Smart technology could boost Bay

Bernard Hickey

Disruptive technological change could boost the Hawke's Bay economy, says NZIER principal economist Aaron Drew.

Technological change was accelerating and an upcoming "wave of automation" could impact economies as much as the Industrial Revolution, he said.

An NZIER research paper produced for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand titled Disruptive Technologies: Risks, Opportunities " Can New Zealand make the most of them, found almost half of all jobs were at risk.

The disruption could aid Hawke's Bay through moves such as businesses relocating service centres.

With Colmar Brunton, NZIER surveyed 2300 New Zealanders on their attitudes towards disruptive technology, whether they thought their jobs were at risk and who should be responsible for the training needed for new jobs.

"The research is largely based on what we know today - it is not a crystal ball gazing exercise," he said.

"The facts are that the level of global research and development, the inter-connectedness of people and economies, and the speed with which new technologies and business models are disseminated are all increasing. Jobs are already being displaced and new jobs are being created at an accelerating pace."

But when one door closed another opened. US research suggested about 500,000 new jobs were created over the past 15 years in occupations that did not even exist 15 years ago.

"Home-grown companies such as Xero, Gameloft and Rocket Labs show we are not just adopters of technology, we are also able to push the frontier of technological change and create globally competitive new products and services.

"To support firms like these, our education system needs to teach flexibility, adaptability and lifelong learning skills to prepare kids to enter occupations that we can't even conceptualise yet."

Mr Drew said 60 per cent of respondents said their productivity improved in recent years thanks to technological change, with 82 per cent owning a smartphone. The survey showed Kiwi households were ready to embrace driverless cars, life-extending medical technology and solar panels.

"Our paper suggests a number of steps that can be taken to reap the benefits and minimise the adjustment costs of technological change."

Regulators needed to be nimble in accommodating new technologies and business models.

"We can't hold back the technological tide, but being better prepared will help ensure technologies work for us rather than against us."

In Hawke's Bay last month financial commentator Bernard Hickey cited the Industrial Revolution, calling smartphones "deflationary steam engines" as new technology suppressed prices across industries.