New Zealand opportunities 'exciting'

By ADAM JONES

The principal author of the 2001 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Gem), Dr Howard Frederick, is an academic entrepreneur.

As a prophet of technology-based economic development, he has travelled the globe in search of opportunity.

In the 1970s, Dr Frederick began studying the effect of technology on economies and in the early 80s started looking at the social, economic, cultural and political impact of the internet. His work has included time at institutions such as the University of Salzburg, Ohio University, University of California and the American University in Washington DC.

Before arriving in New Zealand in 1998 to take up the David Beattie chair of communications at Victoria University, Dr Frederick was managing director of the Saxony Telematics Development Corporation. This organisation had the task of leading the East German state of Saxony towards a knowledge economy.

Dr Frederick recognised that New Zealand had a track record of entrepreneurship. Once he arrived here he discovered that, "Innovation is part of the national culture. Everything from Fieldays to blokes in the shed to No 8 [wire], to make-do, smell-of-an-oily-rag."

But at the time there was little talk of the knowledge economy.

He wrote the previous Government's report on New Zealand's knowledge economy in August, 1999.

The Gem report paints a bright future for New Zealand and Dr Frederick is excited at the opportunities here. He says we have 95 per cent of factors in place for economic prosperity and he also believes that successful links between business, education, environment and technology will lead to economic success.

He defines New Zealand entrepreneurship as the "lean, green, technology, team machine". Lean, because we do things "on the smell of an oily rag". Green, because of our natural environment. New Zealanders are early adapters of new technology and they "pitch in to make a project happen".

Dr Frederick points to our America's Cup campaign as a perfect example of innovation and entrepreneurship, a high-tech project on which Team New Zealand worked together with fewer resources than other syndicates. "There is a certain cunningness in New Zealanders that is reflected by a certain ingenuity or an X-factor," he says.

This use of the word "cunning" may be an insight into our psyche,

"The word cunning has a different connotation in New Zealand. In the rest of the world it means sly or tricky, like a fox. In New Zealand, cunning means the use of special skills or scarce resources to achieve something. So in New Zealand, you hear kids say, 'let's find a cunning solution to this'."

Dr Frederick defines the development of a knowledge economy in black-and-white terms. "It's basically a choice of whether New Zealand will go down in history as one of those countries that failed to make the transition from a pastoral economy to a value-added economy."

But, he adds, "New Zealand has a terrific chance here. It is, however, a limited window of opportunity.

"The first knowledge economy bus has left the rank and we were not on it. The second is loading up passengers and we have not yet bought a ticket - although I think by July we will have bought a ticket."

Only time will tell if the Gem study findings can be used to form practical solutions to areas of concern which will help New Zealand bear fruit on the international knowledge tree.

GEM Special Report