Dr Stu Gowland
Session 5: Seven Imaginations – Tuesday 26 August
“We live in a relatively small country that struggles to match other bigger countries with money, so why not match them with ideas.” Seemingly the domain of science-fiction, Dr Stu Gowland paints a number of real scenarios – mobile surgical services, augmented reality and teleporting video collaboration – that are helping to shape the Health Service of the future.
Dr Helen Anderson
Session 5: Seven Imaginations – Tuesday 26 August
Dr Helen Anderson uses her seven minutes as a call for us to find confidence in our creativity and innovation. New Zealand is a country full to the brim with brilliant ideas and creativity, so we should be confident that we are “first to see the light” not because we have been hanging around at the beach all day, but because we turned on the lights ourselves.
Professor Paul Callaghan
Session 5: Seven Imaginations – Tuesday 26 August
“In this world, the optimists have it. Not because they’re always right, but because they are positive.” Quoting David Landes, Professor Paul Callaghan believes that New Zealand’s future success lies in our ability to stay positive, to have faith in ourselves, and having the confidence to do well.
Brent Edwards
Session 5: Seven Imaginations – Tuesday 26 August
Talking about the Australia-New Zealand relationship and where that could take us, Brent Edwards highlights that one of the problems about the debate of the relationship is that it is driven essentially by politicians and business leaders – both having their disadvantages. Brent suggests a ‘regional grouping’ between members of the P4 economic agreement to help move the relationship forward.
Gary Nairn
Session 5: Seven Imaginations – Tuesday 26 August
The Honourable Gary Nairn imagines seven examples of where technology may go in the future – in the fields of communication, education, energy, health, transport, work practice and social networking. The one common link between all of his examples are that they all revolve around ‘place’, which makes palpable the opportunities and advantages of being spatially enabled.
Wendy McGuinness
Session 5: Seven Imaginations – Tuesday 26 August
Fasten your seatbelts, the ride to the future is going to be a bumpy one. The way we live is set to change and is next is going to be a survivor, Wendy McGuinness needs a ‘National Strategy’ to optimise our future, to align our industry, to reinforce our national brand and to be an example of what is possible.
Chief Judge Joe Williams
Session 5: Seven Imaginations – Tuesday 26 August
New Zealand is growing into a new hybrid culture which is deeply pacific-based, centred at the fulcrum between east and west. Chief Judge Joe Williams believes this is a perfect position to be in looking forward the next 50 years, but there are some risks. The children going through the education system today must be well equipped with the skills to succeed because they will be the drivers for our economy in the years to come.
Paul Morgan
Session 4: Seven Connections – Monday 18 August
Talking about the emergence of Maori business, Paul Morgan uses Wakatu Inc – the organisation he is chairman of – as a case study that New Zealand business as a whole can learn from. Unlike most owner/operator businesses in NZ who are always looking for an exit strategy, Wakatu focuses on long-term strategy and the idea that businesses should be inter-generational.
Charles Finny
Session 4: Seven Connections – Monday 18 August
Our base in agriculture, fisheries and forestry, rather than being a curse Charles Finny believes, could see New Zealand become one of the wealthiest countries per capita in the world. This coupled with other strengths in renewables, huge untapped natural resources, and human capital, paints a rosy picture for New Zealand’s future provided we adopt a national export strategy that will help to take this country forward.
Professor Sally Davenport
Session 4: Seven Connections – Monday 18 August
Professor Sally Davenport highlights that our ‘glass half empty’ attitude to how we do business from New Zealand is really constraining us in a lot of ways. She looks to some successful New Zealand companies that we can learn from and lists some things we must “get over” in creating the New Zealand powerhouse. It’s as easy as herding cats…
Branton Kenton-Dau
Session 4: Seven Connections – Monday 18 August
Branton Kenton-Dau is certain that NZ has a very important role to play in the world; after all we do live in the “Land of New Zeal”. The world needs healing and it is New Zealand companies with big, brave ideas like Vortex DNA – who have mapped the structure of human consciousness – and Aquaflow who will lead us into the future.
Guy Salmon
Session 4: Seven Connections – Monday 18 August
Providing a snapshot of decision-making about environmental issues, Guy Salmon thinks that we can learn from the Nordic countries, which have similar ‘green values’ to New Zealand. Their difference is that they have been able to translate these values into actual policy performance on the ground. The reason for this lies in collaborative governance, something Guy believes we should look to adopt.
Megan Hosking
Session 4: Seven Connections – Monday 18 August
This is the most important time in humanities existence. Issues of peak-oil, peak food, climate change and global warming, mean that the way we live is set to change. Megan Hosking feels the answer to overcoming these problems lies in something that will connect us in action – the internet.
Greg O’Brien
Session 4: Seven Connections – Monday 18 August
“Artists are the unacknowledged engine room and powerhouse workers of a culture.” Greg O’Brien dissects some of the great works produced by New Zealand artists such as Colin McCahon, Rita Angus and Bill Hammond. Greg suggests that art stares back at us and asks us questions, and great art like this makes us look beneath the surface of our world, our nation and our culture.
Gerry Te Kapa Coates
Session 3: Seven Directions – Tuesday 12 August
Discussing the notion of carbon neutrality and what it means for New Zealand, engineer Gerry Te Kapa Coates points out that as we enter the end of the ‘cheap oil era’, we need to “de-fossil fuel” ourselves and change the way we do things by investing in the transition to sustainability today.
Dr Andy Shenk
Session 3: Seven Directions – Tuesday 12 August
Dr Andy Shenk outlines some of the big, brave steps that his company Fonterra is taking to make a difference, not only in their business but in the global dairy industry in which they operate. Dr Shenk believes that enterprises can’t change business like big companies can, so it is up to organizations such as Fonterra to lead from the front and form the blueprint of what epitomizes a sustainable and innovative company.
Helen Kelly
Session 3: Seven Directions – Tuesday 12 August
President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, Helen Kelly describes a new direction for the workplace of the future. She outlines seven key features that will help to create the future that we want to live in, replacing the well-known ‘seven deadly sins’ which are currently doing unruly damage to our workplaces.
Nick Gerritsen
Session 3: Seven Directions – Tuesday 12 August
Nick Gerritsen believes that New Zealand is not taking bold steps in the world because we aren’t connecting into people who have changed the world before or who are looking to change the world now. The solution: we need to change the way we do things, before we are left behind.
Chris Pickrill
Session 3: Seven Directions – Tuesday 12 August
Chris Pickrill believes that if we are going to get back into the top half of the OECD, we are going to need to do it collectively. Drawing a lot of parallels to Scotland – who have recently adopted a four city model with each city being a “pillar of leadership growth in that country” – Pickrill puts forward the argument that Christchurch (not just Auckland!) is also an internationally competitive city.
Professor Peter Gluckman
Session 3: Seven Directions – Tuesday 12 August
“We’re a country that doesn’t have a national ambition, or at least one outside of the sports field.” Professor Peter Gluckman proposes that we need a Business Plan for “New Zealand Inc.” and must recognise the fact that science, research and technology are central to our survival in the 21st century.
John Allen
Session 3: Seven Directions – Tuesday 12 August
A self confessed optimist and CEO of NZ Post, John Allen believes celebrating the difference that our Polynesian heritage brings to New Zealand, will underpin our future success. John lists four things that we need to achieve if we are going to unlock our potential, which all come back to the same motif: celebrate the community, celebrate the people.
Rod Drury, Xero
Session 2: Seven Trailblazers – Monday 4 August
Making a case for improvements in broadband in New Zealand, Rod explains why this is so vital for businesses trying to interact with global markets. Rod examines the feasibility of this necessary evolutionary change and calls for a public-private sector partnership to fix the infrastructure problem.
Nick Lewis, Celsias
Session 2: Seven Trailblazers – Monday 4 August
Founder of the Celsias climate-change community action website, Nick Lewis describes the genesis of the site’s development and talks us through its major elements. The global dialogue of Celsias involves both individuals and companies, and here Nick highlights its business model and future plans for worldwide engagement.
Brett Hewlett, Comvita
Session 2: Seven Trailblazers – Monday 4 August
Brett Hewlett of Comvita identifies the unsustainable nature of the mainstream healthcare system, which faces steadily increasing costs, risky hospital environments, and the unnecessary damage of poor lifestyles. As world leaders in the life sciences, Brett explains how New Zealand can capture this opportunity by focusing on proactive healthcare, and add value to the growing wellness market.
Dave Pearce, Grove Mill
Session 2: Seven Trailblazers – Monday 4 August
Chief winemaker for the world’s first carbon neutral winery Grove Mill, Dave Pearce discusses the voluntary carbon market (VCM), what it is, and why we need it. He explains that the VCM needs to be given the opportunity of a ‘fair fight’ because we are an exporting country and at the end of the day, it is no longer about marketing and sales, it’s about the future of the planet.
Barrie Leay, Aquaflow
Session 2: Seven Trailblazers – Monday 4 August
With his company Aquaflow, Barrie Leay has found a way to overcome the basic fundamental energy problem facing humanity by converting wild algae into biofuel. According to Barrie, algae not only has the ability to produce biofuel, but it also provides us with clean water, which makes it a much more attractive option when compared with other biofuel options such as harvesting food crops for fuel.
Dr Craig Stevens, NIWA
Session 2: Seven Trailblazers – Monday 4 August
Dr Craig Stevens, a marine physicist at NIWA declares that the two biggest issues facing our species today are 1) population pressures and 2) climate issues, and he believes that the key to overcoming these challenges is clean energy. His research focuses on marine energy (extracting energy from the waves and tides), and it is these types of new and alternative ways of thinking that he suggests need to be fostered if we are going to overcome these major ecological dilemmas.
Martin Bosley, Martin Bosley’s
Session 2: Seven Trailblazers – Monday 4 August
One of the most recognised names in New Zealand fine dining, Martin Bosley reveals his aspiration for New Zealand to become a premier fine dining destination, which is part of the wider export success story he believes we can be. By outlining seven things we need to do to achieve this aspiration, Martin believes the key to our success comes down to authenticity.
Brian Sweeney, SweeneyVesty
Session 1: Seven Foundations – Tuesday 22 July
The theme of 7×7 in 2008 is the economic transformation of New Zealand. Brian Sweeney shares five foundations from Toyota which the company used to permanently grow its market share in the face of the last three economic downturns. He also applies the FREDA model (Focus, Reinvention, Execution, Distribution, Accountability) to New Zealand as a nation to provide a framework for a growing global future.
Rod Oram
Session 1: Seven Foundations – Tuesday 22 July
Giving a broad overview of areas to be explored over the five 7×7 sessions, Rod identifies seven synergies to combine for a bold and successful future. He articulates a vision for New Zealand earning excellent living through harnessing its natural environment with a new business model based on small entrepreneurial global companies. Rod outlines our potential to be a role model for other nations and the belief that our difference is our gift to the world.
Dr David Skilling, New Zealand Institute
Session 1: Seven Foundations – Tuesday 22 July
Dr David Skilling of the New Zealand Institute addresses the country’s economic situation, looking at our present and future challenges and opportunities. Identifying the consequence of our current course of action and speed as ‘not good enough’, he identifies global trends to take advantage of in creating a deliberate strategy for a prosperous future for Aotearoa.
Dr Brian Easton
Session 1: Seven Foundations – Tuesday 22 July
Does material affluence boost happiness? This has been the assumption of economists for centuries, and a central basis of public economic discussions. Here, Dr Brian Easton examines the accumulated evidence to the contrary and suggests perhaps it is time to consider dimensions other than wealth in measuring people’s wellbeing and status.
Professor Jacqueline Rowarth, Massey University
Session 1: Seven Foundations – Tuesday 22 July
Better science is vital for our ability to create wealth from innovation, according to the quality and quantity of our scientists and engineers. To meet current global food and environmental challenges, we need more scientists – creative people prepared to work in depth and in detail. Professor Jacqueline Rowarth suggests changes in society and the research system needed to attract more people to this sector.
Michael Field
Session 1: Seven Foundations – Tuesday 22 July
While we may bristle when other countries dismiss us as small, sometimes New Zealand does the same to our Pacific Island neighbours. Journalist Michael Field calls attention to their largely unnoticed plight, and suggests the answer to the failing microsite issues of poor health, weak economies and unjust governments could lie in the creation of a Polynesian-Pacific Union.
Dr Morgan Williams
Session 1: Seven Foundations – Tuesday 22 July
Ecologist Dr Morgan Williams shares how the recognition of our planet as a closed system and finding a response to the growing pressure on natural capital will define our future. He also highlights specific areas, such as soil management and pollination development, as the frontiers of creative natural capital design.