The Reserve Bank has developed a short video to help the public identify the ‘real deal’ Brighter Money banknote. The video explores the banknote’s sophisticated security features, showing the public how to identify a genuine banknote by the ‘look, feel and tilt’ sensory approach used by other central banks to identify a counterfeit. “Being able to identify a real New Zealand Series 7 Brighter Money banknote is important to maintaining New Zealand’s low counterfeit rate,” says Reserve Bank Head of Currency, Property and Security Steve Gordon. "New Zealand has a low counterfeit rate by international standards and the Bank wants to keep it that way. One of the ways we can do this is by ensuring the public know how to identify the security features on our banknotes. Use the video’s three prompts - look, feel and tilt, to make sure your banknotes are the genuine article.” In addition to the new video, the notes and coins pages of the banknotes have been updated to make them easier to read, navigate and find information. The video is available in English and Te Reo Māori. More information
| A RBNZ release || July 12, 2017 |||
New changes to update kiwifruit regulations and help future-proof the industry will come into force on 1 August 2017, Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy has announced today.
“These changes were announced last year and will help ensure the industry is best structured for future growth,” says Mr Guy.
New amendments to the Kiwifruit Export Regulations will:
“These changes will give Zespri more options for promoting the ownership of its shares by active kiwifruit growers.
“They will give Zespri greater certainty for investing in activities such as research and development and in the marketing of New Zealand-grown kiwifruit, and ensuring that Kiwifruit New Zealand has the skill sets it needs to robustly consider collaborative marketing applications.
“These amendments won’t change the industry’s ‘single desk’ export framework, but will provide more certainty for Zespri’s shareholders and growers.
“These regulatory updates are the Government’s response to the industry’s self-review of its performance through the Kiwifruit Industry Strategy Project.”
Kiwifruit sales from New Zealand have reached record levels with 137.7 million trays sold in the year to March 2017, worth over $2 billion in export revenue. Global sales revenues are forecast to reach $4.5 billion by 2025.
| A Beehive release || July 11, 2017 |||
New Zealand is a long way from the rest of the world. It takes three to four hours to fly from Auckland to the big eastern Australian cities; over half a day to reach the US West Coast or Southeast Asia; and most of a day to reach Europe.
Our geographic isolation has advantages – for instance, it’s easier to manage biosecurity controls to protect our local environment and agricultural exports – but also many economic costs. As the gravity model of trade predicts, countries that are further away from each other tend to trade less. In other words, our distance means that we aren’t selling as many goods and services to Europeans, Asians, Americans, and other people in general as we could, given New Zealanders’ relatively high skill and education levels, propensity to innovate given the right incentives, and generally reasonable policy settings. And, equally, we’re not buying as much from them as we could.
There are two reasons why this is a bad thing for our living standards:
First, exporting less means that there are fewer opportunities for New Zealand companies to ‘scale up’, which limits their productivity and their ability to successfully innovate. Result: Lower levels of economic productivity and lower incomes. Second, importing less means that many New Zealand businesses operate in ‘niches’ with little competition, which limits the pressure they face to lower prices or improve processes. Result: Higher prices that reduce what we can buy with our lower incomes.
We can’t do much about the physical distance – although . . .
| Continue reading the full article with images and supporting material on Greater Auckland || July 12, 2017 |||
Brighter Money banknotes’ security features_____________________________________
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Schneider Electric announced the success achieved with WaterForce, provider of water management and irrigation solutions in New Zealand. Schneider Electric worked with Schneider Electric.svg WaterForce to develop a cloud-based IIoT mobile-control solution, built on Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT technologies, which enables farmers to operate irrigation pivots with greater agility, efficiency and sustainability.
Agriculture accounts for nearly 70 percent of the world’s water consumption. As global food demand grows, water use is expected to rise, making efficient irrigation critical. With Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure architecture, WaterForce developed a cloud-based IIoT solution enabling farmers to monitor and control irrigation pumps and pivots from their computer, tablet or smartphone.
“Every day I adjust my pivots and pumps for a variety of reasons—shifts in the wind, rain levels, crop requirements or local regulations,” said Craig Blackburn, director/farm manager of Blackhills Farm, “Now I can monitor and control my irrigation system easily from my mobile phone, saving me hours of time not spent driving around the farm. With information at my fingertips, my farm is more productive, water and energy costs are lower and crop yields higher.”
Unique to this solution is its ability to work with a farm's existing equipment, such as irrigation and pump controllers. This means no significant capital investment is required before seeing benefits.
“Most farms are not built to handle large software installations,” said Ron McFetridge, director of WaterForce. “Using a lightweight, cloud solution with mobile capabilities has been key to expanding IoT capabilities to these farms. By leveraging our relationship with Schneider Electric, we can focus on our core business—effective water management—knowing that the information management, analytics and automation side is covered.”
WaterForce’s solution integrates multiple components of Schneider Electric’s software and hardware product portfolio, including cloud and mobility solutions, HMI/SCADA, variable speed drives and soft starters. The solution is built using Microsoft Azure IoT Hub, which includes a collection of integrated enterprise tools including devices, software, cloud, data and analytics.
“By 2050 we will need 55% more water to nourish the growing demand for food, so efficient irrigation is critical,” said Rob McGreevy, vice president of information, operations and asset management at Schneider Electric. “We believe driving operational improvements and efficiencies at these farms is a key component to sustainably feeding the planet. EcoStruxure simplifies the integration between the connected products, edge control, and apps and analytics, to provide an innovative solution that responds to the specific needs of these farmers.”
“Schneider Electric leverages Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT technologies to equip farmers with the ability to unlock new insights and make the best possible decisions in real-time around water usage and energy efficiencies,” said Sam George, director of Microsoft Azure IoT at Microsoft Corp. “We are proud to partner with Schneider Electric on a global solution that’s digitally transforming agriculture and paving the way for a sustainable future.’’
| A Smart Industry release || July 10, 2017 |||
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