Connecting NZ's government and industry

The second annual NZTech Advance Government and Technology Summit in Wellington on 28 February will play a landmark role in helping New Zealand become a stronger digital nation, according to NZTech Chief Executive Graeme Muller.

The summit will host key players from government, industry and technology to lead discussions on transformative technology aiding the delivery of better public services.

The event will offer insights from people working behind the scenes about the government’s ICT strategy framework and the complex issues behind the government adoption of the public cloud. The public sector is the single largest customer of the tech sector.

“Among those attending are leaders and executives from government and technology, senior policymakers, senior advisers, controllers and strategists from government agencies and enterprise architects, technology and operations managers from local and central government, health and education,” said Muller.

“The summit has also attracted risk officers, transformation leaders, performance leaders and business partners within government and industry and finally chief information officers and their top team members from NZ-based and international companies,” added Muller.

With up to 40% of all money spent on tech in New Zealand spent by the public sector, enabling agencies to share innovative ways of using technology will drive better public services, Muller said.

According to Muller, productivity in New Zealand has declined over the past 40 years compared to other small developed economies. With services making up 70% of New Zealand’s GDP, it is here that the greatest productivity challenge exists.

“Technology is at the heart of improving productivity of government services. Discussions between government and industry are now far more ‘gritty’ and open, and able to grapple with real issues faced by agencies.

“But the environment in many government agencies does little to nurture innovation. While there is a proliferation of data in government agencies, a resistance, or inability, to share and collaborate is undermining the value of the data.”

Muller said that next month’s summit at Te Papa (New Zealand’s national museum and exhibition centre, in Wellington) is central to both the government’s aspiration for the economy and transforming the way government operates and delivers public services.

Pictured: NZTech’s Graeme Muller.

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