In this article, Wayne Mulligan provides an outline of why FOMANA Capital believes innovation is fundamental to New Zealand and moreover is a key to moving Mäori up the value/wealth chain.
So what is innovation? It involves concepts such as advancement, modernism, novelty and originality. It involves experimentation and the application of research, science and technology. Its benefits are the adoption of new technologies to advance productivity and the attraction of well-connected businesses for market commercialisation. It is central to economic advancement and study after study returns the same result: innovative and advanced economies tend to produce higher levels of income and thus re-invest in innovation.
To read this article click here.
“The government has recently set up a task force to devise ways to assist New Zealand to get on an equal standing with Australia in terms of income. Admirable – but task forces come and go.”
What actions can Mäori take to aggressively drive innovation?
A few things are outlined to assist in the debate:
1. Mäori need to take an aggressive stance to taking control of policy in terms of their own primary sector assets;
2. Mäori need to re-negotiate how research, science and technology can be applied to their primary sector assets and get the right to new and not so new intellectual property and patents;
3. Mäori need to build a marketing approach and get ‘ears in the market’ so that the voice of consumers is heard, known;
4. Mäori need to change their business models to meet consumer requirements;
5. Mäori need to partner with foreign investment partners who can assist in realising the above points and give new injection of commercial lifeblood.
Loading...
