NZ | Technology + Innovation + Agriculture

[SYDNEY]

Scientists win prize for research

Two scientists whose work behind the scenes in New Zealand's food and beverage industry has been described as a "marriage made in heaven" have been recognised with the $500,000 2012 Prime Minister's Science Prize. The top award, announced this morning, goes to Distinguished Professor Paul Moughan and Professor Harjinder Singh, co-directors of the Massey University-based Riddet Institute, which they up more than a decade ago to establish the Riddet Institute as a world-leading centre for food science research. Since then, the institute has secured more than $40 million in research funding and used it to carry out fundamental and strategic research and apply the knowledge to create new food products and systems. The institute has also trained 80 postgraduate scholars and 30 postdoctoral fellows. Examples their work include the development of a hghly effective probiotic, ProBioLife, establishing the health benefits of kiwifruit, and a technology that allows high doses of fish oil-derived Omega-3 fatty acids to be added to food products without a fishy smell and after taste. "A lot of new ideas and new ways of thinking are generated at the Riddet Institute and graduates take that knowledge out into industry," Professor Singh said. Professor Singh's expertise is in food protein structures and how they interact in food systems while Professor Moughan's work focuses on how proteins are broken down and absorbed in the digestive system and the resulting physiological benefits ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

Teenager's discovery opens eyes

An Auckland teenager has proved a fresh pair of eyes should never be underestimated when it comes to science. And eyes are the forte of 17-year-old Hannah Ng, a Year 13 student at St Cuthbert's College who yesterday was awarded the Prime Minister's Future Scientist Prize. Even before reaching university, Hannah has given researchers a novel theory that may have shed new light on global eye problems - and could change the way glasses are designed. Often at the expense of her free time, Hannah spent four years researching childhood myopia, or short-sightedness, which is a focusing error of the eye that causes blurry vision. Hannah grew interested in myopia - affecting up to 40 per cent of Europeans and 90 per cent of some Asian populations - when many of her peers started to wear glasses after eye checks at school. Having won a scholarship with the Liggins Institute scientist mentorship programme, Hannah began working with principal investigator John Phillips, at the University of Auckland's Myopia Laboratory. Drawing on other research, she used chicken models and made tiny sets of goggle-like multifocal lenses and placed them over their eyes to investigate different effects on their vision ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

Gen-i to invest in new Wellington and Auckland data centres

Gen-i has today announced the company will build new greenfield data centres in Wellington and Auckland. This follows Gen-i’s recent investment in a new Christchurch data centre, currently being developed in partnership with Christchurch International Airport. This new investment in data centres forms part of Gen-i’s strategy to help clients take advantage of ICT applications and services that leverage the rollout of UFB, and will expand its existing nationwide network of 14 data centres in cities and regional centres, linked by fibre, copper and mobile networks. The two new data centres will complement Gen-i’s existing Wellington and Auckland facilities, providing businesses with a range of data hosting and networking services, particularly for clients who cannot take their data outside New Zealand due to security and regulatory compliance concerns. The new Wellington data centre will be built to a modular design that provides for two stages, with delivery in 2014/15. It will have initial capacity for 350 racks, with the capability to scale up to deliver a high density 700 rack capacity as required. The new Auckland data centre will be built to a modular design that provides for three stages, with delivery in mid-2014. It will have an initial 350 rack capacity, with the capability to scale up to deliver a 1000 rack capacity as required. Both new facilities will incorporate the key data centre design principles of resilience, energy efficiency and future flexibility. They will feature a highly resilient infrastructure design with a heavy focus on energy efficiency (PUE) and footprint, advanced environmental monitoring and physical security, supported by Gen-i’s 24x7x365 management processes. Jo Allison, CEO (acting) of Gen-i Australasia, said the new data centres are part of Gen-i and Telecom’s ongoing investment in quality infrastructure to support demand from New Zealand business and Government for ICT services. “We are seeing a growth in demand for data centre space in both Wellington and Auckland, driven by the increasing uptake of cloud services and the exponential growth of data,” said Allison. “We’re committed to supporting our clients’ growth by continuing to invest in quality new infrastructure alongside innovative new services,” she said. “With the rollout of new fibre and mobile networks across New Zealand, more and more businesses are looking for ICT solutions that harness fibre speeds to deliver exciting new applications in areas such as cloud, mobility, video and collaboration,” said Allison. “The two new Gen-i data centres we’ve announced today will play a key role in delivering these solutions to our clients.”

[SYDNEY]

Education firm gives NZ a big tick for the three 'Rs'

New Zealand has been ranked as having one of the top education systems in the world. Out of 40 countries, New Zealand came eighth in The Learning Curve global education report, published by education firm Pearson. The report looked at the performance rates of various countries in reading, writing and maths, using existing data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Researchers found that those countries at the top of the league table and dubbed the "education superpowers" - Finland and South Korea - prioritised developing high-quality teachers. Countries such as Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore had societies where education and learning was of the greatest importance and where parents were very much involved with their children's education. Although money invested into education systems was always needed, having a particular culture for learning was a key ingredient for success, researchers said. "Good teachers" had the ability to bring about positive change among their students, instilling in them, for example, the need to save money for later in life. "While there is no doubt that money invested in education reaps rewards, cultural change around education and ambition is equally - if not more - important than income in promoting better educational outcomes," the report said. NZ Educational Institute spokesman Paul Goulter praised teachers' work. He said the close culture among Kiwi teachers and a passion to do the best for pupils had always been key factors for a successful education model. "The profession is about teaching children and doing it not for the pay, but for them."

Top 10

1 Finland
2 South Korea
3 Hong Kong
4 Japan
5 Singapore
6 United Kingdom
7 Netherlands
8 New Zealand
9 Switzerland
10 Canada

[SYDNEY]

China will be NZ's biggest wine market

China's thirst for red wine is pressuring supplies from New Zealand and one New Zealand winery has sold out of its premium Hawke's Bay labels. Babich Wines general manager David Babich said the company's total premium label production was spoken for this year because of the growing Chinese market. "That's not something we've had from year to year." His comments come as new figures show cabernet merlot exports to China passed the one million litre mark for the first time in 2012, a 50 per cent increase on the previous year. The Chinese are red wine drinkers, and of New Zealand's total $25 million in wine exports to China in the year to June, $10m was cabernet merlot. Given New Zealand is primarily a sauvignon blanc exporter, the growing demand from China is proving a boost for red wine producing areas such as Gimblett Gravels in Hawke's Bay. Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District chairman Tony Bish said China was expected to overtake Britain as New Zealand's biggest market for cabernet merlot next year, and by 2014 one in every two bottles of the style was likely to be going to China. As Hawke's Bay produced 85 per cent of New Zealand's cabernet sauvignons and merlots "it's very much a Hawke's Bay opportunity". "There's a lot of optimism that there's significant potential for medium and high-priced wines in China." At the moment a lot of Gimblett Gravels' production was going into grocery-priced bottles of wine at under $20, Bish said. But it had proved its quality internationally, and it now needed to build its brand. "The opportunity is to trade up. A good 80 per cent of what we're producing should go out at premium price points." Babich said three years ago China was his company's 20th largest export market but was now its third largest. "A fire has been lit under China with regard to supply of New Zealand wine." ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

Dairy export volumes show large increase

In the September 2012 quarter, seasonally adjusted dairy export volumes rose 32 percent, Statistics New Zealand said today. Milk powder was the largest contributor to this rise. Dairy products made the largest contribution to a 9.7 percent rise in seasonally adjusted export volumes. Meat export volumes rose 15 percent. Import volumes rose 0.7 percent, led by intermediate and capital goods. "Dairy export volumes are at record levels, after adjusting for seasonal effects," prices manager Chris Pike said. "Dairy values remain at high levels, even though export prices have fallen for five consecutive quarters." Export prices fell 6.3 percent, led by dairy prices (down 13 percent), while import prices fell 3.3 percent, led by a fall in petroleum and petroleum product prices (down 13 percent). In the September 2012 quarter, the terms of trade fell 3.2 percent. A fall in the terms of trade means that fewer imports can be funded by the same quantity of exported goods. The terms of trade are 9.1 percent lower than a year ago. The price and volume indexes for exports and imports of goods are compiled mainly from overseas merchandise trade data.

[SYDNEY]

Chicane Racewear releases new, super lightweight race suit

Auckland-based motorsport clothing specialists Chicane Racewear have developed a new, super lightweight two-layer race suit, called the M-6, specifically for New Zealand and Australian racing conditions. Having received confirmation of the suit’s homologation to meet the necessary safety standards from the world governing body of motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Chicane Racewear is now busy manufacturing the comfortable, lightweight race suits in its Auckland premises and promoting them to competitors on both sides of the Tasman and across Asia. The new Chicane M-6 suits feature new holographic ‘destruct on removal’ labels which carry a unique serial number for each suit, a system introduced by the FIA for 2013 to help prevent counterfeit suits being sold as FIA-approved on the global market. Chicane Racewear’s director and triple New Zealand motor racing champion Shane Drake explains the development process of the new two-layer fabric technology used in the M-6 suit. “For the past two years we have kept up with world trends, manufacturing lightweight three-layer suits which utilised extremely breathable, lighter fabrics. The fabric technology and its use of air gaps help keep heat away from the driver’s body, an understandably important characteristic in a race suit given the often high temperatures inside a racecar cabin or cockpit,” says Drake. “In 2011 Chicane was the first in the world to use a newly-developed intermediate layer in our three-layer suits, a very thin layer which comprised hundreds of thousands of small apertures to further aid driver cooling ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

NZ scores on energy sustainability

New Zealand has scored highly in an international survey of energy sustainability. The World Energy Council’s Energy Sustainability Index ranks countries on availability, security, affordability and quality of energy, and amount of energy from low-carbon and renewable sources. The Index shows most countries assessed are far from achieving sustainable energy systems, with many struggling with energy security, affordability and environmental impacts. The top ten ranked countries are Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Japan, France and Austria. New Zealand, in 6th place, scores highly for renewable energy sources and for management of environmental impacts. BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly says New Zealand’s high ranking is testament to the development of sound energy policies by successive New Zealand Governments over many years. “Affordable, secure, renewable energy sources are essential for our standard of living and for productive business which supports it. “Good energy policy is not easy to achieve – getting the right infrastructure built, accessing energy reserves and having robust systems for things like emissions trading can be complex, as New Zealanders know. “There is much room for improvement, however this ranking is a welcome acknowledgement of success in this important area,” Mr O’Reilly said.

[SYDNEY]

Steve Wozniak judge for 2013 NZ Hi-Tech Awards

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, has been named as one of the international judges of the 2013 NZ Hi-Tech Awards, which open for entry today. Already confirmed to join Wozniak as part of the stellar international judging panel for 2013 are:

• Rob Adams – Director of Texas Venture Labs
• Claudia Batten - Co-founder of Victors & Spoils
• Howard Charney - Senior Vice-President, Cisco and co-founder of 3Com
• Katherine Corich – Global CEO, Sysdoc
• Patrick Kenealy - Managing Director, IDG Ventures San Francisco
• Andy Lark - Chief Marketing Officer, Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• Richard Mander – Vice-President Product Management and Technology, Visualant
• Craig Nevill-Manning - Director of Engineering, Google
• Steve Wozniak – Co-founder of Apple

Additional members of the local and international judging panels will be confirmed early in 2013 ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

Software firm in big UK project

An Auckland-based software company is involved in rolling out one of Europe's largest speech-recognition services, which will be used by 1300 doctors when completed next year. Winscribe, which develops digital dictation systems to help users save time on paperwork, has over 3500 customers across 25 countries. The company is involved in rolling out a speech-recognition project to teaching hospitals in the English city of Leeds. The first stage of this project - which mostly involved digital dictation - was completed two months ago and the next step involves setting up speech-recognition systems. While the speech-recognition offering is not 100 per cent accurate, Winscribe's marketing and communications manager Florian Stroehle said the technology had improved in recent years. The Leeds venture was begun by a company which Winscribe acquired last year. The contract to roll out the service was reported to be worth more than £1 million ($1.95 million) and the largest of its kind in that part of the world. Winscribe's core dictation service allows its customers - which include police, hospital staff, lawyers and insurance workers - to fill out reports or other documents faster using smartphones, landline telephones and other devices ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

NZ tech firms among fastest growing

Forty-five New Zealand firms are among the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in the Asia-Pacific region. The Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific index was announced in Hong Kong last night and saw seven New Zealand companies make the top 100. The index ranks companies based on revenue growth over the past three years and Deloitte said New Zealand has the highest representation per capita out of the countries in this year's list. Transport technology and services company EROAD was the only Kiwi company to make the top 10, with revenue growth of 2746 per cent. EROAD's chief executive Steven Newman said the company's growth came from developing something "nobody had ever done before". The company was the first in the world to develop electronic road-user charging for heavy-transport vehicles such as trucks, he said. Now the concept has been proven in New Zealand, Newman said EROAD was eyeing overseas markets. Online electricity retailer PowerKiwi came in 18th on the index with revenue growth of 1916 per cent while Wellington software firm GreenButton ranked 32nd, posting growth of 1248 per cent. Deloitte partner Stephen Nicholas, said Kiwi businesses make up almost 10 per cent of all companies on the list and it was proof that New Zealanders are among the best technology entrepreneurs in the region. "The Technology Fast 500 results illustrate that for innovative Kiwi businesses the relatively small size of the New Zealand market is not a barrier to achieving stellar growth," Nicholas said. "As long as they get their business model right and remain true to their core values, they can compete with the best in the world."

[SYDNEY]

Government pitches greener growth alongside oil, gas push

The government is committing to improving the quality of New Zealand's natural resource base at the same time as pushing more intensive agriculture and more extraction of minerals, oil and gas to accelerate economic growth. The latest update on its economic growth agenda, released this morning by Finance Minister Bill English and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, appears to heed growing criticism of the government's apparent willingness to sacrifice environmental priorities for economic needs. It articulates a new goal, saying: "the quality of our natural resources base improves over time while sustaining the growth needed from key sectors to meet our 40 percent exports to gross domestic product target." The key sectors identified are farming, forestry and fisheries and extractive industries, such as gold and coal mining, and oil and gas field development, with a section that considers the potential economic impact if New Zealand found "another Taranaki" among its 17 relatively unexplored petroleum basins. The report was released on the same morning as the government was preparing to announce the outcome of tenders for oil and gas exploration blocks that encompass both the mature Taranaki oil and gas field and a range of other offshore and onshore fields. "The primary sector and the energy and minerals sector, for example, will need to make a major contribution to export growth to meet the target and both of these sectors depend heavily on New Zealand's natural resource base," the report, titled "Building Natural Resources", says. The goal sits along a clutch of other high level targets, which includes an "ambitious" target of increasing exports to 40 percent of GDP by 2025, and is cited as the reason for the need to make further reforms to both local government decision-making and the Resource Management Act. "Meeting this challenge will require better and faster decisions around resource allocation", including for infrastructure development as well as primary industry needs, such as efficiently allocated access to freshwater ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

Internet software company launched

An internet software company has been launched to make it easier for businesseses to get fresh content and harness social media for their websites. The software company is being driven by Jonny Hendriksen and Paul Bingham, both who have resided in Canterbury in recent years, and who are keen to take the concept global. Shuttlerock will mean generating fresh content that is recognised by search engines has never been easier or more affordable, Bingham said. "Currently there is just not enough time to keep adding fresh content to a company website. There are also too many social channels to chase effectively and more are coming." Bingham said Shuttlerock was developed to tackle a number of current problems many businesses experience with their online marketing efforts, problems both he and Hendriksen had encountered running their own businesses." Companies are challenged to get best use out of social media sites, search engine optimisation can be complicated and often is expensive and some content management systems can also be complicated and often only one person looks after it," Hendriksen said. "From our own experiences we know more and more customers are demanding up to date and interactive content from their web experience. The days of the static website content have come to an end as customers are demanding up to date content." Hendricksen said it was the first time that a company has created a means for businesses to reach a customer's friends and receive recognition from search engines for content on their website. "The Shuttlerock system creates lots of good relevant content meaning potential customers stay on a site longer, and that means they are more likely to take action." The owners behind Shuttlerock include Hendriksen and Tim Williams, who together founded companies in Japan in the early 2000s ... MORE

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Geeks on a Plane find vibrant entrepreneur scene here

American venture capitalist Dave McClure had some advice for entrepreneurs pitching their businesses at an event in Auckland on Tuesday night - talk about your customers, if you have any. "If you have traction lead with traction," said the founder of Silicon Valley-based business accelerator and seed fund 500 Startups. "If you're telling me a long story I'm probably going to be a little less interested." McClure is leading a group of international investors and technology entrepreneurs on a visit to New Zealand this week as part of the Geeks on a Plane tour. The geeks - including Living Social co-founder Aaron Batalion, TechCrunch writer Ryan Lawler, Silicon Valley investor Charles Hudson and prominent US angel investor Andrea Zurek - visited rich-lister Alan Gibbs' farm north of Auckland on Tuesday and Weta Workshop in Wellington yesterday ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

NZ to lead global research on methane gas emissions

New Zealand is leveraging its understanding of methane emissions from farm animals to lead global research on reducing the powerful, but short-lived gas's production. Climate Change Minister Tim Groser says the project is a workstream in a project being taken on by the newly formed Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), which New Zealand is joining. Some 34 percent of total GHG emissions in New Zealand are from methane, a shorter-lived but far more powerful gas than what Groser called "the real climate change problem", carbon dioxide. As a result of this unusually methane-rich emissions profile, scientific effort has concentrated on the area and was a key reason for New Zealand being a prime mover in establishing the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural GHG's, at the otherwise failed global talks in Copenhagen, in 2009. Groser has returned from the global climate change talks, held this year in Doha, Qatar, where nations representing around 85 percent of global emissions, including New Zealand's tiny contribution, made sluggish progress on a post-Kyoto climate treaty to take effect in 2020 and be negotiated by 2015. He has taken political flak from environmental advocates over the government's decision to take New Zealand drop out of the Kyoto Protocol just before the Doha talks began. The Doha meeting did agree to two streams of work - one focusing on the 2020 agreement and beyond, and a second on "raising ambitions" for emissions reductions before 2020 ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

Teen wins award for robot

A groundbreaking window-cleaning robot has won an Auckland teenager an international award. Sohail Abdulla, 17, from Mt Roskill Grammar School began inventing a robotic window cleaner for his father who suffers back and knee pain. But judges at the Genesis Energy Realise the Dream event thought his device had more merit than just as a handy tool for Abdulla's dad and tonight he was awarded the inaugural American Ambassador Outstanding Award. They were particularly impressed with Abdulla's understanding of the engineering research and development process through to testing a prototype. Abdulla has been offered an all expenses paid trip to participate at the INTEL Science & Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona in May 2013. The fair is the biggest of its type in the world with over 1500 participants from around the globe showcasing their science research and innovations. Abdulla has spent the last week at Realise the Dream, a national event which rewards 20 students for their science research or engineering.

[SYDNEY]

Firm re-engineers caravan for Gen-Y

In news bound to set the hearts of caravanners everywhere aflutter, a Christchurch company has come up with a revolutionary design to replace the traditional clunky box that holds up holiday traffic for kilometres on narrow winding roads. Christchurch design consultancy W2 is calling the Romotow "the next frontier in mobile living". It's the first really dramatic reinvention of the caravan since the 1960s, company directors Matt Wilkie and Stuart Winterbourn reckon. It's a caravan for generation Y. The design of the Romotow incorporates a living area that swivels out from an exterior shell, adding up to 70 per cent more living space as well as a covered outdoor section complete with fold-out barbecue. Wilkie and Winterbourn started contemplating improvements on the design of the traditional caravan because a friend imports caravans from Britain. Discussions about the possible cost-savings of a "flat-packed" caravan at a family picnic, and a Swiss army knife, got the Romotow rolling. "The concept is from the Swiss army knife and being able to open up all your gadgets," Wilkie said. With traditional caravan designs if you were inside it, you were often hot, and not really involved in the environment you were in, Winterbourn said ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

Ricoh named in Top 100 Global Innovators list

Ricoh New Zealand’s parent corporation, Ricoh Company Ltd, has been named as one of the 2012 Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators. The list honours 100 corporations and institutions around the world “that are at the heart of innovation”. Ricoh New Zealand Managing Director Mike Pollok says the Ricoh brand is built on innovation, which is the key ingredient for business success today and in the future. That view reflected in the Thomson Reuters financial analysis which shows the organisations in the 2012 Top 100 Innovators List outperforming the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 3% in their market cap weighted revenue (15% versus 12%). “We are delighted that Ricoh Group has been included in the list because it reinforces the importance of innovation and recognises that Ricoh practices what we preach,” Pollok says. “Innovation is not only the key to greater profitability but also the key to business survival. Organisations that can continuously improve and adapt to change will survive. Bluntly, those that are inefficient and can’t deal with the technology revolution will fade or die.” Criteria for the Top 100 Global Innovators list are patent related to reflect innovative products and services, and Pollok says Ricoh New Zealand is playing its part ... MORE

[SYDNEY]

New Zealand olive oil ranked best in the world

Waiheke Island’s Rangihoua Estate is the only Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Evoo) in the Southern Hemisphere to be awarded a spot in the Flos Olei best 20, they have also been awarded the distingusihed title of ‘Il Frantoio di Frontiera’ which translates to ‘The Frontier Farm’. The Flos Olei is the world’s guide book to the best Evoo in the world and it’s no easy feat to get into this bible of experts. Oils from 43 different countries are represented as a panel of 50 tasters test and try over 3000 oils to see who is the best. The tastings takes place in Rome over a period of 4-5 months. Only the top 500 oils make it into the book and from this the best top 20 are also selected. This award not only acknowledges Rangihoua Estate’s Olive oil excellent organoleptic properties, but also the dedication, passion and commitment of the grove in optimizing the whole production from tree to bottle. Colin Sayles and Anne Stanimiroff, owners of Rangihoua Estate, are astounded and humbled by the award. They were the first in the North Island to produce olive oil only 15 years ago and so to achieve such recognition against other olive growers and producers that have been making olive oil for generations is outstanding. It is very much a team effort between Colin who is an engineer, Anne who oversees the harvest, blending and overall management and also Darryl Beech, who operates the olive mill and helps with the blending. Colin and Anne are in Rome now for the Prize Giving Ceremony for the ‘The Best 20’ and launch of the of the 2013 Flos Olei Guide and will be back in New Zealand later this week.

[SYDNEY]

Kiwi scientist wins Einstein Medal

A University of Canterbury scientist is the first New Zealander to be awarded the prestigious Einstein Medal. Emeritus Professor Roy Kerr has been recognised by the Albert Einstein Society in Switzerland for his 1963 solution to Einstein's gravitational field equations. The Kerr Solution, as it has come to be known, provides an exact description of the space outside a rotating black hole. It's regarded as the most important exact solution to any equation in physics. The Einstein Medal is awarded annually and its first recipient was Stephen Hawking in 1979. Six Nobel laureates have also been bestowed the honour. Prof Kerr will be presented with the Einstein Medal at a ceremony at the University of Bern in Switzerland in May ... MORE