Tech Week: Massive potential for technology in Whanganui

The relationship between technology and agriculture was talked about at an event. Photo / File

Whanganui's "untapped" tech landscape is one topic that has come up in the district's first Tech Week event.

Cities and towns throughout the country are holding dozens of events for Tech Week.

Whanganui & Partners is acting as a regional partner and running a series of presentations, workshops, and networking opportunities.

Hannah Kelly, Whanganui & Partners strategic lead of capability and international, said the week was about building enthusiasm around new digital tools and in particular around the relationship between agriculture and technology, which was the focus of one presentation.

"It's really interesting and insightful about what's happening in this space in a global sense and the potential of what can happen in New Zealand and here in Whanganui.

"It was presented that it's a pretty untapped opportunity here in Whanganui at the moment, and in particular we discussed what sort of skills and necessary talent is needed to support companies in Whanganui in the agri-tech space."

A location to host some of this week's events was put up by Kevin Double and Melita Farley of shared working space, Confluence.

The shared working space is also hosting National Co-working Day on Wednesday, which is part of Tech Week.

"This year Tech Week has spread quite widely, there are events all over the country which is a first for it really, last year they had one to two events in the larger centres," Double said.

"It's less about the tech and more about the people in Whanganui, because people have got the ideas and the inspiration, and in many cases the collateral and the backing to do things but they just need that network."

When it comes the future of technology in Whanganui, Kelly believes there's a solid base to work from.

"I think our tech landscape has some great bones, we're a Smart21 city, and the council currently has a new digital strategy out for consultation,

"Being a Smart21 city basically means that we're globally recognised for making a conscious step to prosper in broadband, and we have ultra-fast broadband, so we have some good foundations but I think the tech landscape is really untapped and has massive potential."

Tech Week runs from May 20-26.