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Sun 19 Apr 2015 9:03PM

Christchurch as an attractive location for tech sector businesses

AES Anna Elphick (CDC Strategist) Public Seen by 297

What would make Christchurch a more attractive place for tech businesses?

  • What makes an attractive environment for tech businesses? - for startup, for growth?
  • How can we leverage our small size and connectedness? Other opportunities?
  • What's holding us back?

For the latest research and key insights read the background paper.

Please remember to refresh the discussion regularly so you can see the latest comments.

HSC

Helen Shorthouse, CDC Sun 19 Apr 2015 9:18PM

Morning everyone - great to get this started....I'm excited. We're going to feed in a few questions over the next week or so to get a wee bit of structure to the discussions.

To kick things off we'd like to understand a bit more about what are some of the things that make Christchurch a good place to be a tech business?

What are our strengths as a tech city?

TB

Toby Burrows Sun 19 Apr 2015 9:22PM

Over the last 10 years in Sydney (and around the world), low-cost shared workspaces have played a really influential role in encouraging tech startups. EPIC seems like a terrific start - but I'd be surprised if it is enough to cater for every tech hopeful in Chch. Low-cost shared workspaces are likely to attract tech hopefuls from other areas of Canterbury or even different parts of the country and overseas. Creating a silo for people with similar aspirations to work in is terrific for idea sharing / cross pollination. If it is cost effective for entrepreneurs to rent space in a shared space environment which simulates that big agency / big company feel so many graduates / entrepreneurs look for, they are more likely to stay here (or come here) instead of heading to Auckland or overseas.

DL

Dave Lane Sun 19 Apr 2015 11:19PM

A big problem Chch's tech community has experienced since the quakes is the demise of low cost space for building new businesses (if they're going to fail, they need to fail as cheaply as possible! And to succeed they need as much resource as possible focused on business, not accommodation). The focus on EPIC (I think EPIC is great, don't get me wrong) tends to ignore all of the other spaces (all smaller, but no less important) that have popped up around Chch. People are cooperating their way towards recovery. We need to give those other groups credit too, and draw attention to them to connect them to people who need/want spaces as well.

PS

Paul Swettenham (Sunstone) Mon 20 Apr 2015 6:52PM

Being able to attract talent is key to be able to build a tech business - as you need the IP. I attract a lot of candidates (both internationally & nationally) to Christchurch (for high growth businesses / software houses) and of course interest has to be there within the job (interesting software / IT projects / product development) but it's always been the attractive lifestyle for many - 20 mins to the beach and an hour to the mountains. An international airport to fly out of is very handy, less traffic than a lot of other international cities, good tertiary institutions and schools, lots of green spaces, a house with a decent garden, relaxed friendly culture, low crime, uncrowded, a good upbringing for your kids are all big pluses....but yes it's not as cheap as it used to be;-) Good thing remuneration levels have gone up, albeit slowly....I still think you get a lot of bang for your buck! Now we also get new infrastructure......How can we leverage more off the lifestyle aspects and create more start-up hubs? Cheaper / attractive shared spaces? Become a true technology city?

DL

Dave Lane Mon 20 Apr 2015 10:56PM

@paulswettenham to be sure, successful companies need talent, passion, and leadership. Let's not de-personalise the crucial requirement for keen, capable people by referring to them as "IP". The term IP is soulless and is generally misunderstood by people who use it, and I strongly feel it should be avoided. I think we should talk about knowledge, skills, and the people who provide them. In the few cases where it's appropriate we should speak explicitly about the specific legal instruments that make up "IP": Copyright, Trademarks, Patents, and trade secrets. IP is nothing more or less.

LFC

Liz Foxwell-Canning (CDC Client Manager) Mon 20 Apr 2015 11:22PM

Given how difficult it is for tech businesses here to find sufficient talented people, should they be encouraged to adopt a less traditional structure and instead recruit remote workers all over the globe (like successful tech business http://www.ushahidi.com/ has done)? How can we encourage this, if it is a desirable solution?

ARO

Austen Rainer (University of Canterbury) Tue 21 Apr 2015 7:19AM

Hi all. A few brief responses to some of the comments raised. @tobyburrows: I agree about the low-cost shared workspaces for tech startups. And @davelane, I agree too that Chch needs more than only EPIC. (I thought that the University of Canterbury had/has such a space for this kind of thing: NZi3.) My own experience is as @paulswettenham describes it: I've come to Chch because I am interested in the job and career, but I also want the lifestyle (that term covers a range of things), for my family and me. Liz's (@lizfoxwellcanning) point about the difficulty of retaining talent came up in an informal chat today. We had a rep from a global technology corporate (I won't mention the name and they aren't the only one) here today to attract UC students to tech jobs overseas. I know too (as I am sure you all do) of companies in Chch that use talent physically located overseas. In a recent workshop, the facilitator was saying that you need three things: people + ideas + money; and that the ideas are free, it's the people that are valuable for which you need the money. (I realise that's a simplification but still a helpful one.) And a conundrum: how do you invest in talent that will continue to benefit Chch (rather than be 'exported' in some way)?

SM

Sheralee MacDonald (CDC) Tue 21 Apr 2015 8:31AM

Thanks @austenrainer - Do others agree that talent retention is a key issue? What ideas do people have about how we can better retain the talent coming out of UC and other local tertiaries in local industry? or attract them back with their overseas experience? @edwegner, @stevedavis,@craigrichardson?

TP

Terry Paddy Tue 21 Apr 2015 9:49PM

The retention issue is definitely real and for us (small company) it is attractive to hire new grads as they are enthusiastic, keen, want to make a difference and... not so expensive. But, like all young kiwi's they want to travel and do their OE, the first job just gives them an "experienced" tick. We've been fortunate to keep a high value employee by allowing him to work from the UK for a year. Maybe theres a way we can put together a "work overseas but still for us" package (not sure what that is) or some sort of exchange program with other like minded centers (incubators or whatever overseas)?
I know the biggest problem is the risk of loss of the employee, but its probably going to happen anyway.. or if the concept of working for a Canterbury HiTech company means you have the opportunity to work overseas for a year then that will attract loyal employees?

SD

Steve Davis Tue 21 Apr 2015 9:53PM

Christchurch has a lot to offer and we need to promote the lifestyle options a lot more, we have everything in our backyard, skiing, hiking, sailing etc etc. Cost of living is pretty good, and we don't have major commute/transport issues. (Unfortunately the quakes have made commuting and housing worse than they were before, but still not as bad as other major cities)

Many tech companies in the USA have moved away from Silicon Valley where it is expensive to live and commuting etc is bad to places like Denver where cost of living, transport etc are better and there is a great outdoor attraction.

For firms to retain good people they need a good culture, and there is a lot of that here in Christchurch, many firms taking a leaf out of the Google book and making their work environments fun and friendly.

I likewise agree with @davelane and @austenrainer in that we need more reasonable cost opportunities for smaller businesses in environments like EPIC, through shared spaces, incubators, generators or hubs. The tech precinct is a good idea, but if it is too expensive for small start-ups then it is not going to achieve all that it could/should.

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