Attended an UP and Wellies event - A Tale of Four Cities, on Tuesday. It was a good venue, Syn Bar where people can unwind, compared with the old place. The free tab certainly helped. :)
So the event was a panel discussion about how Wellington is and can be a ‘hub’ for innovation, IT and IT professionals. Among the topics that were discussed were how Wellington is a good place to live in, broadband, (venture) capital, immigration, and education. Among some good gems of the evening:
- Broadband should be a utility, like power. (from this link - “Sweden has chosen an infrastructure road to the broadband society – another choice could have been to stimulate demand for broadband services. In a country where half of the surface area is covered by forests, where very few people live, a demand stimulation policy can be a lengthy route to take. An infrastructure build-up was regarded as a quicker way.”)
- “Well, [broadband] compared to Fiji or Tonga, we’ve got it good.”
- Immigration and visas - employers need to realize work visas can be obtained easily once a job offer is made, for IT professionals.
- Education - I raised the point of falling enrolments in IT departments, and that Massey Wellington has moved their Software deparment to Palmerson North, hence reducing the number of students / creative / innovation in Wellington.