TechweekNZ to Showcase World-Changing Innovation Born in New Zealand
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New Zealand's booming technology industries will be given an international stage during the second annual TechweekNZ (May 19-27), a nine-day festival showcasing 'innovation that is good for the world.'
The innovation festival is set to showcase the rapid development of the country's technology sector with over 300 inspirational and community-driven conferences, hackathons, workshops, and networking events. The New Zealand technology sector – the country's third largest after agriculture and tourism – continues to expand at an unprecedented rate with more than $NZ 10 billion in annual revenue and employing over 100,000 people.
"TechweekNZ is not only about showcasing cutting edge technology, but amplifying brilliant ideas that are solving some of the most compelling global business challenges in a seamless and sustainable way," said Graeme Muller, CEO of industry association NZTech. "Our vision is to build New Zealand's international profile as a technology hub by sharing our unique and inspiring innovation stories with the world."
This year's festival will launch with a two-day deep dive into the New Zealand tech and innovation ecosystem during Good for the World Open Days. Hosted in partnership with the Trans-Tasman Business Circle, the event will see businesses across Auckland open their doors to host 15 sessions covering a range of topics such as AI, blockchain, design-thinking and the future of work. International visitors will have the opportunity to customize their own experience through a variety of packages offered by Trans-Tasman Business Circle.
The new festival format will also feature headline events focusing on: developing sustainable ways to feed the world (10 Billion Mouths); creative applications of virtual reality and artificial intelligence (Creative Realities); and using new technology to turn waste materials into high value items (The Fourth Revolution). TechweekNZ will highlight some of the most innovative companies within the agritech, creative and high-tech manufacturing industries, including:
- Robotics Plus: A company that is solving the growing challenges in primary industries through innovations such as autonomous robotic solutions that are re-imagining fruit production.
- Soul Machines: A fast-growing creative research company working at the leading edge of AI, neuroscience and psychology. It is revolutionizing the way humans interact with computers through its Digital Nervous System, which brings to life digital characters that can learn the complexity of human emotions, facial expressions, and language.
- Revolution Fibres: A world-leading nanofiber producer that uses a sonic electrospinning process to create a range of applications – from air filtration products to skincare delivery mechanisms.
The foundation for TechweekNZ was laid in 2012 when technology industry association NZTech launched it as an initiative to build enthusiasm around new technologies and encourage connectivity across sectors. After growing into an Auckland-wide festival in 2016, it evolved into a nationwide initiative last year, drawing more than 20,000 attendees to 287 events over the course of 9 days.
TechweekNZ seeks to promote New Zealand – a nation of 4.7 million people and a diaspora of one million people – as a global center of innovation within the U.S. technology community and on a world stage. The nation, which enjoys a time zone advantage that overlaps with U.S. business hours, was recently named the top country for Ease of Doing Business by The World Bank and was named the world's least corrupt country in Transparency International's 2018 global survey. The U.S. has invested $8.43 billion in foreign direct investment in New Zealand as of 2016, while U.S. affiliates of New Zealand-owned firms supported 27,000 U.S. jobs as of 2015.
For more information about TechweekNZ, including festival updates, speaker additions, event details and ticketing options, please visit techweek.co.nz.
About TechweekNZ: New Zealanders have a long tradition of world-changing innovations, bred in part from the country's physical isolation on the edge of the world, and in part from the curious and adaptive mindset of its people to think globally. TechweekNZ is an annual festival that fosters the growth of New Zealand's technology and innovation sectors by providing the national ecosystem with a week-long opportunity for connection and cross-pollination, and an independent platform through which to amplify the nation's unique and inspiring innovation stories to the world. The festival is run by the tech ecosystem under the guardianship of not-for-profit NZTech, which represents over 500 organizations across the New Zealand technology landscape who collectively employ over 100,000 people. TechweekNZ is funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and is produced with the support of a number of organizations.
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SOURCE TechweekNZ
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