Watch: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern opens Techweek as a hologram

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today joined the elite ranks of Tupac Shakur and Roy Orbison by appearing as a hologram at a public event.

At 9am today, Ardern will become the first world leader to undertake an official engagement as a hologram, opening the Techweek event in digital form.

NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller welcomed not only the Government's support of the event but also its willingness to engage with the technology.

"While this technology is still very new, it is exciting to see how fast tech like this is developing in New Zealand and to see the government understand the importance of tech for New Zealand."

Techweek will this year run more than 500 tech and innovation events across 36 towns and cities around New Zealand.

While Ardern is unique among politicians in using a hologram, the technology has been used in the past to bring deceased musicians back to life.

Shakur played as a hologram at the 2012 Coachella event, and it was recently announced that Orbison would be going back on tour as a hologram.

This week, the palaeontologist behind the original Jurassic Park film also announced that he was working on a new exhibition, which will use holograms to bring viewers closer to the extinct beasts that once roamed the earth.

In her opening comments, the Ardern hologram says that the theme for this year is innovation that's good for the world.

"That sits well with me because we've always been a nation of innovators," Arden says.

"We've stood up on many occasions for what's right, like our nuclear-free policy and the future, climate change."

Ardern described New Zealand as a nation of upstarters with fresh perspectives, creative energy and the ability to find unexpected answers to problems.

"Within Māori culture, it is sometimes referred to as pōtiki spirit: the attitude of the youngest member of the family, the fearless one who asks the questions others don't, and takes the chances others shy away from," Ardern says.

This is the essence of our New Zealand tech and innovation story."