Stop producing middling business graduates, turn on the tech tap (IPENZ)
By Peter Kerr for sticK
(sticK - 10 Feb. 2011 ) The fact we produce a high proportion of business graduates, most only studying general skills, and relatively few technical graduates is one reason for our country's poor innovation performance according to IPENZ.
The Institution of Professional Engineers of NZ's recent document and thought piece 'Catalysing economic growth - boosting innovation expertise in the private sector' says we need to boost expertise in our private sector to develop, adapt and adopt new technologies
We also need to make the NZ economy more 'sticky' to high technology companies so they remain here the document says.
"We lack international business expertise, technically-literate management expertise and commercially-literate technical expertise in our private sector," it says.
"The new tiger economies have lifted their economic performance by flooding their economies with technical graduates, and then at their mid-career converting many of the more able to them to become managers of high technology businesses. A diverse management stock including a proportion whose origins were in technical roles, enriches companies."
IPENZ contends that too many of our top brains end up in the spending economy such as health, law, accountancy, banking, infrastructural engineering, and environmental science, and too few in the earning economy. In effect the tradeable sector or earning industries, are making do with too little of our top talent.
For sticK – science, technology, innovation & commercialisation KNOWLEDGE - is a new Wellington based news service concentrating on following the money from ideas to income. Contact editor Peter Kerr at peter.kerr055 @ gmail.com

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