Air New Zealand has today opened the doors to its new lounge at Palmerston North Airport.
Situated on the first floor of the terminal, the spacious new lounge offers seating for more than 100 guests, which is almost double the capacity of the previous space. It also offers views out onto the runway and a choice of seating areas from a business zone to quiet spaces and a café area with self-service food and drink stations.
Air New Zealand General Manager Customer Experience Anita Hawthorne says, “The new lounge has been designed to enhance the regional flying experience and we look forward to welcoming customers travelling out of Palmerston North to enjoy this new facility.”
The new Palmerston North lounge forms part of Air New Zealand’s four year $100 million programme to develop its network of lounges and follows the opening of lounges in Auckland, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Nadi, Wellington, Queenstown, Hamilton and Invercargill.
| An Air New Zealand release || May 24, 2017 |||
Artificial Intelligence or AI is fast being used to make people more efficient and it will touch every element of New Zealanders’ lives from better healthcare and education to faster service and more personalised products, tech leader Stu Christie says.
Like any emerging technology there is still a lot that Kiwis don't know about AI - both the opportunities and the risks, Christie says.
Having a nationally coordinated forum to share learnings and have discussions is critical to ensuring New Zealand gets the best outcome. The first ever New Zealand AI Forum will be launched in Wellington June 7. Christie will be the chair of the forum.
“The rapid development of AI technologies presents innumerable opportunities and challenges for New Zealand. The forum is being launched to aid the direction of government policy, build base capability relevant to a future-state economy and drive positive social and economic outcomes for all New Zealanders.
“The AI Forum is supported by NZTech and brings together users of technology, tech firms, academia and the government to help connect, promote and advance the AI ecosystem and to make New Zealand more prosperous.
“Our key purpose will be to actively contribute to the prosperity of New Zealand through advancing New Zealand’s AI awareness and capability. We want to identify strategic opportunities for economic growth. The forum is a member of the NZ Technology Alliance which is managed and supported by NZTech.
“NZTech enables an ecosystem of tech communities and helps members find ways of increasing their capabilities through access to talented staff, peer networking, experience sharing, exporting, working closely with the government on critical initiatives and working with many agencies here and overseas.
“For those who don’t know, AI is the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour. More specifically, the development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
“A great example of AI from a Kiwi company is the soundtrack company Booktrack co-founded by Paul Cameron. They have a large digital library of ambient sounds and music that is synchronised and overlaid into digital books.
“This library was laboriously built up by people over many years and at great cost, but now the application of AI technologies enables Booktrack to dramatically reduce the cost of its production - allowing them to address a number of market segments that were previously too expensive to serve.”
Christie says another arm of AI is cognitive computing which is the simulation of human thought processes in a computerised model.
“NZ's leading AI company Soul Machines is an outstanding example of world class cognitive computing. They really are the human interface of computing and have great application across a wide variety of industries.
“Other countries are building national strategies. We, like them, need to understand what our core competencies and competitive advantages are to be able to effectively operate in the future state new economy,” Christie says.
| An Make lemonade release || May 24,2017 |||
New Zealand’s leading tech organisations today released their manifesto of New Zealand’s Digital Future.
The digital copy of the report has been sent to every member of parliament and to key government officials throughout multiple agencies as technology is far reaching – from health and education to regions, small to medium businesses and social and primary industries.
The collaborative report by 20 major Kiwi tech organisations was led by NZTech, IT Professionals (ITP) and InternetNZ.
Among a dozen manifesto goals is a call for New Zealand to establish a dedicated Ministry for the Future, focusing on positioning New Zealand and all government agencies and society to take best advantage of a technologically enabled future.
NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says the prosperity of New Zealand is inextricably linked to how Kiwis embrace the future as a digital nation.
“As we approach the 2017 election, we strongly encourage all political parties to embrace this manifesto and commit to bringing life to its recommendations.
“The manifesto focuses on three key areas: The future of our people, the future of our economy and the future of our government so New Zealand’s digital potential can be fully realised.
“The tech sector is now New Zealand’s third largest exporter and is growing fast. The tech sector contributes over $16 billion to GDP and employs 100,000 people. But it’s not just about the tech sector as new digital technologies are driving economic and social change.
“For New Zealand to remain competitive in the near future, it needs to plan and prepare for this unprecedented technology change today.
“The prosperity of New Zealand is inextricably linked to how we embrace our future as a digital nation.
“With the convergence of technologies such as fast internet speeds, mobility, big data and cloud computing we are beginning to see a wave of technology change impacting almost every part of society and the economy.
“We know that nine percent of the world had a smart phone in 2011; now more than 25 percent are connected to the internet via mobile. In 2008 the average industrial robot cost $500,000. They now cost as little as $20,000.
“In 1980, solar power cost $30 per kilowatt in the US, now it is as low as 4c per kW. In 2011, the sensors in an autonomous car cost $350,000; they now cost less than $1,000. These are just some examples of how tech is changing the world so rapidly. Tech is crucial to New Zealand’s future,” Muller says.
InternetNZ chief executive Jordan Carter says connection to the Internet is becoming ever-more essential for people's business and personal lives. There's been huge investment in making sure top-quality connectivity is available around New Zealand, he says.
"The challenge in the next term of parliament is three-fold: continuing to boost rural and regional access; making sure there are cost-effective options for those who can't afford huge Internet bills; and making sure that everyone can make better use of time online when they have access. This manifesto provides a route-map for New Zealand's success."
ITP chief executive Paul Matthews says New Zealand has a major opportunity for continued significant economic growth and employment led by the tech sector. But whichever parties are in government post-election, they will need to embrace this opportunity through future-focused policy in a range of areas.
“We hope all parties will support changes needed to ensure a modern future-focused education system, while also focusing on badly needed change to how public research is funded in New Zealand. This collaboration is unprecedented and the 20 tech bodies who have contributed have done so to help New Zealand prosper,” Matthews says.
The 12 manifesto tech goals:
1. New Zealand develops world leading technology by increasing the proportion of digital tech related public research and improving indirect incentives for industry research and development.
2. New Zealand equips every child with the digital technology skills needed to be safe and successful in a digital world through comprehensive digital technology education.
3. New Zealand is recognised as a world leader in equipping its citizens for the changing economy, through in-work training, career transition support, and public sector leadership in the use of new technologies.
4. New Zealanders have affordable access to reliable, high-speed internet, coupled with the skills and equipment to use it. As part of this, there should be parity between urban and rural areas with regards to speed / quality and cost.
5. New Zealand is recognised as having one of the most digitally savvy economies in the world, with tech product and service exports being our top export sector. The majority of New Zealand businesses either sell or engage in business online.
6. New Zealand remains open for business, welcoming genuine skilled migrants in areas of strong need in the digital and technology sector while significantly improving the process of matching the skills of potential immigrants with areas of un-met need.
7. New Zealand continues to be a world leading nation to do business in and with whilst maintaining privacy and data security. This is achieved through a world leading approach to cyber security including education, policy and preparedness.
8. New Zealand develops a transparent framework for buyers and sellers through government wide prequalification standards and low cost, easy to use procurement processes.
9. New Zealand fully embraces open standards and provides a level playing field for technology in general, and IT services in particular.
10. New Zealand continues to be recognised internationally as a bastion for privacy, a country which values and protects the privacy of its citizens through policy whilst still allowing economic growth.
11. New Zealand embraces online digital tools to provide efficient, consultative and inclusive policy-making process or allowing for rapid updating of legislation.
12. New Zealand establishes a dedicated, Ministry for the Future, focusing on positioning New Zealand and all government agencies and society to take best advantage of a technologically enabled future.
| A MakeLemonade release || May 24, 2017 |||
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Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242