Peter Sansom attended the recent Ingenium Conference, held in Dunedin, whose theme was ‘A Climate of Change,’ and found both keynote speakers motivating, energising and informative.
Kevin Stirratt from Forsyth Barr, the keynote speaker on day one, noted that emerging markets are starting to play a bigger role in world economies driven by research, innovation and technology. His paper, titled “Globalisation, Interdependence and Change,” used the world economy, demographics, market demand and the relative change in GDP between different countries (in particular China) to examine how different funding mechanisms suited changing variables, and how PPP funding might better suit initiatives with large capital requirements. He summarised by stating that “change is constant” and NZ is well placed to supply services to the world market in the areas of agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture, tourism and education.
Ian Taylor from Animation Research Ltd., keynote speaker on day two, considered one of the keys to his businesses success has come from using technology to present data in innovative ways that resulted in spin-off opportunities (e.g. asset management applications from models initially developed for sports animation purposes). Ian’s presentation was informative, inspiring and demonstrated how, despite NZ’s relative remoteness from the rest of the world, small companies here can be world leaders simply by having a positive outlook and following passions and dreams.
Resolve Group’s Garson Bell also presented a paper at the conference. Titled, “The Smart Way,” it is an overview of changes in technology use in the transport sector.
