Journalism

Stats NZ has released a report about how algorithms are used in government services and what (if anything) needs to be improved. The report’s key finding was that human oversight is critical, despite the ever-increasing reliance on algorithms in decision making. Although the report found that our government services do have an appropriate level of … Read more

The 2018 TIN Report was released recently by the Technology Investment Network, and it confirmed the continued growth of New Zealand’s technology sector. Total revenue for the top 200 technology companies (the TIN200) was $11.1 billion, an increase of 11% over the past year. Most of that revenue – nearly $8 billion – was in … Read more

Earlier this month Christchurch’s flash new central library, Tūranga, was opened. As well as being housed in a beautiful, newly constructed 5-story building, Tūranga has been outfitted with the latest in technology. Christchurch citizens will have access to a production studio (featuring 3D printers and a laser cutter), an audio and video studio (including a … Read more

Last week Tauranga startup SwipedOn announced it had been acquired by UK public company SmartSpace Software for $11 million. The news was surprising, since SwipedOn had only recently completed its first funding round ($1 million in January) and appeared to be at just the beginning of an upward trajectory in sales. So why sell a … Read more

In last week’s column, I predicted that the government’s digital identity service RealMe will eventually be used for online voting. I was surprised to discover this is a divisive issue, since some people think online voting will never (or at least should never) happen. Others – including parts of the New Zealand government – think … Read more

It’s an interesting time to be growing a centralized online identity service, like the government’s RealMe. That’s because the current trend in web development is to decentralize. After seeing the damage done to our society in recent years by government-sponsored hackers let loose on large, centralized apps like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, developers the world … Read more

My recent column about startups in New Zealand raised some hackles in the local tech scene. I had argued there were too few startup success stories coming out of our startup accelerators (and certainly no unicorns). Others responded that while we may not be churning out multi-million dollar startups, accelerators are helping to train entrepreneurs. … Read more

At the beginning of the year, cryptocurrencies were riding high. Bitcoin reached US$17,000 in early January, while Ethereum rose to just under US$1,400. But since then, it’s been all downhill. Last week, Bitcoin dipped to around US$6,200 while Ethereum went below US$200 for the first time since July 2017. I must admit, I had been … Read more

For many years, Facebook’s motto was “move fast and break things.” Indeed, that pretty much describes the ethos of all of Silicon Valley over the past couple of decades. The goal of companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple – at least for online services – has been to grow rapidly and fix any mistakes … Read more

Many of New Zealand’s young or inexperienced entrepreneurs start their journey at a startup accelerator. These are typically three to five month programmes designed to help entrepreneurs take their ideas and make them a commercial reality. The idea is to match founders with so-called “mentors” – who are often angel investors looking to find (and … Read more

Raising money for a startup used to be difficult, but now there are almost too many options. Venture capital, angel investment, startup accelerators, crowdfunding, private equity, IPO, and now cryptocurrency ICOs are all potential avenues for early stage businesses. Traditionally, startups have raised “seed rounds” from angel investors or accelerators, and then gone onto larger … Read more

Nobody really knows the true impact of digital technology on our children, because this is the first generation to grow up in an all-digital environment. However, some are questioning whether digital technology is doing more harm than good to our kids. In a recent interview with The Telegraph, British scientist Baroness Susan Greenfield said she … Read more

Facebook has a content problem; and it goes way beyond political meddling or “fake news.” Fundamentally, Facebook is grappling with the issue of free speech. At least, that’s what its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks. In a recent interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher, Zuckerberg pointed out that “the US has a very rich tradition … Read more

This month, New Zealand got just its second undersea internet cable directly connecting us to the United States. The Hawaiki cable is a 15,000 km fibre optic deep-sea cable that runs from Pacific City in Oregon, on the west coast of the US, all the way to the top of New Zealand’s North Island at … Read more

By the end of 2017, even Facebook was admitting social media is bad for us. The biggest social media company in the world simply could no longer ignore the side effects: fake news, constant outrage, polarised opinions, tribalism, groupthink, virtue signalling, and all the other ills of our internet culture. Yet despite Facebook’s promise to “help … Read more