PICTURE THIS: It's 2012 and New Zealand has 100 IT companies each earning more than $100 million a year; ICT export income is worth $16 billion a year, or 10 percent of GDP; there are 125,000 ICT jobs.
Have we got the right stuff to be part of this quantum leap? Have you got what it takes to lead a Top 100 ICT mover and shaker? Will the Government do its bit to help make it all happen? All these questions and more have leapt to prominence since the Government's ICT Taskforce unveiled its vision last week. Its draft report, downloadable at http://www.industrytaskforces.govt.nz (see below for further links to articles on the report) sets out some lofty goals for ensuring the sector plays a key role in achieving the Government's aim of getting NZ back into the top half of OECD nations. Canterbury Software is in on the ground floor, and Taskforce member Dennis Chapman reckons the time is right to go for gold. "At last we appear to be getting some traction at Government level," he told a CS forum on November 26 at the Canterbury Innovation Incubator. "The key now is to get enough traction with the general public. All any Government is interested in is getting votes." Industry NZ's Taskforce group made Christchurch its first port of call in a series of meetings around the country designed to get grassroots sector feedback on the report. Crucially, it wants ideas for an action plan to ensure no time is wasted by both Government and the private sector in fast- tracking growth along the lines suggested in the report. Those who attended the meeting, called at short notice, had plenty to say. Hot issues included Government procurement policies failing to support local players, R&F incentives, Government barriers to using mentors with a stake in the companies concerned, education's failure to deliver appropriate courses run by qualified teachers and many more. Now Canterbury Software wants to continue the discussion on this email forum (sign up at http://www.canterburysoftware.org.nz/forum.htm). You don't need to be a CS member to post your thoughts, just sign on for the forum and tell everyone what you think. Ideas will be packaged and sent to the Taskforce by the January 31 deadline for submissions. WHAT THEY SAID (paraphrased) Just to get you started, here are some snippets from straight-talking Christchurch luminaries who attended the Taskforce report meeting: KEITH COWAN, JADE: We're talking about quantum change here, but I believe it's possible. To be part of this, the Canterbury Software cluster needs to multiply by a factor of 10. That needs all sorts of things to happen � a whole heap of shit needs to take place. It needs to happen quickly and that means somebody ballsy needs to ensure it happens. DENNIS CHAPMAN, TASKFORCE MEMBER: It's difficult to identify which companies can do $100 million, and we don't propose to pick winners now. The idea is to set up the structure so those companies can grow. There is a problem with a lot of companies in the $2 million to $5 million range that are not going to get any bigger because the CEO is the inventor and he won't let it grow, and he won't bring in the right people. ROB EARLE, ECO HOLDINGS: The trouble with NZ is that everyone wants to be a CEO, to say they own their own company. The Kiwi mentality is that 'I can do it all own my own'. We should be matching services needed to markets. Those with expertise in obtaining funding or exporting should be merging with technology-driven companies. We've got too many small companies being spawned off and not enough people staying with mid-sized companies and helping them to grow. GRANT RYAN, REAL CONTACTS: I really like the report. The target of 100 companies at $100 million gives entrepreneurs something to aim for and there is the potential in Canterbury for quite a few to reach that target. DAVE LANE, EFFUSION: There are lots of disincentives for companies to grow. There is the issue of compliance costs, and hiring people is difficult. The industry needs a strong apprenticeship scheme so companies hiring students can afford to take the risk, and work through the hit in production that's needed to bring someone up to speed. VICKI HYDE, SPIS: What applies to electronics - and exporting widgets - doesn't necessarily apply to software. Encouraging large electronics companies to develop may help to spawn lots of smaller ones - we've seen plenty of examples of that - but that doesn't necessarily happen in the software sector. ROSS BROWN, UNIFY: The mentor-funding rules need to be changed. We need younger business people and they don't have time for altruism. A mentor needs to have a shareholding in the company so they will benefit in the long term, but the current funding rules don't allow them to be paid if they have a commercial interest. SUE STUBENVOLL, CREATIVE LOGIC: Banks have no method of evaluating the net present value of software; they put it in the too-hard basket. We need to get the banks themselves, working as a group, to set up a risk management framework to evaluate software and IP. TED WAGNER, TAIT: We need a VC industry in NZ. Banks are not set up to take risks. LINKS: ICT Taskforce report for download ((PDF file, 737KB) http://www.industrytaskforces.govt.nz Have your say at the Canterbury Software Forum http://www.canterburysoftware.org.nz/forum.htm. Infotech articles: ICT report deserves kudos http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2120214a1983,00.html & ICT report hailed http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2120226a28,00.html ComputerWorld article: ICT Taskforce report polarises developers http://www.idg.co.nz/webhome.nsf/UNID/55624F09D78CD684CC256C78007FC508!opend ocument Carol Webb WebbWords 32 Lindsay St St Albans Christchurch Tel: 03 377-6402 [EMAIL PROTECTED] --> via Canterbury Software email forum: Success through Connections Email your messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Searchable list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Leave or rejoin the list: http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/forum.htm
