Kiwi Knowledge Wave Hits Australian Shores

TRADE NEW ZEALAND MEDIA RELEASE

Kiwi Knowledge Wave Hits Australian Shores

Largest group of Kiwi software companies on show during Prime Minister’s visit

Auckland, May 20, 2002 – A delegation of 25 technology companies - the strongest export network ever to target the Australian IT market - will present their innovations at the AIIA/CeBIT exhibition in Sydney next week to a high-profile international audience.

This year’s AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association) Software Showcase is being held in conjunction with the annual exhibition CeBIT for the first time and will attract up to 15,000 visitors from world IT markets over three days from May 28 to 30.

Both Australian and New Zealand software developers will be on show at the event, which will provide opportunities for New Zealand companies to target potential international business partners - particularly from the US and the Pan Pacific regions - and form strategic trans-Tasman alliances with their Australian counterparts.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark will attend the showcase on May 28. Her visit is part of a Prime Ministerial mission during May aimed at building closer economic relations with Australia and highlighting several sectors where Australian and New Zealand companies can potentially work more closely together.

The New Zealand technology companies attending AIIA/CeBIT come from around the country (NB: see list attached) and span an array of sectors from health IT to mobile internet, and include a web-enabled, patient-centric personal health record; 3D software for the games, film and broadcast industries; staff coaching software; a travel and expenses management application; and a desktop IT hardware and software inventory.

Of the 25 New Zealand companies attending the event, two will be exhibiting at CeBIT.

Trade New Zealand is supporting the New Zealand delegation’s visit to AIIA/CeBIT through its export network programme.

Last year’s AIIA Software Showcase was a huge success for nine New Zealand technology companies that attended with the support of Trade New Zealand, providing substantial market leads and an excellent opportunity to network with potential business partners.

Trade New Zealand’s Technology and Services Sector Team Manager Lisa Hinton says the AIIA/CeBIT showcase is a cost-effective way for New Zealand companies to target the Australian IT sector and provides an important foot in the door to this lucrative market - particularly the government IT sector.

The showcase will also give New Zealand companies the opportunity to form business partnerships with Australian software developers who have developed strong international marketing channels, she says.

“New Zealand software companies looking for business partners will be just as interested in meeting the Australian software developers attending the showcase as they will be in the visitors attending.”

Catherine Dunkerley, Trade New Zealand’s Sydney-based Trade Commissioner, says many of the 25 New Zealand companies attending the showcase will be looking to form strategic partnerships with Australian software developers in an effort to ‘collaborate and compete’ for international markets.

“It’s all about New Zealand and Australian companies working together to look for third markets for their products, such as Singapore, the United States or the United Kingdom. By working together they can fully maximise their research and development and marketing efforts,” Ms Dunkerley says.

The Australian ICT industry is one of the fastest growing and most innovative markets in the Asia-Pacific region, recording sustained growth of almost 12% over the past five years.

Figures released in Digital Planet 2002: The Global Information Economy study show that more than US$37 billion was spent on ICT in Australia in 2001, representing 1.6% of the world’s ICT spending. The report stated Australian homes, businesses and government housed the world's eighth largest installed base of PCs, at more than 12.5 million nationally.

This year’s strong New Zealand presence at AIIA/CeBIT builds on the New Zealand brand of innovation which emerged at the World Congress on IT 2002 in Adelaide, Australia, in February this year. At WCIT, companies demonstrated creativity and quality to put New Zealand on the world innovation map, and provided a major opportunity to show world technology leaders that New Zealand was a creator of future innovation.

The AIIA Software Showcase is being held from May 28 to 30 at the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre, Darling Harbour.

For more information please contact:

Lisa Hinton
Technology and Services Sector Team Manager
Trade New Zealand
Ph: (09) 366 4768
Email: lisa.hinton@tradenz.govt.nz

Catherine Dunkerley
Trade Commissioner
Trade New Zealand – Sydney, Australia
Ph (+61 2) 9234 2700
Email catherine.dunkerley@tradenz.govt.nz

Distributed by Aimee McClinchy, Trade New Zealand Communications, Ph 09-915 5628, email aimee.mcclinchy@tradenz.govt.nz
New Zealand companies attending AIIA:

Alchemy Group Ltd (Internet business solutions)
Christchurch
www.alchemy.co.nz

AME Software (desktop IT solutions)
Auckland
www.ame.co.nz

Astarte (business management software)
Wellington
www.astarte.co.nz

Cortell Consulting (business intelligence solutions)
Auckland
www.cortell.co.nz

Data Group (transport management series)
Auckland
www.datagroup.co.nz

Dejar International Ltd (digital archive system)
Auckland
www.dejar.com

Doctor Global Ltd (patient-centric personal health record)
New Plymouth
www.doctorglobal.com

4iT International Ltd (business software solutions)
Auckland
www.4it.com.au

GlobalPro (travel and expenses management software)
Auckland
www.globalpro.co.nz

Idiom Ltd (business decision server)
Auckland
www.idiomsoftware.com

Jade Software Corporation (enterprise application development environment)
Christchurch
www.discoverjade.com

Liverton e-Commerce (eCommerce infrastructure products and support)
Wellington
www.liverton.com

Manoca (financial management software)
Christchurch
www.manoca.com

Nightside Test Design Ltd (contract software testing)
Christchurch
www.nightside.co.nz

NPA Systems (customer relationship management software)
Wellington
www.npa-systems.com

PST Software Ltd (business intelligence solutions)
Auckland
www.pst.co.nz

Right Hemisphere (3D graphic production solutions)
Auckland
www.righthemisphere.com

Selective Communications Group Ltd (mobile messaging solutions)
Auckland
www.selective.co.nz

Software Consultants Ltd (health funding software)
Auckland
www.scl.co.nz

Tempus Fugit (people management solutions)
Auckland
www.tempus-fugit.net

Terranova Pacific Services (electronic patient record system)
Wellington
www.terranova.co.nz

WAP Solutions (mobile internet solutions)
Auckland
www.wapsolutions.co.nz

Wired Internet Group (internet consultancy)
Christchurch
www.wiredgroup.com

New Zealand companies attending CeBIT:

gen-i Limited (desktop hardware and software inventory)
Auckland
www.gen-i.co.nz

Optimex SPS Ltd (telecommunications services)
Auckland
www.optimex.co.nz

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