The economy has “shunted” the goal to attract 500 skilled tech workers and their families to the Waikato. Chris Gardner reports.
Growing the region’s tech economy is still part of the programme. Photo: Luis Gomes
The Cultivate Trust, a collective of private businesses, education providers, and public entities, set a lofty goal two years ago as part of the the in the Tron initiative.
The Waikato Business News asked trustee Mike Bennett how the campaign to grow the region’s tech economy was going.
“We just said do you think we could get 500 people here? We said let’s try, let’s go for it,” said Bennett who is also Hamilton City Council’s economic development manager.
“It’s not something that is actively tracked. We’ll know we hit it when we look around and see more tech companies hiring. The economy might have shunted that, but that’s not something that we are saying if we don’t hit it, we failed. It’s a goal to push out there as we’re striving for that goal.”
Silver Imac Displaying Collage Photos. Photo: Designecologist
Technology Investment Network figures in 2023 showed the Waikato’s technology sector grew by 11.2 per cent, generating $1.3 billion with a 7.6 per cent market share compared to Auckland and Northland’s $9.6 billion (56 percent) and Wellington’s $4.1 billion (23.9 percent).
Although Tech in the Tron has an important role to ensure the Waikato is getting exposure, Bennett said it was critical to take an all-of-New Zealand approach to tech investment promotion.
“There is a great case to be made for tech investment in Hamilton and Waikato precisely because of its neighbours Auckland and central,” he said.
“Technology and innovation is a sector that thrives on agglomeration with businesses that seek to co-locate with industry peers, so it’s important to present ourselves as one sector that has multiple nodes, all accessible and each with its own unique value proposition.”
The region’s tech sector had long described the region as the Silicon Valley of New Zealand. A moniker that no longer works for the Waikato in Bennett’s opinion.
“It’s its own thing. We’re not trying to be anything like anywhere else.”
Audacious goal aside, Bennett said, the trust and Tech in the Tron campaign is more focused on micro successes.
“We want Hamilton and the Waikato to put its hand up and showcase itself as a really dynamic and great place to be tech.”
The Tech in the Tron website promotes the region’s capability in advanced manufacturing, agritech, artificial intelligence and machine learning, building and maintain next generation software, cybersecurity and managed services.
A group of people watch a laptop. Photo: Fox
Recent profiles include commercial interior design business Designwell the University of Waikato’s co-working Hiko Hub precinct, web design and development agency N4 Studio and fibreoptic infrastructure business Tuatahi First Fibre.
The trust’s focus has been bringing the technology community together and sharing its success stories, Bennett said. It did that recently with an event where politicians mixed with sector leaders.
“The primary goal of the project was always to be the storefront for the gathering place for our tech sector – both those that are here and those who want to be here. Mainly to share their stories and put up our hand and say ‘hey, there’s a really dynamic and growing tech sector here’, that maybe just don’t hear about as much. So that was the primary goal.”
The future will be less about hosting events for more than 50 ICT companies across the region, and more about asking the technology community how it can help.
“We’re basically flipping around saying, what do you guys want to do and let us support it, promote it, fund it,” Bennett said.
“There’s a whole subset of people in a bunch of different companies and industries. If they want to get together and trade notes and get to know each other better and just feel more connected to that world, let us be the organisers and the people who make it happen, but we’re not there with a microphone and a PowerPoint. We just want to truly be the enablers.”
Mike Bennett
