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NZ's tiny footprint in the hi-tech world

The internet is filled with really amazing enterprises, ranging from things as simple as ecommerce sites that have established incredibly strong niches in small markets, to globally important services such as Skype, YouTube, MySpace and other house-hold names.

Although the vast majority of these iconic brands and services have been set up by Americans, there are still a number that have come from other countries, although most of those get bought out eventually by US investors.

The original ICQ was the work of an Israeli (from memory) and I have a strong suspicion that Hotmail was originally a non-US creation.

So where's New Zealand's "claim to fame" on the Net?

Why isn't there some part of the Net (apart from NewZealand.com) that the rest of the world associates with Kiwi ingenuity?

For a nation that purports to be filled with bright and enterprising people, we're decidedly "missing in action" on the cyberspace battlefield.

Sure, we have a few good points on the board in other areas. For example, tucked away in Mt Wellington is a hi-tech Kiwi enterprise that makes the electromagnets used in 90% of the world's ion implantation devices around the world.

But we really have so little of the world's top cyber-realestate that it's kind of embarrassing.

Why is it that we simply don't seem to have the vision, intelligence, insight or dedication required to create another Google, Second Life, or whatever?

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It's also got nothing to do with our intelligence, insight, vision or willingness to work our backsides off.

The problem is that, a decade after the Net appeared on the radar of most people around the world, we still don't have any significant venture-capital infrastructure.

While finance companies, banks and private investors seem more than happy to lend hundreds of thousands of dollars to minimum-wage workers so that they can buy their first over-priced home, the prospects for a hi-tech start-up looking to move to the next level remain decidedly bleak.

I pity anyone with a good idea but little cash. No matter how hard they're prepared to work and no matter how good their idea, they'll find door after door slammed in their face if they can't finance such a venture themselves.

But, pretty soon Dr Cullen will be unleashing a new "R&D-friendly" budget designed to boost NZ's performance in the hi-tech world of the 21st century.

There will be (we're told) moves afoot to make spending on R&D more attractive to those doing the work and therefore, those who might invest in them.

This has to be good news, providing we're able to establish some parity with other OECD nations that place a huge emphasis on such research and development activities.

It's probably no coincidence that our OECD rankings for R&D support by way of tax concessions seems to closely parallel our OECD performance ranking in so many areas.

The reality is that you only get out what you put in and, so long as we offer our best and brightest no help in their quest to create new export-earning technologies, we'll never see our gold star on the board of success.

Let's hope that this important message has finally gotten through to those who tax us so harshly. If they get the formula right, we'll see an influx (rather than an exodus) of clever people and their bright ideas.

Have you ever tried to get funding for a good idea or some kind of research or hi-tech development activity?

How did you fare?

Was it easier to get a mortgage?

Just where can our best and brightest go to raise funding for their ideas?

How long before NZ starts making its mark in cyberspace -- or have we already got some ground-breaking cutting edge Net-related technologies that I've missed?

Have your say on this...

Oh, and don't forget today's sci/tech news headlines

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