Dunedin has an opportunity to develop a digital strategy that most other centres would envy, New Zealand Computer Society chief executive Paul Matthews says.
"You have significant tertiary institutions pumping out graduates, many that want to stay in Dunedin. Even when I went through the university, it was the same. I wanted to stay in Dunedin and establish my business."
Mr Matthews, formerly of Dunedin, was in the city for a conference last week and spent much of his down time visiting local IT companies and talking about the Dunedin City Council's digital strategy.
He was impressed with what he saw.
Until recently, Mr Matthews owned and operated a business in Dunedin. He originally took over the role of chief executive of the society for six months but two years later, he is still in the job.
The city needed to grasp the opportunity that was presenting itself and make sure graduates not only stayed in the city but had jobs to go to, he said in an interview.
Christchurch had decided it wanted to become a centre of excellence for software development. Jade had set the standard but others had got together on the project and now, 52% of the country's software was developed in Christchurch.
Dunedin had a steady supply of IT graduates and infrastructure was on track, boosting the local economy. It was cheaper to run a business from Dunedin than from other main centres and the problem of distance, which caused difficulties for some manufacturers, posed no problems for IT companies.
Mr Matthews said he knew that over the years, other commentators had also pushed IT as a way for entrepreneurs to stay in the city and develop their businesses. Apart from a few notable exceptions, most graduates left disillusioned about the prospect of finding employment in the city.
The environment was right for Dunedin to make a substantial change now. The DCC IT industry cluster and chief executive cluster had worked well, but the next step needed to be taken.
"People have been saying this stuff forever but now there is a real digital strategy document, it will come down to how seriously this stuff is undertaken. There is an opportunity here that has not been here before," Mr Matthews said.
