Niche industrial player sees the opportunities to provide high value technological services to foreign markets. Laznatech is merely one type of industrial innovation to be found in NZ, and there is room for many more. This is the type of innovation culture that NZ needs to promote. So you might ask how it can go about that:
1. Provide a more encouraging culture at home to attract creative foreigners; not least all those NZ expatriates who might have left for good.
2. Reform the education system to make it more 'externally focused' like Australia's, and more critical thinking.
3. Encourage external relationships in trade and personal interests.
4. Encourage local govts to set up region or national-based hubs in major trading nations to promote trade, familiarity and cultural exchange. I look at NZ efforts at this, and its poor in execution. i.e. Wanganui, my town, has a sister city relationship with Toowoomba in Qld, and some small town in Shizuoka, Japan. The problem with this strategy is that its 'boring' sameness, not interesting 'differentiation'. Why would they come here, and why would we go there. These relationships we defined by their proponents, who as individuals, happened to like living in Wanganui. This fails as a community stretegy. Its success was subsidised by its proponent, then unthinkingly supported by the state. I would suggest Hanno should drop its relationship with Toowoomba because its a competitor, not a prospective partner, and drop its relationship in Shizuoka, and adopt one with Hanno, Saitama. Why? Hanno is likewise a small town, but its on the edge of a big city (Tokyo). There are many factories there. Another good option is Mito, north of Tokyo, close to the airport. Do the same in India, and you just might turn Wanganui into a future IT hub, developing call centres, and VOIP technologies for pertinent industries. Expect technology costs for such centres to come down in future.
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