Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce has today opened an innovation hub to support new and emerging businesses in Christchurch’s Innovation Precinct.
A joint partnership between Canterbury Development Corporation and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the GreenHouse hub will support early-stage entrepreneurs by providing the necessary technological and social infrastructure required by such firms to grow.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today welcomed the first seven innovative start-ups receiving repayable grants from the new technology incubators funded through Callaghan Innovation.
The seven Hi-tech start-ups are on their way to commercialising valuable new intellectual property (IP) after each receiving repayable grants of up to $450,000 over two years administered by the three technology incubators - Powerhouse Ventures, Astrolab and WNT Ventures.
The first Prime Minister’s Scholarships for 2015 to study at top Asian institutions have been awarded to 140 New Zealand students.
The Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia programme will see just over half of the scholarship students in this round study in China, one of New Zealand’s largest trading partners, while the rest will study in Japan, India, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the successful applicants for the $1 million Unlocking Curious Minds Contestable fund.
“The Unlocking Curious Minds pilot fund is an important step towards engaging more New Zealanders to learn about science, particularly our young people"
The fund offers two levels of grants: up to $20,000 for local projects, and up to $150,000 for regional or national projects.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today announced that the Government and SkyCity have agreed a revised preliminary design for the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC).
The new design will provide for a slightly smaller centre to be built without any construction costs being met by the Crown. SkyCity has also agreed to increase the minimum amount it will invest in the centre from $402 million to at least $430 million, and the company says it could spend in the range of $450 million to $470 million.
Budget 2015 will provide a further $112.3 million of operating funding over four years and $1 million of capital funding to invest in knowledge and skills to grow New Zealand’s economy, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.
“We are continuing to address the relative underfunding of higher-cost disciplines such as science and agriculture to ensure that these economically important and research-rich areas attract more investment from providers to deliver more of the skills and knowledge New Zealand needs to drive economic growth.
Budget 2015 allows for up to $25 million over three years to support the establishment of new privately led Regional Research Institutes, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.
The Government will work with regional stakeholders to identify where the best opportunities are to develop new institutes, and has allocated funding from 2016/17 to support best case proposals.
The Budget provides further funding of $12.1 million for the New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) initiative, which provides a unique identifier for businesses to use in their interactions with government agencies and each other.
The NZBN is part of the Government’s Better Public Services for business (Result 9) programme, which aims to reduce by 2017 the cost to businesses of interacting with government by 25 per cent, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Goldsmith say.
The Government will invest $5 million over seven years in a research partnership to increase the competitiveness of the forestry sector, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.
“Forestry is New Zealand's third largest export earner – behind dairy and meat, contributing around $5 billion to our exports. This investment aims to strengthen the ties between research organisations and the industry to produce excellent research driven by industry needs,” says Mr Joyce.
The strength of New Zealand’s ICT sector has been revealed in a new report released today by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Communications Minister Amy Adams.
The 2015 ICT Sector Report is the second in a series that provides in-depth analysis of New Zealand’s information and communications technology sector, and showcases New Zealand’s very strong performance in the ICT industry over the last few years. The first report was released in 2013.
The Bay of Plenty region and its industries could grow substantially thanks to its resource, population, location and climate advantages, a newly published report reveals.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy today released the Bay of Plenty Regional Growth Study, which shows that the region has a number of natural advantages and is well placed to attract further investment, raise incomes and increase employment.
Four more Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) have been selected by the Tertiary Education Commission at the end of the second round of CoREs funding.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has commended successful applicants, the Bio-Protection Research Centre (Lincoln University), The Riddet Institute (Massey University), QuakeCore: Centre for Earthquake Resilience (University of Canterbury) and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (The University of Auckland.)
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Trade Minister Tim Groser today announced changes designed to strengthen government investment in developing New Zealand’s export sector via the International Growth Fund.
The Fund invests up to $30 million annually as part of a package of targeted and tailored services from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) that help exporters accelerate growth in international markets.
The latest Household Labour Force Survey shows ongoing job growth in the New Zealand economy, while a record labour market participation rate kept the unemployment level steady at 5.8% in the March quarter.
Today’s HLFS shows the number of people employed grew 16,000 in the March quarter and 74,000 over the year. The participation rate was the highest ever recorded for New Zealand, at 69.6%.
Entries have opened for the 2015 Prime Minister’s Science Prizes, which will award a total of $1 million to New Zealand’s top scientists and researchers.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says the prizes celebrate scientific achievement, highlight the impact science has on New Zealanders’ lives, and aim to attract more young people into science careers. 2015 is the seventh year the prizes will be presented.
The Crown and SkyCity have agreed to a May 31 deadline for a revised NZICC Preliminary Design, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.
SkyCity submitted a Preliminary Design in October 2014 for approval by the Crown. However the total construction cost exceeded those costs as set out in the NZICC Agreement.
“The Crown and SkyCity have been making good progress discussing a revised Preliminary Design,” Mr Joyce says.
The growing need to internationalise the world’s universities to properly equip today’s students for our globalised world was highlighted by Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce at the FAUBAI international education conference in Cuiabá, Brazil, today.
Mr Joyce provided a New Zealand perspective on the Brazilian Association for International Education conference themes of partnerships, equity and internationalisation.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced New Zealand has been chosen as the preferred destination to host secondary school students from Chile on the Chilean Government’s scholarship scheme ‘Penguins Without Borders’.
In July approximately 80 students will be welcomed to at least 40 schools in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland.
New Zealand’s strengths in business, innovation and education were highlighted by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce yesterday in a speech to Chile’s private and public sector leaders.
“New Zealand has a long relationship with Chile. We have a steady trade in services and a growing, but still modest, goods trade at $145 million in 2014.”
Strengthening education and trade links will be the focus of Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce’s first visit to Latin America.
This afternoon Mr Joyce departs for a 10-day visit to Chile, Colombia and Brazil with a delegation of university representatives and the Executive Director of Universities New Zealand.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today announced the five providers appointed to a new All-of-Government (AoG) panel for risk financing and insurance intermediary (brokerage) services.
The providers selected following a competitive tender process late last year are Aon New Zealand Ltd, Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Limited (an Arthur J. Gallagher Company), Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) Ltd, Marsh Limited and Willis New Zealand Ltd.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today opened the fourth New Zealand/China Joint Commission Meeting on Science and Technology Co-operation in Wellington by announcing three new joint research projects between the two countries.
Sixty delegates have travelled to Wellington for the meeting, which is held every three years and is hosted alternately by New Zealand and China.
“China is an important and growing science and innovation partner for New Zealand,” Mr Joyce says.
The final event in the current New Zealand job fair series in Australia will take place in Melbourne this weekend, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Associate Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Louise Upston announced today.
The Melbourne event is the fourth in the series, following the Perth and Sydney fairs in November 2014, and the Brisbane fair last month.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced eight council appointments to five tertiary education institutions, which include three new council members.
The appointments and reappointments of council members are:
