Programs

Tech Innovation Centres

There are a range of individual centres helping support Māori technology and business development across the country. The over-hyped term “hub” has been liberally used to describe all of the types planned or operating today:

• Regional Digital Hubs – are place-based facilities in Provincial Growth Fund surge regions where communities can make use of digital services. These are expected to provide less than one-hour digital service experiences, e.g. online banking. The first trial for these is expected to build in Northland later this year.

• Co-Working Spaces – also known as laptop-landing spaces. These are shared working spaces only and typically have a single concierge on-site. They are characterised by wifi access, open-plan tables and at least one shared meeting room. Generally, no other services are offered.

• Incubators - help new and startup companies to develop by providing services such as management training or office space.

• Accelerators – are usually fixed-term, cohort-based programs that include seed investment, connections, mentorship, educational components, and culminate in a public pitch event or demo day to accelerate growth.

• Tech Innovation Centres – are intended to cover all of the above plus more. T3W is working with regional economic development leadership nationally to inform, ensure close alignment and build the important national Māori tech and investment networks required to sustain and grow these centres. As such, Tech Innovation Centres are a focal point to helping Māori, urban and regional realise their quintuple strategic outcomes (cultural, economic, educational, environmental and social).

T3W is working with partners for Tech Innovation Centres under planning in Gisborne, Hastings, East Auckland and South Auckland. This list is expected to change and grow quickly.

Availability - To be advised

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Missions

T3W has led three missions to market, including USA 2016 (Silicon Valley, Chicago, New York), Ireland 2017 and 2018. These missions are focused on deal-making, understanding the markets for tech products and services, investment in tech, exploring successful regional economic development strategies, successful tech innovation centres and building collaboration and collegiality among Māori tech and investors.

Availability

Poentially November 2019

Limited to fifteen leaders per mission

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Annual Māori Tech and Investment Conference

To radically improve Māori prosperity by connecting our whanau to the tech venturing ecosystem, we need to come together in the first place as Māori. This is beginning to happen at the regional level, but it is necessary to cooperate at a national level. T3W intends holding the first-ever national conference on the subject in 2020.

Māori Tech is an asset class. And is defined by a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics. These are attracting interest from focused and generalist funds ultimately with dedicated investment allocations evolving. Māori Tech is able to lead collaboration because it is the the natural first step in our ritual of encounter. The last decade has seen Māori successfully collectivise for scale. For example, across the primary sector in dairy, fishing, forestry and more recently in manuka. Our culture obligates us to help each other, particularly with our practice of Tuakana-Taina (older sibling/younger sibling). Our Māori organisational design generally expresses quintuple strategic outcomes. Our culture has inculcated high innovation into our DNA. We offer real diversity by growing ourselves and making our contribution to the New Zealand economy.

Availability

Potentially September 2020 in Auckland

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