ms Collins will speak on the role of Auckland’s science, innovation and technology ecosystems and what steps can be taken to boost their effectiveness. Keep an eye out for the invitation in the next few days.

Please register for this event here
Innovation panel 1

Innovation and Knowledge Panel Event

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The Innovation and Knowledge panel: Pam Ford, Darsel Keane, Mike Horne and Andrew Fairgray

On 22 May an expert panel comprising Deloitte Chief Executive Mike Horne, Darsel Keane Director – Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland, and 2 degrees Chief Business Officer Andrew Fairgray came together for a discussion concerning Auckland’s innovation future, expertly facilitated by Pam Ford, Director of Economic Development at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.   The well-attended session was convened at GridAKL in the Wynyard Quarter Innovation Precinct.

The current situation was characterised as follows:

  • We have a well-regulated marketplace, first-class IT infrastructure, a well-educated population and respected universities with world-class research facilities.  Moreover, our oft-quoted “only two degrees of separation” means someone adjacent will be able to plug a technology gap.
  • In addition to losing key talent to major international cities, Auckland is losing talent to smaller, more affordable centres.  We don’t want to be the talent factory for the rest of the world!
  • NZ entrepreneurs are tending to focus in Agri Tech, Blue Tech, Med Tech, with greater growth options in Fin Tech or AI.
  • It transpires only 8% of Auckland Uni grads have an ambition to start a business.  This is somewhat below international averages.
  • NZ lacks depth in our capital markets.  Good companies can access money, but there is a strong bias towards tech firms.  New Zealand is generally well served by angel investment.  However, at the next seed investment levels is where capital is constrained.
  • We need to think about greater commercial outcomes in our research activity.  In the UK, knowledge mobilisation and transfer is now embedded in the KPIs used to rate the performance of academic staff.
  • Our education system is quite discipline-focused with students forced to choose at a comparatively young age.  There is a need to facilitate more cross-pollination to foster second careers.
  • Our innovation ecosystem is currently too complicated to navigate.  There is a gap around supporting people with early-stage ideas in respect of the provision of education and economic development.

Recommendations from the panel:

  • Storytelling is telling incredibly important to inspire, including a belief that it is OK to fail.
  • We need to turn on entrepreneur “lightbulbs” much earlier.  We also need positive images for 7-8 year old girls to grow the number of women in tech careers.
  • NZ needs both a national and a regional innovation strategy.
  • We need more seamless pathways for entrepreneurs.  Ideally corporates should create the ability for staff to spend time in a start-up environment and spend time in “city corridors”.
  • We also need stronger connections to the international cities we can learn from.
  • New Zealand has to continue to increase public (and private) R&D spending. Observations from overseas indicate private spending follows public. 
  • Bipartisan agreements are important for long-term programmes to work.  There is simply too much waste otherwise.
  • Gen Z are seeking better measures of productivity than current settings which tend to focus on input rather than outcomes.  Give them major project opportunities to either succeed or fail (with appropriate safeguards).  In most businesses, current settings are too risk adverse.
Invitation Graphic

Auckland’s Innovation Future Panel: The next steps

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Auckland is ranked lowest in the “Innovation” and “Knowledge” areas compared to our peer international cities in last year’s State of the City report. Although Auckland has promising advantages in foodtech, fintech and gaming, other cities are accelerating faster and Auckland has funding and infrastructure limitations. Although Auckland’s universities remain magnets for students and research, the supply of skills is not keeping pace with the needs of fast-moving technology sectors and the amount invested in R&D has a lot of room to grow.

The Committee for Auckland is hosting a panel discussion, Auckland’s Innovation Future: the next steps, to address this. It will highlight the good progress underway but also focus on the key opportunities and constraints that Auckland has in these vital sectors, and identity the next steps needed.

Our panelists have extensive knowledge and experience of business growth through their experiences within their respective fields such as business and education. Come along for a stimulating discussion about how Auckland can improve talent growth, international connections, funding challenges, the government relationship and more effective connections between employers and tertiary providers.

RSVP Here

Panelists

Mike Horne, Chief Executive, Deloitte New Zealand

Andrew Fairgray, Chief Business officer at 2Degrees, Auckland Tech Council member and contributor to Auckland’s path to becoming a Global Tech Hub

Darsel Keane, Director of the University of Auckland’s Centre for Innovation and Enterprise

Moderator

Pam Ford, Director of Economic Development at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, and initiator of Tech Tāmaki Makaurau

Event Details

Date: Thursday 23 May

Time: 7:30 – 8:45am

Location: Grid AKL/John Lysaght – 101 Pakenham Street West, Auckland 1010

RSVP and Registration

To secure your spot at this exclusive, invite-only event, please click on the RSVP link below. Limited seats available, register by Monday 20 May.

RSVP Here
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Insights into Global Government and Public Sector Trends

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Insights into Global Government and Public Sector Trends

Matthew Hitch, Deloitte’s Government and Public Services leader for Asia Pacific was the keynote speaker at an event hosted at Deloitte’s Auckland Headquarters on 28 February. The intimate nature of the event permitted an informal atmosphere and free-ranging discussion rather than a more structured Q & A session.  Drawing on his (in excess of) 30-years experience in various leadership positions across New Zealand, Asia Pacific, and the US where Matthew has led digital and technology initiatives for government and public sector clients, Matthew covered topics ranging from alternative infrastructure funding models such as PPP’s through to the challenges associated with the considerable economic diversity across the supercity.

Drawing from his extensive experience, Matthew delved into key findings from the 2023 State of the City international benchmark report, which compared Auckland with its peer cities worldwide. This report, commissioned by the Committee for Auckland in collaboration with Deloitte and Auckland Council’s economic and cultural agency, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, offered crucial insights into Auckland’s position on the global stage.

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