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Port Denarau Marina general manager Cynthia Rasch said: “It is a great opportunity for industry partners, marine businesses, yachts and agents to network and discuss one on one the latest marine products and services with leading marine operators under one roof.”
This year marks the second year running for this event featuring New Zealand based companies.
“We are expecting over 100 transient vessels to be present to take advantage of this information sharing event to assist them with their on-ward travel to New Zealand.”
Furthermore Peter Busfield, executive director of NZ Marine said the recent win of the America’s Cup promises significant gains for the wider South Pacific “and we expect it to be a topic of discussion whilst we are in Fiji.
“The New Zealand victory in the America’s Cup is a catalyst for South Pacific Superyachting including Fiji,” he said.
“The America’s Cup win will be a big benefit to New Zealand boating industry and the wider South Pacific region.
“During the 2000 defence Auckland hosted 95 superyachts and we would expect this number to exceed 120 for the next event. As many of these vessels will arrive via Fiji or Tahiti, there will be economic gain for each country.
“During the lead up we also expect to see more superyachts and charter companies focusing on the South Pacific as a cruising destination,” he said.
Emirates Team NZ dominated the final stage of the 35th America’s Cup, winning easily against Oracle Team USA.
The NZ marine industry built both finalists’ vessels – Oracle Team USA by Core Builders and ETNZ by Southern Spars.
Key suppliers to both teams have shown once again the capability of the New Zealand marine industry which is the country’s largest manufacturing sector outside of the primary producers.
Feedback: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. SonOnline release || July 17, 2017 |||
Auckland Airport has confirmed that a Mott MacDonald-led consortium will spearhead the design of its new integrated terminal.
The consortium, which also includes Grimshaw, Architectus and Holmes Consulting, has been appointed to concept design a combined domestic and international terminal at the New Zealand gateway.
The project forms part of the airport’s Terminal Development Plan, which aims to provide an expanded single terminal to accommodate further growth in international and domestic air travel.
Auckland Airport has experienced significant growth in passenger numbers over recent years and has committed to building a world-class airport that can serve New Zealand in the years to come.
The scope of the design project covers building works over the next 10 years. This includes the new integrated domestic terminal, a significant expansion of border processing and the integration of extensive new transport and car parking facilities.aucklandwebThe concept design of the terminal is expected to be completed in early 2018.
Mott MacDonald will be responsible for the overall airport planning and design leadership, as well as all engineering disciplines, with structural and fire engineering provided in partnership with Holmes Consulting.
Grimshaw and Architectus will act as a single architectural provider to the team.
Auckland Airport chief executive Adrian Littlewood, says: “The selected consortium’s experience covers over 1000 aviation projects in 120 countries across 260 airports.
"In addition to specialist experience and knowledge, the consortium’s architects have a proven record of successfully bringing local cultural influence into the fabric of their passenger focused design.
"This is a significant factor for us as we build a world class airport with a uniquely New Zealand feel.”image001 copyIan Guy, Mott MacDonald’s head of aviation for Australia and New Zealand, comments: “This is a tremendously exciting project that will further enhance Auckland Airport's standing as a key hub in the Asia-Pacific region and the gateway to New Zealand.
"To deliver this concept design, we will draw on our experience at other strategically important airports such as London Heathrow, Hong Kong International Airport and Changi Airport in Singapore.
"We have brought together a multitalented consortium that can’t wait to apply its collective creativity to design an airport that New Zealanders will be proud of and visitors will admire.”
This Auckland Airport commission builds on Mott MacDonald’s contribution to major projects in New Zealand over the last five years.
Major schemes the consultancy has worked on include Auckland City Rail Link, the 85 Customs Street mixed-use development and the Rosedale wastewater treatment plant upgrade.
| An Aviation media release || July 17, 2017 |||
The Minister of Trade will launch the first academic survey of New Zealand's trade negotiations from the 1970s to the present in Wellington on Thursday, 20 July.
Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, Stephen Hoadley, from the Faculty of Arts, has reviewed trade diplomacy from early attempts to sell beef to Japan to current efforts to secure free trade agreements with Europe, Britain, and the United States.
His subsequent book New Zealand Trade Negotiations details the setting of precedent in Closer Economic Relations with Australia in 1983 and then how a dozen more free trade agreements were negotiated successfully, all of which boosted New Zealand producers’ access to overseas markets.
“New Zealand has been a leader in trade liberalisation since we negotiated privileged entry to the European Economic Community in 1971,” says Dr Hoadley.
His book traces New Zealand’s successful FTA initiatives with Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, ASEAN, South Korea and Chile and its achievement of trade ‘firsts’ with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
After reviewing New Zealand’s participation in the World Trade Organisation, Dr Hoadley offers speculation regarding seven pending FTAs, the suspended Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the prospective Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Both the Hon Todd McClay, Minister of Trade, and Stephen Jacobi, Executive Director of the New Zealand International Business Forum, will help launch New Zealand Trade Negotiations at the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Wellington.
Date: 20 July 2017, 5:30 – 7.30 pm
Venue: RHLT2, Rutherford House Victoria University of Wellington –
Pipitea Campus, 23 Lambton Quay, Wellington
Please register here
| A UOA release || July 18, 2017 |||
From Azure stack and Microsoft 365 to renewed vertical focus and the ways technology is helping do real good in our world, Microsoft Inspire 2017, held in Washington DC last week, offered up an action packed week for Kiwi channel partners.
The release of the Microsoft Azure stack was a key announcement at Inspire – and it caught the eyes of many Kiwi partners.
Keith Archibald, Revera head of innovation, dubbed it ‘the most exciting development’ at the event.
“We’re really looking forward to strapping on this more powerful booster rocket to our already in-market Apollo programme,” Archibald says.
Revera has been involved in the Azure Stack early adopter programme from day one, and Archibald says the company sees Azure Stack as a key platform for its customers.
“Normally you can’t have your cake and eat it too, but with what we’re building with Apollo powered by Azure Stack our customers will get the best of both worlds: all the leading technology from the Azure Cloud, but the option to choose to have some or all of the features deployed in-country for compliance reasons, or simply because they want to bolt them on to existing applications with low latency,” he says.
“The opportunity to provide further Azure consistent goodness in-country and help boost the launch of our customers NZ inc. digital journey is really exciting.”
Mark Atherton, DXC Technology account general manager for NZ Cloud, also highlighted the Azure stack announcement as ‘hugely exciting’.
“We always need to remember that the client is why we are here, and the Azure stack opportunity in New Zealand is to bring another piece of the hybrid puzzle to help us solution the best outcomes for our clients,” Atherton says.
“Combined with the Sydney instance of Azure public, extending this into New Zealand through the stack and being able to then help clients execute a transformation strategy to the best fitting solution is really exciting.
“IT has moved on from a commodity shootout, and embracing clients journeys and ensuring you are best placed to help is key.”
Datacom too, is excited about the Azure stack announcement, with chief executive Greg Davidson, noting “It enables customers to immediately take advantage of public cloud functionality without the real barriers of complex migration, concern about compliance and latency.”
He says the Azure stack forms an ‘important addition’ to Datacom’s hybrid cloud ecosystem.
“We are thrilled to be well down track of planning deployment for early adopters.”
The new go-to-market combination for Office 365, Skype for Business and other workplace and collaboration tools into what will be labelled Microsoft 365, is also a winner for Datacom.
“We have a separately branded digitally marketed software-as-a-service offering for small business launching very soon across the geographies in which we operate, including New Zealand,” Davidson says.
“For larger organisations, we think the Microsoft 365 offering should enable easier implementations and integration of these core services in multi-location multi-country situations.”
Going vertical, going real world
A renewed focus on verticals also won the thumbs up from Kiwi partners.
Ratnakar Garikipati, LeapThought Group chief executive, says while the renewed focus was ‘formalised’ at Inspire ‘we have been witnessing this change first hand form Microsoft’s leadership for the past year – the co-sell initiatives that have been set in motion in South East Asia and other markets specifically over the past year are an example of this.
“We walk away from this conference with new revenue lines that we’ve identified, more streamlined GTM plans for different markets, and greater understanding of areas where our products and offerings can be more tightly integrated to unlock greater potential that is in store,” Garikipati says.
Brady Cox, Provoke Solutions country manager, says the vertical focus was one of two significant organisational changes made by Microsoft demonstrate their commitment to further align both customer and the partner community.
“Their new focus on six key industry verticals reflects the demand we see to truly understand our customers and build tailored, outcome based solutions,” Cox says.
“Aligning both the account and technical teams to then specialise against these verticals means that there will be even more useful presales resources to support the partner community.
“Further to this, they have created a channel manager role, which is the walk of the "partner first" talk we continue to hear.
Grant Houseman, Sable37 New Zealand general manager, says the recent industry alignment of the Microsoft partner organisation is a ‘massive’ driver for Sable37’s growth.
“Sable37 have built leading industry teams for several years. Microsoft's focus on Retail , Public Sector and Manufacturing align perfectly with our go to market models,” Houseman says.
He dubbed the way Microsoft solutions are being built by partners globally to solve important global problems as ‘inspiring’ saying he was ‘blown away’ by the stories at some of the Inspire keynotes – ‘particularly how tens of thousands of HIV deaths in Africa are prevented through solutions that have been imagined on the Microsoft platform’.
“Sable37 New Zealand is very excited about our future , our close partnership with Microsoft New Zealand and most important of all - the significant problems we can solve together,” Houseman says.
Real-world uses were a feature of this year’s conference, notes Kristy Brown, Fusion5 CRX New Zealand general manager.
Brown says not only could attendees see real world uses , but the real differences being made thorugh technology.
“From 3D printed prosthetics at an affordable price to specialist eye surgery being performed by non-specialist surgeons guided through the process by experts, in countries where these procedures simply wouldn't have been possible - it's an incredible time to be involved in the technology sector,” she says.
Tom Fuyala, 11Ants chief executive, says the bulk of the changes signalled by Microsoft were looked on very positively by 11Ants, with Fuyala noting that the continued alignment around industry verticals as well as continued efforts to further align sellers around ISVs should be helpful in further putting the full weight of the Microsoft machine behind companies like 11Ants.
“If properly executed, this will prove net positive for specialist ISVs in New Zealand and indeed around the globe,” Fuyala says.
Microsoft - reimagined
Says John Harrop, Softsource sales director: “Washington DC Inspire is Microsoft reimagined, to me this week has been more about Microsoft's renewed focus and drive then product or technical.
“Sure the products are developing but the story is really that Microsoft are changing the way they go to market, four motions for delivery and six market segments for focus, a 4.5T opportunity and a new Microsoft open for business attitude.”
Anne Hall, ITagree chief executive, says “One Commercial Partner and ‘Build with, Go to Market with, and Sell with’ is exciting for us. It gives a clear focus on the commercial growth aspects and on customer and customer outcomes.
“For a New Zealand based company and ecosystem enabler like ITagree, this focus supports our worldwide delivery,” she says.
Meanwhile, Simon Scott, Acquire director summed the event – or at least day two – more poetically: “I'm high in the stratosphere floating on clouds of overlay apps and services built to support Azure and the collective thunder storm that is Microsoft.
“There are brainiacs flapping their wings, confusing my eyes and dazzling my ear drums. This place is exciting with opportunity and collaborative spin.
“I get the urgent feeling that we need to be better and just go faster to keep up with the tide. I've got new ideas and concepts to rationalise and explore. It's great.”
| A ChannelLifeNZ release || July 18, 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