Speed of change leaves little time for a breather

Without innovation, even dairy farms could go the way of the video store, writes

OPINION: Recently while talking to a group of senior citizens about social media and cloud technology, I had a moment of reflection on not just the way our lives are changing, but also the speed at which we are now expected to cope with this change.

When the industrial revolution swept the world from the late 18th century onwards, our forebears had about 150 years to adapt.

And while it has profoundly changed their world, my parents’ generation has had about 40 years to adapt to the digital revolution.

For what’s coming next, though, we have only a couple of decades at best to adapt.

The pace of change doesn’t just affect us as individuals – businesses are also affected, both in terms of their ability and confidence to adapt, and in the consequences of not doing so. And there’s no way governments will escape what’s coming, either.

New Zealand has always produced adaptable entrepreneurs – everything from refrigerated shipping to bungy jumping got its start as a business proposition here. There are also plenty of more recent examples of businesses marrying our natural advantage to the latest technology to create enterprise where none was previously possible.

Think of Rocket Lab, which is about to make space accessible to businesses on a scale never before possible – with New Zealand’s remoteness acting not as a hindrance, but a key advantage.

Or Dotterel, a manufacturer of silent drone technology, aptly named for the migrating bird that is equally at home in the northern and southern hemispheres.

Dotterel is using our relatively light regulations, and the many applications drones can be put to, to create a business that has people sitting up and taking notice from Hobsonville to Hollywood.

Or even Xero, exporting software that works in any market where people buy and sell things, and, being cloud-based, costs nothing to send to the other side of the world.

But lots of businesses are yet to take up the challenge, and no sector is strong enough to pretend that change won’t affect it.

It’s also simply not possible to significantly grow our economy without expanding the tech sector’s contribution. Every dollar invested in tech creates $3 worth of growth in the economy.

A few years ago, Callaghan Innovation’s namesake, Sir Paul Callaghan, made the point that Samsung generates the equivalent of half New Zealand’s GDP with a workforce of 123,000 – about 5 per cent of New Zealand’s workforce.

Tech is New Zealand third biggest export sector, bringing in more than $6 billion annually in exports, and $16b overall. Doubling or tripling the contribution of dairy or tourism is not practical, given their respective demands on land, water and infrastructure.

By contrast, all the tech sector needs to expand is more brains, more ideas and more capital to bring them to market.

This is where the Fairfax Innovation Series becomes a really valuable tool. We are very good at elevating our sportspeople and entertainers to role model status, but what about our tech leaders?

For instance, how many Kiwis have heard of Colin Murdoch?

He lived in relative obscurity, but the Cantabrian gave the world – among other things – the disposable hypodermic syringe. Murdoch’s invention means millions of people worldwide avoided death from infection from unsterilised, reusable needles.

By telling the stories of those Kiwis who are blazing a trail, this initiative can hopefully inspire a few inventors and entrepreneurs of the future to put their idea into an actual product or service.

It can also serve as a kick up the bum to established businesses, reminding them that without research and development, and a clear eye on customer preferences, even the dairy farm could go the way of the video rental store.

The Innovation Series will also be the starting point for a debate that impacts not just business, but all of society. For example, what value do you place on employees getting a driver’s licence in the era of self-driving cars? What does it mean to have a private life when, in the age of the Internet of Things, your appliances and phone record data about you constantly?

I’m looking forward to seeing more of our tech sector in real and virtual print as the Innovation Series unfolds.

No sector is strong enough to pretend that change won't affect it.

Victoria Crone is the chief executive at Callaghan Innovation, and sits on the boards of tech firms Red Shield Security and Figure.nz.