Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.

NZICT appoints new Board of Directors

Posted on 1-Aug-2012 13:52 | Filed under: News


NZICT, the industry association representing the tech sector of New Zealand, appoints a new Board to include Directors from top IT, government and education organisations.

The NZICT Group has a new board, including representatives from the government and education sectors, following its 4th Annual General Meeting held in Auckland late last week.

New NZICT board members include Director of ICT Matt Ritchie from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, John Wadsworth, Dean of the Faculty of Business, from Manukau Institute of Technology and Jo Healey the Managing Director of Fujitsu New Zealand.

The new board members join those board members who were re-elected for a successive term. They are: Gen-i CEO Chris Quin, Microsoft MD Paul Muckleston, HP Managing Director Keith Watson, IBM Group Marketing Manager Michael Friedberg, Simpl Chairman Bennett Medary, Fronde CEO Ian Clarke, Kinetics Managing Director Andrew Hunt and Swaytech Director Bob Pinchin.

Departing board members this year include the CEO of the NZ Telecommunication Forum David Stone (Board appointed Independent Director), CEO for Datacom Greg Davidson and the GM for Strategy, Capital and Partners from NZTE, Richard Laverty.

This year’s Board Chair will be appointed at the first meeting of the new Board in early September.

"I am thrilled to be working with such a strong and dynamic Board,” says NZICT CEO Candace Kinser, “We are intent on accelerating the industry’s growth and economic prosperity for the country; it’s fantastic that we have input not only from the leaders of the business side of ICT, but also from government and education. We are well positioned to make positive impact across the sector.”

NZICT membership is growing, with new members joining from across the industry to include polytechs, government agencies, market research firms, start-ups and a broader array of technology based companies.

“The growing interest in being part of NZICT is due to the recognition that “IT” means more than just software or hardware; it includes hi-tech manufacturing, education institutes, consulting firms and tech businesses of all shapes and sizes. Any company that uses, embeds, trains, advises on or produces technology as part of their livelihood is welcome as our member,” says Ms Kinser.

With exports of around $5 billion and the fastest growth index for any industry in the country, technology is already the third largest export segment market in New Zealand behind dairy and tourism, and is on track to be the leading export earner for the country by 2020.

“Our focus this year is on increasing the opportunities for young people to get into technology as a career, promoting women in the sector, showcasing our growing companies offshore, including leveraging the America’s Cup activities in the USA,” says Kinser.

“NZICT aspires to help kiwi technology businesses lift the country’s export earnings significantly over the coming years.”