ICT: Industry-State Sector Co-Operation Envisaged

ICT Growth Initiative Envisages Close Industry-State Sector Co-Operation

Measures to jumpstart growth in New Zealand’s ICT industry and target a US$120 billion international market in government technology applications were advocated today by the Information Technology Association of New Zealand (ITANZ).

ITANZ Executive Director Jim O’Neill said a comprehensive ITANZ study demonstrated that through closer collaboration between the ICT industry and the state sector, new technology for use in government operations around the world could produce between $535 million and $804 million in new revenues over a five-year time span.

He said the catalyst for such growth under the ITANZ proposal would be a Centre for Advanced Government Applications that would act as a clearing house to identify and commercialise solutions for use by government agencies in New Zealand and world-wide.

The Centre would be administered by representatives of the ICT Industry and the state sector. Universities, local government and research organisations would be involved. Funding would be drawn from a combination of royalty earnings from successful projects and financial contributions from industry and government sources.

“A project such as this is vital for two reasons,” he said. “The first is to stimulate revenues, skills and job expansion in a technology sector that is an essential part of national development. The second is that without such a catalyst for new growth there is little prospect of achieving ICT Task Force targets that are a cornerstone of the Government’s economic growth plans.”

The Centre would become a focal point for state sector industry co-operation, determining means of reducing risk to government operations in adopting new ICT technologies and identifying up to 15 projects a year for research, development and implementation. Each would be required to have a global application in order to qualify as a Centre project.

Mr O’Neill said the next step was talks with Government representatives on a programme for implementation of the proposals.

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