1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,880
Speaker 1: The tech sector got some issues around our ability to

2
00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:05,360
Speaker 1: send it next level. It's already our fastest growing export.

3
00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,479
Speaker 1: It's worth seventeen billion a year. They can take it,

4
00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,080
Speaker 1: they claim to thirty billion within a decade, but they

5
00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,520
Speaker 1: need our help. It's all in their latest report. Gray

6
00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:15,800
Speaker 1: Mullet is the CEO of Tech New Zealand and he's

7
00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,040
Speaker 1: with us Graham. Morning to you, moning mate. Just first

8
00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,759
Speaker 1: things first, at the stage, going well generally and you're underappreciated,

9
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:23,799
Speaker 1: would that be the vibe?

10
00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't even think it's underappreciated, just just not

11
00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:30,720
Speaker 2: aware and so yeah, going well. I mean just the

12
00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,240
Speaker 2: other day another company became a unicorn in New Zealand.

13
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,680
Speaker 2: You would have heard of Halter and how it's within

14
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,680
Speaker 2: ten years become a multi billion dollar company and exporting

15
00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:42,479
Speaker 2: huge amounts in New Zealand.

16
00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,199
Speaker 1: That's what I meant. It's just like there's those we

17
00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,879
Speaker 1: did that story on the program and it's like that

18
00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,040
Speaker 1: should be a household name like fonterra Is and yet

19
00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,720
Speaker 1: it's not exactly.

20
00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,880
Speaker 2: And I think people just days over when they hear

21
00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,640
Speaker 2: the word tech, and it's just easier to think about

22
00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,279
Speaker 2: the stuff that you know, like your phone and how

23
00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,399
Speaker 2: that works when you hear tech, and so it gets

24
00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,720
Speaker 2: dumbed down a lot. And yeah, there's a lot of

25
00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,240
Speaker 2: great stuff happening. And yeah, I guess underappreciated. I guess

26
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:11,000
Speaker 2: you could say, is right.

27
00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, tech encompasses what though, I mean, how broad is this?

28
00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:17,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's one of the challenges. It's very

29
00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:20,040
Speaker 2: broad nowaday. So you've got that creative and the gaming sector.

30
00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,520
Speaker 2: We've got some really great gaming companies that are doing great.

31
00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,959
Speaker 2: You've got sort of the hard tech like Halter bringing

32
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,640
Speaker 2: software and hardware together to create a unique products. You've

33
00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,280
Speaker 2: got some really interesting deep tech we call them heavily

34
00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,800
Speaker 2: scienced things that are inside the middle of computer screens

35
00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,520
Speaker 2: and up on space stations and things like that, and

36
00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:42,720
Speaker 2: lots of digital stuff. And you've got biotech as well.

37
00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,360
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, in reading your report, your four cornerstones world

38
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,240
Speaker 1: class local digital infrastructure, how far short of that are you?

39
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,000
Speaker 2: Yeah? We're quite quite quite short, really, And the way

40
00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,040
Speaker 2: I think it's easier to think about this, these are

41
00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:58,720
Speaker 2: the roads of the future, right, So there are some

42
00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,040
Speaker 2: things that need to be put in play to enable

43
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,200
Speaker 2: a digital economy to really fly. And that'd be like

44
00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,200
Speaker 2: at the moment we're saying Aukland, you build a road

45
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,440
Speaker 2: one direction, Wellington, you build a road run direction, and

46
00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,880
Speaker 2: then we'll see what happened. So there's some major stuff

47
00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:13,960
Speaker 2: that really a government's the only person who can really

48
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:14,600
Speaker 2: get on and do it.

49
00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:17,160
Speaker 1: See what I got out of this is that you

50
00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,760
Speaker 1: asked for sort of bipartisan help or support or understanding.

51
00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,720
Speaker 1: I'm not what is it about tech that would see

52
00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:26,679
Speaker 1: the politicians at each other. I mean, surely we're all

53
00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:30,760
Speaker 1: roughly in alignment, are we. Yeah.

54
00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,400
Speaker 2: I think it's just more of the understanding. And so

55
00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:38,640
Speaker 2: you've got things like policy around consumer product data active

56
00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,440
Speaker 2: and it gets really complicated really fast, and digital identity

57
00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,079
Speaker 2: and things like that really complicated. And these things need

58
00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,239
Speaker 2: to go as fast as they can to put security

59
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,960
Speaker 2: in place and systems in place for all of New Zealand.

60
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:56,360
Speaker 2: And it needs to go across multiple election cycles because

61
00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,720
Speaker 2: it's like building roads and other infrastructure, and so you

62
00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:01,400
Speaker 2: don't so you don't see tech coming up in the

63
00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:07,440
Speaker 2: infrastructure plan for the government. And these things are multi

64
00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,880
Speaker 2: year investments. So both parties need to or all parties

65
00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:12,840
Speaker 2: need to really get on board and understand how important

66
00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:13,000
Speaker 2: it is.

67
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,720
Speaker 1: A couple of other things. Abundant and affordable clean energy.

68
00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,360
Speaker 1: We can't be far short of that, and strong global

69
00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,400
Speaker 1: connections and export excellence. I would argue we're in the park,

70
00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:22,840
Speaker 1: aren't we.

71
00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,840
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, we've got this huge opportunity with energy,

72
00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:28,960
Speaker 2: and one of the things that makes it slightly difficult

73
00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,560
Speaker 2: is the pricing and the way it happens. We need

74
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,600
Speaker 2: to probably move more to a dynamic pricing model just

75
00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:36,560
Speaker 2: so it comes on better. And there's a lot of

76
00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:38,720
Speaker 2: clean energy in the pipeline, so get a little bit

77
00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,840
Speaker 2: more of that on flow. But it really makes us

78
00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:45,520
Speaker 2: so attractive because technology choose a lot of electricity all

79
00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:47,600
Speaker 2: the time using our phones, except all of this takes

80
00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:49,880
Speaker 2: a lot of electricity. We're only going to use more.

81
00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,960
Speaker 2: New Zealand's got a huge advantage there. We are globally connected,

82
00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,840
Speaker 2: but there's areas where we're not that connected. And all

83
00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,680
Speaker 2: the policy settings around AI or the new stuff like quantum,

84
00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,320
Speaker 2: so there's kind of treating technology like we treated trade.

85
00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:05,520
Speaker 2: We need to step up in the world and actually

86
00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,320
Speaker 2: try and get amongst all those users and shakers and

87
00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,360
Speaker 2: the policies set into standards rules to make sure that

88
00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,680
Speaker 2: those international rules are beneficial for New Zealing companies.

89
00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,200
Speaker 1: Well, all I can do is wish you the best

90
00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:18,320
Speaker 1: will that makes sense to make grind appreciated. Grandmuller, who

91
00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,120
Speaker 1: is the CEO of Tech New Zealand. For more from

92
00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,240
Speaker 1: The mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks that'd

93
00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:27,359
Speaker 1: be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on

94
00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:28,159
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio