Wellington
For something that has the extremely important job of kicking along (on an NZ Inc basis) thenever simple endeavour of turning of an idea into income, the Advanced Technology Institute’sEstablishment Board has so far operated very below the radar.
What the ATI EB is being asked to do, extremely quickly, is much more than the body tasked withcreating the Crown Research Institute structure(s) over 20 years ago from what was then the DSIR andMAF Tech.
Perhaps part of its challenge is that some people think it is going to be about a new building ortwo – and that hasn’t been helped with the announcement that the institute will be
But, if you have a look at the ATI EB’s
This is seen in the ToR’s Purpose :
The purpose of the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) is to support firms in themanufacturing and services sectors to improve competitiveness and growth through science andtechnology-based innovation and its commercialisation.
It willachieve this through being:
Indeed, reading between the lines, what the ATI EB is being asked to come back with aresuggestions around broader issues such as routes to market, funding/capital options andpartnering.
As well as the morphing of Industrial Research Ltd into a new Crown Agency structure (beingdeveloped/consulted on as we speak), The ATI EB is being asked to work closely with the NZ FoodInnovation Network, and NZTE and MBIE and ….. well everyone really. This includes figuring out howto work with and alongside the CRI and university technology transfer offices and commercialisationunits – most of which are biologically-oriented.
That makes sense – one aspect of our economy that could really do with improving is addingvalue to the raw materials our country produces. Think milk, meat, trees, horticultural produce,fish. And not only adding value, retaining the value for NZ Inc as we get much closer to themarket.
There’s some excellent science around these areas, as reasonably favourably commented on in a ‘Supply SideReport’ in some of the background policy work on the ATI in June this year.
But, turning what are good ideas, processes and products into sustainable new businesses (or newareas within older businesses) is something we’ve found hard to do.
There’s a suspicion that super minister Steven Joyce recognises that as a country we need acircuit-breaking change/adaptation/boot-up-the-rear in the innovation area.
Asking the ATI EB to propose what this institute (as a verb) should be is either:
Now all this is a roundabout way of saying, all power to the ATI EB seven charged with the tasksetting the strategic direction of the new entity (whatever it looks like).
The discussions it is having, and path it is plotting will be uniquely New Zealand in itsstructure – no one else has our mix of biology, skills, distance to market and investment-adversecapital markets.
Rumour has it that (original ATI proposer) IRL is fully onboard in its desire to move and act asthe foundation of the new Crown Agency – which makes a damn good start.
Now, if the EB’s super seven can ‘simply’ come up with some clever solutions for thoseroute to market questions….we’ll be singing their praises for a long time to come.