WCC & Local IT: Statements, Initiatives, and Investments

I thought this was interesting. It’s a quick search on the various things that the Council has been doing to try and invest in IT. It supports the view that the decision to go offshore with Project Odyssey, is at variance with the Council’s proper’s ethos on supporting local business.

High Tech Capital - Wellington’s own advertisement to the world.

Wellington has the most New Zealand companies in the 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific index, a ranking of the top 500 technology businesses based on revenue growth.

More than half the revenue growth of the TIN100 across the country came from the Wellington region in 2013. The TIN 100 report measures high-tech companies. Wellington TIN 100 companies also grew close to three times faster than any other region. – Source

Angela Brownie, Grow Wellington’s General Manager for Business Growth says she can report engagement with 13 out of 16 Wellington companies on the index which is “very pleasing” for the regional economic development agency. “This latest success places Wellington as the high-tech capital of New Zealand,” Ms Brownie says. - Source

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The Summer of Tech non-profit programme is supported by Grow Wellington, Wellington City Council and technology companies and has created over 400 ICT internships in Wellington since its inception. – Source

Wellington City Council is looking to kick-start the development of a tech precinct by supporting the establishment of a ‘tech hub’ – a shared space in the CBD for business accelerators and incubators, start-up businesses and small enterprise, university programmes, with collaboration spaces and event and function facilities. – Source

Wellington is home to ICT companies with international reputations for innovation and technical excellence. You may have heard about companies such as Intergen, Xero andFronde. Look a little deeper and you’ll also find smaller companies with specialised technologies serving lucrative niche markets around the world – companies such as GreenButton, Mindscape andSilverstripe.

Whether they’re big or small firms servicing big or small clients, the common theme is that they’re successful companies that were born and have grown in Wellington. While some have even taken their clever technologies to the world many companies in Wellington’s ICT sector were born globally and are operating successfully here.

Wellington has sound infrastructure for experienced ICT professionals and a well-educated workforce. What sets the ICT industry in Wellington apart from the rest of the world is that the ICT community is creative and independent in their thinking, operating in a well-connected and collaborative business environment. – Source

Wellington based Xero named most innovative company in the world by Forbes 2014

New Zealand has about 500 organisations directly involved in commercialising innovation and we hold the highest concentration of those institutions here in Wellington. One of the most important organisations isCallaghan Innovation, where approximately 400 researchers, scientists, engineers, technologists, business people, investment managers and account managers work across the country to help businesses realise their potential. Approximately $140 million a year in business funding and grants. – Source

Wellington has a sophisticated and supportive startup ecosystem to help grow companies to become future leaders in global markets. – Source

Shaping Wellington’s Tech Future: Breakfast with Kevin Lavery

Now then, are we really sure there is no one in Wellington who can do what Project Odyssey needs?

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Ian Apperly is a Freelance Writer and sometimes ICT Consultant. "I've been in IT for over twenty years and a freelance writer for longer. I live in Wellington, New Zealand, the city on the edge of the world."@ianapperley on twitter. Blogs at http://strathmorepark.org/ . Appears occasionally at scoop.co.nz .

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