Kia ora koutou ITP member and supporters, The world has been gripped this week by the submersible tourist vessel Titan going missing on an expedition to view the Titanic. The story has everything - high tech, billionaires, the depths of the ocean, the Titanic, and the suspense of running out of time. So we will all be sharing the loss of the devastating news the vessel and it’s occupants did not survive this morning. 

Thoughts too this morning go out to everyone in Tairāwhiti - your resilience will be tested today. Kia kaha. 

Back to hi tech I was on a plane full of industry peers this morning heading to the tonight’s HiTech awards in Ōtautahi Christchurch. I’m attending as a judge and the chair of Digital Future Aotearoa (DFA) a fabulous charity focused on narrowing the digital divide through provision of free digital technology education. DFa is up for 2 awards this year - Best contribution to the NZ Tech sector and for our project RAD (recycle a device) Best Hi-Tech Solution for the Public Good. Plus bonus the RAD founders Owyn and Hadi are up for the Hi-Tech Young Achievers award. 

I’m also really looking forward to the first ever Māori tech awards - the Matihiko Awards - in 2 weeks time celebrating a growing and thriving Māori led digital technology sector. 

I have been thinking long and hard about awards and how ITP can reshape the IT excellence awards so they are open and accessible to everyone in this industry, not just those with great PR and comms teams behind them. The awards space sometimes feels crowded but at the same time by focusing in different areas of the sector the wide range of awards creates opportunities for more people to be recognised for their achievements. This is something I am passionate about and am keen to hear from anyone else who is interested in creating a different, friendlier, inclusive, less intimidating and daunting awards to sit alongside others like the Hi Tech and CIO awards structures. 

Blogs this week 

Brendan's cartoon was inspired by AI and productivity this week - , his inspiration for this included the Australian experience post below and for some reason he was also thinking about the book Get Sh*t Done: The Ultimate Guide to Productivity, Procrastination, and Profitability

My AI wrap for the week contains a link to Mckinsey’s latest report on the economic potential of AI where they are clear on the productivity gains opportunity - including for the Software industry. Plus a question from me on whether we need a national conversation on AI and a raft of new products launched this week. 

Our guest blog this week. Australia - and I think the same applies on this side of the ditch - is experiencing its lowest productivity growth in 60 years, can AI help solve this? Read more on this here. I do love this quote “Successful AI implementation requires understanding the context within which the technology is being applied. It requires picking up the correct tool for the task at hand, and using it in the correct way. And even before that, it requires working through issues of process, governance, culture and ethics.”

Peter’s editorial is on our slow response to telecommunications infrastructure resilience and how things are in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle. He also talks about how DIY solutions can only get us so far - and I agree - and drawing kiwi innovation parallels with the Titan submersible disaster. 

Earlier in the week Peter wrote on a worrying DDOS attack - DDOS attackers, hacktivists or state-backed actors? 

Workforce things

I think everyone is pleased about the Immigration changes to the skilled migrant visa, plus the accredited employer work visa extension from 3-5 years is also good news. 

Hays - the recruiters - are telling us there is a skills recession “They say the impact will be greatest on productivity (66%), increased workloads for existing staff (also 66%), project delivery (59%), growth and or expansion plans (48%), employee engagement and morale (47%), revenue and profit (45%), the ability to take advantage of new opportunities (44%), employee turnover (43%) and customer service (41%).  “

This is backed up in insights ITP has from our members - but at the same time I am hearing things are tight in the market, some SAAS businesses struggling to raise capital and running out of runway, layoffs at Universities and Councils, plus we have gone into a recession - lots of signals we’re in a bit of trouble so the skills recession might not be long lived? 

Volunteers 

It’s National Volunteer week - so a massive thank you to everyone out there who is volunteering for ITP’s Tahi Rua Toru Tech programme and for a variety of other initiatives who are focused on closing the digital divide. You are all amazing and your time - whether it’s a regular weekly committment or one off - is invaluable to community groups who are cash and capability strapped. Ka pai. 

Tertiary changes impacting digital technologies 

There has been loads of media coverage on various university lay offs recently. The Spinoff has written a list of which courses are on the chopping block as a result of announcements. Taking a quick look at this list for our industry this looks to impact Information Systems, GIS, Design technologies degrees. 

Many people are pretty shocked by Vic Uni’s decision to stop training secondary teachers, which really shines a spotlight on the issues in the system of how we train our teachers. 

More shocking for us as an industry is - I am told - trainee teachers only get 1 day of training in digital technology, unless they are a specialist Digital Technology teacher. This lack of time allocated to a core curriculum area not to mention a productivity and creativity enabler for all subjects speaks volumes. I would love to hear from teachers on this one. 

Finally

Sorry folks no new Te Reo Māori digital technology terms this week, it’s already after midday and a busy day of catching up with people in Ōtautahi Christchurch prior to the awards. 

Next week will contain insights from the “how do we feel” survey - so you still have time if you haven’t already filled it in, and our new podcast Bridging the Gap. 

Meanwhile the CITRENZ conference for 2023 has been announced for September 27-29 CITRENZ is a fantastic education conference for the Vocational digital technology education space, if you would like to submit a paper or sponsor you can find out more via the link here. 

Kia pai tō rā - have a great day - Vic