When Life as we know it erupts into Scale, Manufacturing and Transit

Productivity is a measure of how efficiently production inputs are being used within the economy to produce output. Growth in productivity is a key determinant in improving a nation’s long-term material standard of living. —Statistics NZ ….[yawn]

Since March 2006, Statistics NZ has produced a yearly release of official measures of annual productivity for the measured sector. These measures are vital to better understanding improvements in New Zealand’s living standards, economic performance, and international competitiveness over the long term. Productivity is often defined as a ratio between economic output and the inputs, such as labour and capital, which go into producing that output.

Productivity Statistics – information releases ….[ZzzZzzzz…………..]

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Viddsee Published on May 18, 2016
Changing Batteries – A Robot “Son” Couldn’t Replace The Emptiness In Her Heart // Viddsee.com
‘Changing Batteries’ is a final year animation production made in Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia. The story tells of an old lady who lives alone and receives a robot one day. Based on the theme ‘Change’, our story tells about their relationship development with one another through time.

Viddsee Published on Feb 23, 2016
Alarm – Relatable Animation For The Mornings // Viddsee.com
The story is about a salaryman living in a single apartment. But he has a problem getting up early in the morning. He would rather die than wake up early. He decides to set many alarm clocks everywhere in his apartment so he can get to work on time. The next morning, after struggling with his alarm clocks, he barely finishes preparing for work.

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WIRED UK Published on Jul 5, 2016
Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware (Full Documentary) | Future Cities | WIRED
Future Cities, a full-length documentary strand from WIRED Video, takes us inside the bustling Chinese city of Shenzhen. We examine the unique manufacturing ecosystem that has emerged, gaining access to the world’s leading hardware-prototyping culture whilst challenging misconceptions from the west. The film looks at how the evolution of “Shanzhai” – or copycat manufacturing – has transformed traditional models of business, distribution and innovation, and asks what the rest of the world can learn from this so-called “Silicon Valley of hardware”. Directed by: Jim Demuth

Future Cities is part of a new flagship documentary strand from WIRED Video that explores the technologies, trends and ideas that are changing our world.

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BBC aired the documentary in November, with the following descriptor:

Best Documentary 2016 Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware gives us an insider’s perspective on a system of creative collaboration that ultimately informs all of our lives.

The centre of the technology world may not lie in California’s Silicon Valley, but in the bustling marketplace of Huaqiangbei, a subdistrict of Shenzhen in China. This is where curious consumers and industry insiders gather to feast their eyes and wallets on the latest software, hardware, gadgetry, and assorted electronic goods. At the very start the film sets the scene to this fascinating technology mecca. A city populated by 20 million people, Shenzhen is the setting where advancement is most likely to originate at speeds that can’t be replicated in the States. The city’s vibrant and inventive tech work force takes over when the innovations of Silicon Valley become stagnant. The revolution may have started in the States, but its evolution is occurring in China. Working in collaboration, Shenzhen labourers craft unique upgrades and modifications to everything from laptops to cell phones. Their efforts then immigrate and influence the adoption of new products in other regions of the world. The infrastructure by which this is made possible is known as the ‘Maker movement’. In developer conferences and Maker exhibition fairs, tech geeks are encouraged to share their ideas freely with colleagues in the hopes that more open collaborations will form grander innovations. The film highlights how these attitudes stand in sharp contrast to the Western world where communications are secretive, monopolies are the norm and proprietorship is sacred. However, there are challenges faced by Shenzhen in maintaining their edge in the industry. While widely acknowledged as pioneers, Shenzhen’s prominence has faltered as the remainder of China has proven successful in their attempts to catch up. Adding to the frustrations, the government has interceded and moved manufacturing bases outside of the city. Meanwhile, figures from the world of investment financing have moved into the equation, and threatened to stifle creativity by imposing a more closed and impenetrable mode of operations.

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### dailymail.co.uk 30 Oct 2013
Ever wondered how everything you buy from China gets here? Welcome to the port of Shanghai – the size of 470 football pitches
By Daily Mail Reporter
Whether it’s the car you drove to work in, the computer at your desk or your children’s toys strewn across their bedroom floor, there’s a very good chance they have come from here. This is the world’s busiest trading port which handles a staggering 32million containers a year carrying 736million tonnes of goods to far-flung places around the globe. Stretching as far as the eye can see, rows upon rows of containers lie stacked up at the Port of Shanghai waiting to be shipped abroad and bringing in trillions of pounds to the Chinese economy in the process. It’s this fearsome capacity that has helped China become the world’s largest trading nation when it leapfrogged the United States last year.
The port has an area of 3.94 square kilometres – the equivalent of 470 football pitches. China’s breakneck growth rate in recent years has been driven by exports and manufacturing as well as government spending on infrastructure. In the last eight years alone, capacity at the Port of Shanghai has ballooned from 14million TEUs (a unit which is roughly the volume of a 20ft-long container) in 2004 to more than 32million last year. The rapid expansion was largely thanks to the construction of the Yangshan Deepwater Port, which opened in 2005 and can handle the world’s largest container vessels. That port alone can now shift around 12million containers a year.
Shanghai’s location at the mouth of the Yangtze River made it a key area of development for coastal trade during the Qing dynasty from 1644 to 1912. In 1842, Shanghai became a treaty port, which opened it up to foreign trade, and by the early 20th Century it became the largest in the Far East. Trade became stifled after 1949, however, when the economic policies of the People’s Republic crippled infrastructure and development. But after economic reforms in 1991, the port was able to expand exponentially.
Read more

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David Carrier Published on Jan 13, 2017
World’s Biggest and Busiest Port Ever Made – Full Documentary
The Yangshan Deepwater Port is connected to the mainland by the Donghai Bridge, the world’s longest sea bridge.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Images: (from top) Shanghai Map – topchinatravel.com, Donghai Bridge – topchinatravel.com, Yangshan Deepwater Port – meretmarine.com, embed.ly, reddit-com

Dezeen: W57 —West 57th Residential Building by BIG

Durst Fetner Residential commissioned Copenhagen based BIG in the spring of 2010 to introduce a new residential typology to Manhattan.

sltube7 Uploaded on Feb 10, 2011
Jacob Slevin Bjarke Ingels Is BIG in New York City with W57
(by Designer Pages)

GlessnerGroup Uploaded on Feb 15, 2011
W57 – West 57th Residential Building [no audio]
W57 is a hybrid between the European perimeter block and a traditional Manhattan high-rise, West 57th has a unique shape which combines the advantages of both: the compactness and efficiency of a courtyard building providing density, a sense of intimacy and security, with the airiness and the expansive views of a skyscraper.
©Glessner Group, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

Construction is due for completion in 2016.

█ Architect: Bjarke Ingels Group

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### dezeen.com Tue, 8 Feb 2011 at 12:41 pm
West 57th by BIG
By Catherine Warmann
Durst Fetner Residential (DFR) today announced the design of West 57, a 600-unit 80/20 residential building on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The building is designed by renowned Danish Architect firm BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group and is their inaugural North American project. The building’s program consists of over 600 residential units of different scales situated on a podium with a cultural and commercial program. The building will strive for LEED Gold Certification.

“It’s extraordinarily exciting to build a building whose architecture will attract visitors from around the globe,” said Hal Fetner, CEO of Durst Fetner Residential. “BIG’s design is innovative, evocative and unique and the building’s beauty is matched only by its efficient and functional design that preserves existing view corridors while maximizing the new building’s access to natural light and views of the Hudson River. West 57th will establish a new standard for architectural excellence and its creative design, sustainable-construction and operations, breathtaking views and distinctive amenities will make it New York’s most sought after residential address.”

“New York is rapidly becoming an increasingly green and livable city. The transformation of the Hudson River waterfront and the Highline into green parks, the ongoing effort to plant a million trees, the pedestrianisation of Broadway and the creation of more miles of bicycle lanes than the entire city of my native Copenhagen are all evidence of urban oases appearing all over the city. With West 57th we attempt to continue this transformation into the heart of the city fabric – into the centre of a city block,” Bjarke Ingels, Founder, BIG.

“The building is conceived as a cross breed between the Copenhagen courtyard and the New York skyscraper. The communal intimacy of the central urban oasis meets the efficiency, density and panoramic views of the tall tower in a new hybrid typology. The courtyard is to architecture what Central Park is to urbanism: a giant green garden surrounded by a dense wall of spaces for living.”
Read more + Images

[view full screen]

BIG from DRKHRSE (posted 4 months ago)
An aerial view of Bjarke Ingel’s newest building in NYC, at W57

█ Drone Photography: Darkhorse

### dezeen.com Wed, 16 Sept 2015 at 11:10 am
Drone video shows progress on New York “courtscraper” by BIG
By Jenna McKnight
Communications firm Darkhorse has used a camera mounted to a drone to capture footage of Via 57 West, the residential building by Bjarke Ingels Group that is now rising in New York. Construction is underway on the tetrahedron-shaped building, which is located on West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The design is pulled up at one corner, to create a 467-foot-tall (142-metre) structure. It topped out several months ago, with the addition of the final structural beam, and work is now continuing on the building’s facades. The unofficial movie by Darkhorse shows images of Via’s sloped exterior, which is punctuated with south-facing terraces that look toward the Hudson River.

Encompassing 861,00 square feet (80,000 square metres), the building will contain 709 residential units and a large central courtyard. The project also calls for retail space totalling 45,000 square feet (4,180 square metres).

“We call it a courtscraper,” Ingels told Dezeen in an interview last year. “It’s a combination of a skyscraper and a courtyard building. One side is the height of a handrail and the other side is the height of a high-rise.”

The project is being constructed in an area with a mix of building types. W57 is sandwiched between a power plant, a sanitation garage and a highway. The building’s amenities will include a pool, fitness centre, basketball court, golf simulator, library and screening room. Residents will also be able to reserve “living rooms” for entertaining that feature fireplaces, chef’s kitchens, dining rooms and large terraces.
Read more + Images

█ Other residential projects now underway in New York include 152 Elizabeth Street by Tadao Ando in the Nolita neighbourhood, 520 West 28th Street by Zaha Hadid near the High Line, and a luxury condo building by Alvaro Siza that is slated to rise near BIG’s Via 57 West.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dubai skyscrapers | Martin Aircraft Company-designed jetpacks #NZ

Chief TV Published on Dec 31, 2015
Dubai Fire Address Hotel – Dubai Hotel On Fire Before New Years Eve Fireworks – 2015

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### dezeen.com 31 December 2015
Huge fire breaks out at Atkins-designed Dubai skyscraper
On New Year’s Eve, a fire engulfed The Address Downtown Dubai hotel tower. Burning debris was seen falling from The Address, designed by international architecture and engineering firm Atkins. The skyscraper occupies a site close to the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which hosted a massive fireworks display despite the nearby blaze. The 302-metre-tall, 63-storey Address tower was completed in 2008, and is currently the 19th tallest building in the Emirate. The fire engulfed around 20 floors of the building. The blaze was contained to the outside of the building. Internal sprinkler systems prevented it from spreading to the interior.

Starting in 2016, the Emirate plans to use jetpacks to reach people and deliver equipment during skyscraper fires.

█ Developed by New Zealand manufacturer Martin Aircraft Company, the jetpacks are being tailored to meet the needs of firefighters and rescue workers, including allowing them to be operated hands-free in hover mode. This will make it easier for firefighters to carry equipment or assess heat sources using thermal imaging cameras. “Dubai is leading the world in high-rises, and sometimes we have challenges or difficulties reaching those buildings,” Dubai’s Civil Defence chief Ali Hassan Almutawa told the Khaleej Times. “Sometimes we also find it difficult to communicate with people in those high-rises, especially when people are panicking from windows or balconies.”
Read more

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BACK STORY

Dubai skyline during Torch fire February 2015 [via dezeen.com]

[As at Nov 2015] Dubai is home to 911 high-rise buildings, 88 of which are taller than 180 metres (591 ft). Burj Khalifa, by Chicago office Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, is the world’s tallest structure at 828 metres (2,716.5 ft).

### dezeen.com 13 November 2015
Dubai to fight fires in world’s tallest skyscrapers using jetpacks
Dubai, home to the world’s tallest skyscraper, will use jetpack-equipped firefighters in high-rise emergencies as early as next year. A fleet of emergency-service jetpacks will be delivered to the Dubai Civil Defence in 2016, according to the Khaleej Times. Specially trained firefighters will use the jetpacks to tackle flames in some the city’s tallest buildings. The news comes months after fire tore through one of the world’s tallest residential structures located in the United Arab Emirates city. The fire broke out on the 50th floor of the 79-storey Torch, a 336-metre-high skyscraper, in February.

“In an emergency situation, we can’t use the elevators and have to depend on firefighters physically climbing ladders,” said Dubai’s Civil Defence chief Ali Hassan Almutawa. “With this we can lift equipment for our firefighters.”

“There will now be a new generation of firefighters with this,” said Martin Aircraft Company CEO Peter Coker, who went on to explain how “easy” the flying machines are to operate. “It’s got a fly-by-wire system that has a sort of flight computer, so the aircraft is very stable,” he said. “If you let go of everything, the aircraft will come to a hover.”

Manned test flights of a Martin Aircraft Company-designed jetpack were first approved in 2013. The company claimed its design was the world’s first practical jetpack.

“In a few years they will likely be used by customers in a very controlled environment, and we’ll probably have situations in which we create clubs for people to go and fly the jetpacks,” said Coker.

The use of jetpack technology in the United Arab Emirates isn’t restricted to its emergency services. Earlier this month, footage emerged of two jetpack-equipped daredevils flying alongside a passenger plane over Dubai’s landmarks to promote the country’s Emirates airline company.
Read more

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Clarification: The following footage, worth watching, doesn’t involve Martin Aircraft Company-designed jetpack componentry. Visit MAC’s website (link given above) to view their practical jetpack units.

Aeronauticator Published on May 14, 2015
Yves Rossy & Vince Reffet – Birdmans Fly over Dubai Sky
Flying like a bird is always human’s dream. And the dream comes true.
Join Jetman Yves Rossy and his protege, Jetman Vince Reffet as they explore the limits in the city of dreams. “The real dream is to be completely free.”

XDubai Published on Nov 4, 2015
Emirates: #HelloJetman
Armed with unguarded ambition and the vision to push boundaries beyond the unthinkable, Jetman Dubai and Emirates A380 take to the skies of Dubai for an exceptional formation flight. A carefully choreographed aerial showcase, conducted over the Palm Jumeirah and Dubai skyline, involving the world’s largest passenger aircraft and the experienced Jetman Dubai pilots Yves Rossy and Vince Reffet. Over the last three months, Emirates and the Jetman Dubai teams worked closely to diligently plan and coordinate every detail of this project. Featuring an all Original Soundtrack by Erik Groysman – “Flight”

Tourism and Events Published on Nov 7, 2015
Emirates HelloJetman Emirates A380 and Jetman Dubai Formation Flight Emirates Airline

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

WikiHouseNZ @ Christchurch #eqnz

Possible interior of a WikiHouseNZ project called the BackYarder
Photo: Tigran Haruyunyan, WikiHouse (via Stuff)

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The new prototype, called the Backyarder, is the “nucleus of a much larger house”. –Danny Squires, WikiHouseNZ

### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 08:20, April 6 2015
Business
WikiHouse project ‘a social enterprise’
A communal house-building network that started in the dark days after the Christchurch earthquake will be a reality this year. WikiHouse is an open hardware project, where experts design houses, or parts of them, and share their creations online for any house builder who wants to use them.
WikiHouseNZ co-founders and directors Danny Squires and Martin Luff will build a 25-30 square metre prototype house by the end of the year, they said at a launch event. The house will be fully enclosed, watertight, insulated, plumbed and wired for electricity and the internet. It would cost no more than a conventional house of the same size, Luff said.
The pair would seek consent for the building. It would initially be manufactured and assembled in WikiHouseNZ’s lab in Addington, but could be disassembled in hours and moved anywhere. WikiHouses are built from plywood shaped by a computer-controlled cutting machine. Components were fastened with plywood pegs rather than nails or screws.
The houses are more than “hobbyist prefab systems”, said Alastair Parvin, the London-based architect credited with launching the WikiHouse idea in 2011. The New Zealanders came aboard almost immediately and were in effect co-founders, Parvin told the launch via Skype. The New Zealand arm was a social enterprise. It generated profits but used them for a social good.
Read more

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█ WikiHouse/NZ developed by Space Craft Systems
Space Craft Systems is a social enterprise forged in the crucible of post earthquake Christchurch to develop the WikiHouse system in NZ and revolutionise the way we create our built environments. http://spacecraft.co.nz/wikihouse-news/

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Related Post and Comments:
23.4.14 WikiHouse.cc | open source construction set

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin product innovation and production #doubleglazing

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Jul 2014
Retrofit double-glazing system catches on
By Sally Rae
A Dunedin-designed double-glazing system, which started as a concept drawn on a paper pie packet, is now being sold in Australia. Thermawood, a patented retrofit double-glazing system for existing timber joinery, was the brainchild of Graeme Clarke, whose background was both as a joiner and a glazier. The system was developed around drainage.
Read more

Website: Thermawood Otago

From the website: ‘An advanced double glazing system for existing timber joinery. A unique, patented double glazing system which has been approved and tested to building standard NZS4211:2008 the industry standard for weather-tightness for windows and doors. Experienced, skilled tradesmen ensure quality workmanship. Thermawood is proudly locally owned and operated from Dunedin, servicing the wider Otago region. All Thermawood materials are 100% NZ made and the Grandadapter is manufactured locally in Mosgiel. Thermawood Otago are also experienced in and offer – retrofitting aluminium windows and doors, double glazing, re-glazing, frameless glass showers, balustrades, painted glass splash-backs, mirrors, architectural glazing systems.’

Note: What if? Dunedin can’t endorse the product; we can confirm it’s a locally available building option.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: thermawoodotago.co.nz

WikiHouse.cc | open source construction set

WikiHouse is an Open Source construction system that makes it possible for anyone to design, download, adapt, share and ‘print’ CNC-milled* high-performance, low-cost houses that they can assemble by hand with minimal formal skill or training, anywhere.

WikiHouse is a non-profit project, developing hardware and software which is open and shared in the commons, owned by everyone.

The purpose of the WikiHouse construction set is that the end structure is ready to be made weathertight using cladding, insulation, damp-proof membranes and windows. WikiHouse is still an experiment in its early stages.

*CNC means Computer Numerical Control. A computer converts the design produced by Computer Aided Design software (CAD), into numbers. The numbers can be considered to be the coordinates of a graph and they control the movement of the cutter. In this way the computer controls the cutting and shaping of the material.

Visit the Open library and read the Design guide.

All the information shared on WikiHouse.cc is offered as an open invitation to the public, collaborators and co-developers who are interested in putting Open Source solutions to these problems in the public domain. If you are working on one of these, or would like to know (or do) more, please contact WikiHouse.

TED 23 May 2013

Alastair Parvin: Architecture for the people by the people
Architect Alastair Parvin presents a simple but provocative idea: what if, instead of architects creating buildings for those who can afford to commission them, regular citizens could design and build their own houses? The concept is at the heart of Wikihouse.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector

Another profile:

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC: Jaunt to USA, explain

Dunedin, March 2010. Benchill (Wikimedia Commons).

### ODT Online Fri, 3 Jan 2014
Streetlight ideas from US trip
By Debbie Porteous
Seeing the bright lights of some major American cities has given the man responsible for a street lighting revolution set for Dunedin some solid ideas. Dunedin city council roading maintenance engineer Peter Standring went to the United States last year to look at different technologies and visit cities that have started updating their street lighting.
Read more

Puzzled. The news story says Peter Standring went to USA.
But lower down, it says (our emphasis):

“Los Angeles was in many ways the world leader in the procurement, installation and development of LED technology, and the group was “very lucky” to have had one and a-half hours of Mr Ebrahimian’s time, Mr Standring said.”

What group? A DCC group? (or a USA group he tagged along with?) What have we paid for? A 2013 trip for one person to Los Angeles, Durham, Racine, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco —or a trip for a group of staff and their wives?
Clarification, please.

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[via Upstart Incubator (@UpstartDunedin) who tweeted at 9:29 AM on Tue, Dec 31, 2013]

### mckinsey.com September 2013
How to make a city great
By 2030, 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. That could mean great things for economic growth — if the cities handle their expansion wisely. Here’s how.

What makes a great city? It is a pressing question because by 2030, 5 billion people — 60 percent of the world’s population — will live in cities, compared with 3.6 billion today, turbocharging the world’s economic growth. Leaders in developing nations must cope with urbanisation on an unprecedented scale, while those in developed ones wrestle with aging infrastructures and stretched budgets. All are fighting to secure or maintain the competitiveness of their cities and the livelihoods of the people who live in them. And all are aware of the environmental legacy they will leave if they fail to find more sustainable, resource-efficient ways of managing these cities.

Explore six diverse initiatives aimed at making cities great places to live and work.

To understand the core processes and benchmarks that can transform cities into superior places to live and work, McKinsey developed and analysed a comprehensive database of urban economic, social, and environmental performance indicators. The research included interviewing 30 mayors and other leaders in city governments on four continents and synthesizing the findings from more than 80 case studies that sought to understand what city leaders did to improve processes and services from urban planning to financial management and social housing.

The result is How to make a city great (PDF, 2.1MB), a new report arguing that leaders who make important strides in improving their cities do three things really well:

█ They achieve smart growth. Smart growth identifies and nurtures the very best opportunities for growth, plans ways to cope with its demands, integrates environmental thinking, and ensures that all citizens enjoy a city’s prosperity. Good city leaders also think about regional growth because as a metropolis expands, they will need the cooperation of surrounding municipalities and regional service providers. Integrating the environment into economic decision making is vital to smart growth: cities must invest in infrastructure that reduces emissions, waste production, and water use, as well as in building high-density communities.

█ They do more with less. Great cities secure all revenues due, explore investment partnerships, embrace technology, make organisational changes that eliminate overlapping roles, and manage expenses. Successful city leaders have also learned that, if designed and executed well, private–public partnerships can be an essential element of smart growth, delivering lower-cost, higher-quality infrastructure and services.

█ They win support for change. Change is not easy, and its momentum can even attract opposition. Successful city leaders build a high-performing team of civil servants, create a working environment where all employees are accountable for their actions, and take every opportunity to forge a stakeholder consensus with the local population and business community. They take steps to recruit and retain top talent, emphasise collaboration, and train civil servants in the use of technology.

Mayors are only too aware that their tenure will be limited. But if longer-term plans are articulated — and gain popular support because of short-term successes — leaders can start a virtuous cycle that sustains and encourages a great urban environment.
Link to source

● McKinsey&Company The material on this page draws on the research and experience of McKinsey consultants and other sources. To learn more about their expertise, visit the Infrastructure Practice, Public Sector Practice, Sustainability & Resource Productivity Practice.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: commons.wikimedia.org – Central city view of Dunedin, New Zealand, at night from Signal Hill lookout. The dark horizontal band above the centre of the photo is the Town Belt. Some landmarks including First Church of Otago and the Dunedin Railway Station are visible near the centre. Photo by Benchill, 9 March 2010.

Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten greeted by DCC silence

Received.
Tuesday, December 03, 2013 4:38 PM

Subject: Fwd: Transport Strategy

Calvin Oaten notes:
As you can see I copied [the below] to most. So far, the only response has been Cr Lee Vandervis. He agrees. [Chief executive] Sue Bidrose hasn’t come back with so much as a “rubbish” or “interesting”.
The rest, well I am wondering if this new crop are going to be any better than the last. You would think I would get shot out of the water by at least Cr Richard Thomson, but nothing. All I want is to open up the debate.
Looks like it is just too hard for them to think about the issue. Get elected, get the remuneration sorted and then back to sleep. “El Duce”, of course, wishes I was on another planet.

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—— Forwarded Message
From: Calvin Oaten
Date: 1 December 2013 11:33:36 AM NZDT
To: Dave Cull
Cc: Hilary Calvert, Jinty McTavish, Lee Vandervis, John Bezett, Kate Wilson, Chris Staynes, Mike Lord, Aaron Hawkins, Neville Peat, Doug Hall, Andrew Noone, David Benson-Pope, Sue Bidrose, Richard Thomson
Subject: Fwd: Transport Strategy

Hello Dave,
I have been reading the article Sharing the Road by Shane Gilchrist in Saturday’s ODT, and was particularly interested in your comments. You point out the reason why council began this process in the first place: “It’s about safety on Dunedin’s one-way system.” “Council, in collaboration with the NZTA, is both resolved and obligated to make our one-way street system safer. That’s what we asked NZTA to do after the last death. Let’s be clear: It is the NZTA’s responsibility to make state highways safer.” A very laudable position, but is the seeming solution necessarily the right one?

To me it is a philosophical question: If it is purely about safety and preservation of life then surely cyclists on the one-way would be wrong. History has proven that. If it is about ‘freedom of choice’ then it would be a matter for responsible persons or parents to weigh up the situation then opt for a choice, it being on their own heads. Either way, nothing would need to be done to alter the status quo. I would have no problem with that.

Then there is the matter of alternatives.

NHNZ development mode (new business, markets)

“It’s like the next version of NHNZ. It’s like NHNZ version 3.1 in a lot of ways, version one being when we were part of TVNZ, version two being when [former managing director] Michael Stedman took over and gave us a new lease of life, and this is another step.” –Kyle Murdoch, NHNZ

### ODT Online Wed, 27 Nov 2013
Children’s TV for NHNZ
By Vaughan Elder
Dunedin’s NHNZ is preparing to take on the likes of Disney with the launch of its own international children’s television channel. NHNZ managing director Kyle Murdoch said, in preparation for the launch of the channel next February, 54 staff were hard at work in Dunedin producing content for it. About 40 were new staff who had joined the office since the middle of this year.
Read more

● Michael Stedman, former managing director, retired at the beginning of this year.

Natural History New Zealand website [screenshot detail]

Wikipedia: NHNZ

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten’s alternative route

Text received. Sunday, 17 November 2013 11:06 a.m.
The comment also appears at ODT Online (link supplied). -Eds

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Some lateral thinking required?
Submitted by Calvin Oaten on Sat, 16/11/2013 – 3:03pm.
In all this discussion on the merits or otherwise of catering specifically for cyclists to have safe means of traversing central Dunedin, it seems that it is the safety which is being lost sight of. Surely, in a survey of recent cyclist fatalities in Dunedin, they have by far and away happened on the SH1 one ways. So why on earth do the authorities insist on staying on those routes? Is there no alternatives?

Let’s look at this. The main trip of concern is from Normanby to the Oval. Start at Normanby on North Rd (not an arterial way) travel to the Gardens, then along Gt King St to the Gardens side gate and onto the cycle/footpath, already existing, to Duke St, down to Castle or Leith Sts. Along to Dundas St and down to Forth St. Along Forth St to St Andrew St. Along Anzac Ave to the Railway Station. Along the station forecourt then onto railway land and proceed behind the Settlers museum and Chinese Garden, across Rattray St and along behind the Box Retail area to Andersons Bay Rd.

Problems? Negotiations would be needed to obtain an easement through the railway land and a lane constructed to suit. Advantages: No fatalities on SH1, No parking to be forfeited. No alteration to the landscaping. Face it, all those mature trees along both route are very efficient ‘carbon sinks’ and one would expect cyclists to appreciate the value of those. From this route it would not take too much planning to tie it in with the N W Harbour to Port Chalmers trail, again obviating needing to go onto SH1 or 88. It also connects nicely with the University complex. A cycle park could be established in the Station vicinity, with a short walk to the CBD.

Win win I would think. Disadvantages: Frankly I can’t think of any, but I am sure there will be.

[ends]

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Add this:

Anonymous
Submitted on 2013/11/17 at 6:04 pm

Normanby to Gardens on existing cycleway, check.
Through Botanic Gardens on new cyclepath – DCC initiative.
Exit at Leith St, connect to new cyclepath through University – Otago Uni initiative.
Exit at Albany St, proceed to Anzac Ave on existing cycle lane.
Connect through Railway Station to existing cycle lane.
Arrive adjacent to Oval in mint condition.

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NZTA/DCC Dunedin Separated Cycle Lane Proposal

█ Public consultation on two preferred cycle lane options ends at 5pm on Friday, 6 December.

To access an online survey form or for more information on the separated cycle lane options, visit http://www.nzta.govt.nz/dunedincyclesafe, or email your comments to dunedinshcyclelanes @ nzta.govt.nz. Alternatively, ring 03 477 4000 for an information pack, or post your comments to:

Cycle Lane Feedback, C/o NZ Transport Agency, PO Box 5245, Moray Place, Dunedin 9058

People are welcome to attend the remaining drop-in sessions:
● Held. [12 noon – 2pm, Thursday 14 November, Wall Street Mall]
● 3pm – 6pm, Tuesday 19 November, Otago Settlers Museum
● 12 noon – 2pm, Wednesday 20 November, The Link (University of Otago)

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Related Posts and Comments:
17.11.13 Cull and MacTavish… “Have you fixed the debt crisis?”
14.11.13 Cycle lane explosions and puncture kits (SPOKES grenades launch)
8.11.13 Dunedin Separated Cycle Lane Proposal [how to make a submission]
5.11.12 DCC, NZTA: Cycle lanes controversy
19.10.13 Cycle lobby games and media tilts
24.9.13 Mediocrity and lack of critical awareness at DCC [council reports]
8.7.13 Bloody $tupid cycleways and Cull’s electioneering . . . [route maps]
28.3.13 DCC DAP 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements
26.2.13 DCC binge spending alert: Proposed South Dunedin cycle network
22.2.13 DCC: Council meeting agenda and reports for 25 February 2013
31.1.13 Who? 2010 electioneering
21.11.12 Safe cycling -Cr Fliss Butcher

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Architecture + Women • New Zealand

Updated post 26.10.14 at 6:57 p.m.
The following information is reproduced in the public interest.

Architectural Theory Review, 17:2-3, 280-298

█ LIMITED VISIBILITY – Portraits of Women Architects (PDF, 721 KB)
By Sarah Treadwell & Nicole Allan

Version of record first published: 08 Feb 2013

This paper considers the visibility of women architects across three New Zealand sites: the institutional architecture journal, the national architecture award system and a local website that allows for self-representation. The website, Architecture + Women, was set up in 2011 in anticipation of an exhibition of the work of New Zealand women architects planned for 2013 as an anniversary of an earlier event, ‘‘Constructive Agenda’’, held in 1993. The website accumulates images of women in New Zealand who identify as architects. The paper considers the portrayal of women architects in each of the three sites, juxtaposing a sociological viewpoint with the biographical, seen as distinct yet overlapping modes of representation. Five portraits from the website are selected for detailed discussion as they reflect upon representations of femininity, colonial encounters, nature and the limits of the discipline—issues that are persistent for women architects in New Zealand.

To cite this article:
Sarah Treadwell & Nicole Allan (2012): Limited Visibility: Portraits of Women Architects, Architectural Theory Review, 17:2-3, 280-298

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Architectural Theory Review, founded at the University of Sydney in 1996, and now in its eighteenth year, is the pre-eminent journal of architectural theory in the Australasian region. Now published by Taylor and Francis in print and online, the journal is an international forum for generating, exchanging and reflecting on theory in and of architecture. All texts are subject to a rigorous process of blind peer review.

Sarah Treadwell is Associate Professor at the School of Architecture and Planning (National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries), University of Auckland. Sarah’s research investigates the representation of architecture in colonial and contemporary images. Motels, gender and volcanic conditions of ground are also subjects of interest. Sarah has published in various books and journals including Architectural Theory Review, Architectural Design, Space and Culture, and Interstices. Her book Revisiting Rangiatea was the outcome of participation in the Gordon H Brown Lecture Series in 2008. Professional association: NZIA

Nicole Allan is an Architectural Graduate Practicing. Nicole works in the Christchurch Studio of Warren and Mahoney architects.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Call for campaign on exports

The Chamber of Commerce says while exporting continues to be concentrated on commodity agriculture, New Zealand has many innovative and creative businesses with the potential to be successful global players.

### idealog.co.nz Friday 11 Nov 2011 at 9:29 am
Leadership
Call for government-business partnership to campaign on exports
By Idealog
The Chamber of Commerce is calling for the incoming government to rethink its approach to exports, joining forces with the private sector to campaign to sell more to the rest of the world. Spokesman Michael Barnett said the traditional focus of increasing exports of conventional merchandise goods needed to shift up the value chain to high-tech, knowledge-based products, the export of services and the returns from outward direct overseas investment. “We believe the best way to improve New Zealand’s export performance is for the incoming government to establish an innovation-focused government-business partnership tasked to lead a campaign to sell more to the world.”
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Paul Orders for change!

### D Scene 9-11-11 (page 3)
Dunedin Council is under improvement
By Wilma McCorkindale
Dunedin City Council’s new chief executive has launched a comprehensive analysis and change process for the organisation. Paul Orders said an improvement and innovation programme would take a detailed look at the performance and costs of each department. Orders had allowed up to two years for the project with changes happening throughout that period.
{continues} #bookmark

Register to read D Scene online at http://fairfaxmedia.newspaperdirect.com/

Related Post:
17.9.11 Paul Orders starts Monday

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Barlow Justice Valuers / New Zealand Historic Places Trust—Heritage Interiors Award 2011-2012

Background and purpose
Dunedin’s unique look and feel is, in part, defined by its large number of historic and heritage buildings. Heritage interiors are a very important, but sometimes overlooked, part of Dunedin heritage. Ensuring restorations and adaptations of heritage building interiors respect and re-use existing heritage features and fabric is an important part of ensuring their future survival.

Barlow Justice Valuers and the NZ Historic Places Trust wish to recognise and highlight the achievements of building owners who have undertaken sympathetic restoration and refurbishment to interiors of Dunedin’s older buildings. The Dunedin Heritage Interiors Award recognises successful, and appropriately sympathetic interior restoration or upgrade projects.

The Award is administered by the DCC and may be given annually to building owners or developers who have, in the opinion of the judging panel, undertaken the most innovative and sympathetic heritage building interior upgrade and/or refurbishment project in the city.

General Information
Individuals or organisations may nominate their own or others’ buildings for consideration. Projects should reflect a commitment to the retention and re-use of interior features and building fabric. Eligible projects will have had work completed in the 12-month period to 1 December 2011.

The Award consists of a certificate and a cash prize of $1500,
which is awarded to the property owner. A certificate will also
be awarded to the interior designer/s.

Download Award information here:
Barlow Justice – NZHPT Heritage Interiors Award 2011-2012 (PDF, 493 KB)

Barlow Justice Valuers
New Zealand Historic Places Trust

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Idealog: R&D and innovation

“Kids are missing out in New Zealand because there’s no connect between the education system and a vision for where we’re going to grow our economy.” -Sir Paul Callaghan

### idealog.co.nz 18 October 2011 at 3:36 pm
Let’s end the flip-flopping on R&D
By Sarah Robson
What do Rakon, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Tait Electronics, Gallagher Group and Weta Digital have in common? Aside from being successful and enjoying a high profile in business, they’re also the benefactors of the government’s first round of technology development grants, announced late last year. (A second round was awarded in August, with recipients including accounting startup darling Xero.) National pulled no punches in scrapping the Labour government’s all-encompassing R&D tax credit in favour of a targeted, grant-based approach. It’s not a given – businesses have to apply for a slice of the funding pie along with every other man and his dog, and there are no guarantees. But it’s time for government to stop flip-flopping on the issue. Cuts to government spending aren’t going to lift New Zealand out of the economic doldrums. Investment in R&D just might.

Prominent scientist and New Zealander of the Year Sir Paul Callaghan believes New Zealand needs to diversify its economy if its goal is to expand GDP per capita, and start selling ‘brain content’. That means you’re selling products where the manufacturing costs aren’t the main costs of the products – it’s the R&D content.

Read more

Related Posts and Comments:
24.9.11 Idealog: Paul Callaghan’s business plan for New Zealand
21.9.11 John Montgomery: The Economy, Culture and Design of Cities
23.6.11 Kathryn Ryan interviews agribusiness pioneer George Harrison
22.5.11 Audacious idea: New Zealand X-Prize Environmental and Energy

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Kathryn Ryan interviews agribusiness pioneer George Harrison

BRILLIANT INTERVIEW (if Ryan didn’t interrupt)

### rnz.co.nz Wed 22 Jun 2011 10:06 AM
Nine To Noon with Kathryn Ryan
Agribusiness pioneer Sir Graeme Harrison
Newly-knighted founder and chair of meat company Anzco Foods, which has annual sales of more than $1.2 billion, making it one of New Zealand’s largest exporters. He is also a director of dairy co-operative Westland Milk Products and fishing firm Sealord.
Audio Ogg Vorbis MP3 (32′50″)

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Related:

[comment] 25.5.11
Prof Sir Paul Callaghan, physicist, entrepreneur, and New Zealander of the Year, was in Dunedin yesterday. Link

Sir Paul’s vision for New Zealand is a knowledge-based economy producing high-quality exports that do not strain the environment. Looking after the environment created the kind of society in which highly skilled people wanted to live. It helped reverse the brain drain, and attracted people from overseas. -Otago Daily Times

[post] 22.5.11
Audacious idea: New Zealand X-Prize Environmental and Energy

Hyperfactory founder Derek Handley said $1b is less than a tenth of what the current government has committed to infrastructure projects in the next few years and about the same amount spent bailing out South Canterbury Finance investors. It is also “about twice as much as the amount we hope to lose by hosting the Rugby World Cup”, he said and about the same as our bill for six weeks of imported oil. -Sunday Star Times

[post] 2.4.11
At last, PRODUCTIVITY is?

The Productivity Commission’s inquiry into international freight transport services is of high importance to Otago and Southland, Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie said yesterday. -Otago Daily Times

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Left hand, right hand…

The climate change adaptation project plan, to be implemented over three years at a cost of $67,500 a year, was approved at a finance, strategy and development committee meeting in late November.

### ODT Online Wed, 5 Jan 2011
DCC plans for climate change
By David Loughrey
The Dunedin City Council is set to spend the next three years developing a wide-ranging response to the problem of climate change, after some alarming warnings about what the future holds. The response will include a major study on the future of South Dunedin, and four other ”hot spots” identified as the most vulnerable areas of the city.
Read more

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”There are a lot of good reasons why we could be the open air laboratory that tests the green technologies that could benefit communities everywhere.”

### ODT Online Wed, 5 Jan 2011
Waitati eyed as energy trial zone
By Stu Oldham
Blueskin Bay could be poised to become New Zealand’s first open air new technology energy laboratory, Waitati Energy Project co-ordinator Scott Willis says. National and international companies were interested in a ”community-size trial zone” for their green technologies, Mr Willis said yesterday.
Read more

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Powerhouse Wind director Bill Currie confirmed company representatives met those of some ”quite big” Indian companies during a Dunedin City Council-supported trip.

### ODT Online Wed, 5 Jan 2011
Future in wind, but cash needed
By Stu Oldham
A Dunedin company is looking for $700,000 to start building wind turbines for burgeoning and potentially lucrative markets overseas.

Powerhouse Wind wants to start low-volume production of its single-blade turbine to supply domestic customers and send demonstration machines overseas.

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Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin company iVisit develops free iPhone app

Mobile tourism information service

### ODT Online Wed, 29 Dec 2010
Are phones the new guidebooks?
By Hamish McNeilly
Guidebooks may be a thing of the past, thanks to an innovative Dunedin company which turns smartphones into a mobile tourism information service. Smartphone applications represented the most exciting possibilities for the fast moving tourism industry since the introduction of maps and guidebooks, AA Tourism online general manager Roger Slater said.

At the forefront of this technology was Dunedin company iVisit, which has spent nearly a year creating the smartphone application XplrNZ.

Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
23.12.10 ODT on the “the phoenix of design and innovation”
12.11.10 FREE wireless internet in Dunedin …now that’s wicked!
12.11.10 WIC NZ Ltd announces Innovate 100 programme
11.10.10 The Distiller + WIC — Dunedin entrepreneurs
28.9.10 AugmentedReality @ Dunedin
25.8.10 New hotspot in Anzac Ave, Dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus / Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle

Updated post 18.11.14 at 7:02 p.m.

Innovation Incubator
When profits depend on employees’ ability to create cutting-edge designs, a business simply can’t survive unless its workplace is an incubator for innovation: Urban Outfitters “lives and dies in creativity”. –Richard Hayne

After relocating to an abandoned naval yard, Urban Outfitters, the retro-chic retailer sees revenue skyrocket—and once skeptical employees have embraced the gritty, but inspiring space.

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Amenities such as a gym, yoga studio, dog park, and farmers’ market further add to the lively and informal atmosphere. The exterior landscaping was designed by Julie Bargmann’s D.I.R.T. studio, known for turning derelict industrial sites into vibrant public spaces.

### hq.construction.com 1 December 2009
Urban Outfitters’ Edgy Adventure
By Jenna M. McKnight and Sebastian Howard
PHILADELPHIA—Richard Hayne, chairman and president of Urban Outfitters, met stiff resistance when he initially announced plans to move his company’s headquarters from traditional high-rise offices to five dilapidated buildings in the decommissioned Philadelphia Navy Yard. “I wouldn’t say it was a mutiny,” Hayne says, recalling his colleagues’ reactions. “But there were definitely some blank stares and ‘are you kiddings?’”
The retailing giant, which sold nearly $2 billion worth of its clothing and apartment wares in 2008, for many years had been spread among six buildings in downtown Philadelphia. This physical separation was “horrible”, Hayne says, because each department was “unsure about what the other was doing”.
Increasingly, Hayne realised that to maximise performance his company needed a unified campus — and a generic office park was out of the question given the spirit and reputation of Urban Outfitters.
Founded in 1970, the retailer offers hip merchandise with a vintage twist aimed at trendy, young buyers. Most of its retail brands, which include Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People, are housed in renovated old buildings with double-height ceilings and exposed brick, concrete and timber.
So Hayne began looking for a setting for his new corporate home that would mirror the aesthetic sensibility of his stores, and in 2004, he found what he judged to be a near-perfect spot: the naval shipyard, which the Defense Department shuttered in 1995.
Read more

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Conversion of Philadelphia’s Navy Yard (2006). Photo: Lara Swimmer

### uli.org [Urban Land Institute]
Awards for Excellence: 2007 Winner
Urban Outfitters Corporate Campus
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Philadelphia Navy Yard, which encompasses more than 1,000 acres (405 ha), 2,000 buildings, and 2.5 miles (4 km) of riverfront, was decommissioned in 1996. In 2000, ownership was transferred to the Philadelphia Authority of Industrial Development (PAID), and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) began developing the property on behalf of PAID and the city. The Navy Yard is rapidly becoming a dynamic and viable new business location, as evidenced by the Urban Outfitters corporate office campus, which was completed and opened in October 2006.
Read more

Urban Outfitters’ pioneering move has positively impacted the entire Navy Yard. A new creative district, with top advertising agencies, graphic designers, and photographers, is growing around the retailer. New coffee shops and restaurants serve workers and visitors alike. More than 4,000 jobs have been created in the Yard since the company moved.
worldarchitecturenews.com (Thursday 29 Oct 2009)

More photographs of the heritage dock yard complex by Lara Swimmer at archdaily.com (1 December 2010).

█ Website: urbanoutfittersinc.com

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Discovering the simple laws of cities

Whenever a city doubles in size, every measure of economic activity, from construction spending to the amount of bank deposits, increases by approximately 15 percent per capita. It doesn’t matter how big the city is; the law remains the same.

West admits that all successful cities are a little uncomfortable. He describes the purpose of urban planning as finding a way to minimize our distress while maximizing our interactions.

Cities are unruly places, largely immune to the desires of politicians and planners. “Think about how powerless a mayor is,” West says. “They can’t tell people where to live or what to do or who to talk to. Cities can’t be managed, and that’s what keeps them so vibrant. They’re just these insane masses of people, bumping into each other and maybe sharing an idea or two. It’s the freedom of the city that keeps it alive.”

### nytimes.com 17 December 2010
A Physicist Solves the City
By Jonah Lehrer
Geoffrey West is a theoretical physicist in search of fundamental laws, he likes to compare his work to that of Kepler, Galileo and Newton. …although West worked for decades as a physicist at Stanford University and Los Alamos National Laboratory, he started thinking about leaving the field after the financing for the Texas superconducting supercollider was cancelled by Congress in 1993. West, however, wasn’t ready to retire, and so he began searching for subjects that needed his skill set. Eventually he settled on cities: the urban jungle looked chaotic — all those taxi horns and traffic jams — but perhaps it might be found to obey a short list of universal rules.

“We spend all this time thinking about cities in terms of their local details, their restaurants and museums and weather,” West says. “I had this hunch that there was something more, that every city was also shaped by a set of hidden laws.”

And so West set out to solve the City.

West saw the metropolis as a sprawling organism, defined by its infrastructure. (The boulevard was like a blood vessel, the back alley a capillary.) This implied that the real purpose of cities, and the reason cities keep on growing, is their ability to create massive economies of scale, just as big animals do.

After analysing the first sets of city data — the physicists began with infrastructure and consumption statistics — they concluded that cities looked a lot like elephants. In city after city, the indicators of urban “metabolism”, like the number of gas stations or the total surface area of roads, showed that when a city doubles in size, it requires an increase in resources of only 85 percent. This straightforward observation has some surprising implications. It suggests, for instance, that modern cities are the real centres of sustainability.
Read more

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Post by Elizabeth Kerr

ODT on the “the phoenix of design and innovation”

Dunedin has a proud history in engineering and has shown – particularly with F&P’s continued success and development – it has the flexibility and labour market to supply technologically advanced adjunct industries.

### ODT Online Thu, 23 Dec 2010
Editorial: Laudable growth
It is a scandal that Hillside’s engineering workshops are being bypassed for the contract to build 300 flat-bed wagons, work which would have secured its ongoing future as one of the few heavy manufacturing entities left in the country – and certainly in the south. But the success of Fisher and Paykel Appliances’ Dunedin operation, which is expanding its staff numbers, is an example of the ways in which modern flexible businesses can reinvent themselves – in moving from the more traditional practices and technologies into the modern, more service-based support arenas.
Read more

****

F&P remained a major employer in the city, with more than 100 production designers and engineers working on designs for cooking and dishwashing appliances sold around the world.

### ODT Online Tue, 21 Dec 2010
F&P’s city staff numbers set to rise to 180
By Neal Wallace
Whiteware manufacturer Fisher and Paykel Appliances hopes to increase its Dunedin workforce to about 180 people by the middle of next year as it expands its production design and call centre staffing levels.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

WIC NZ Ltd announces Innovate 100 programme

Media Release
Dunedin, New Zealand. 12 November 2010.

Wireless Internet Connections (WIC NZ Ltd) announces Innovate 100 programme.

WIC NZ Ltd formally announced today the availability of its Innovate 100 programme. This initiative is aimed at assisting the growing population of Internet startup companies and creative industries in Dunedin in the process of developing innovative and compelling online content to be delivered to consumers in New Zealand and the rest of the world. WIC NZ pioneered low-cost, fixed-rate commercial and residential connections with no data caps or excess data charges, removing barriers to entry and other disincentives to use amongst the user population.

New and innovative ideas on the Internet take time to evolve and mature and can gain critical mass only through engagement with a wide audience. Where there is a high barrier or cost of entry to providing content, often these ideas do not have time or opportunity to flourish. Innovate 100 is a solution to reduce those barriers and retain creative, innovative thinkers within the Dunedin community.

Innovate 100 provides an online digital content producer with access capacity of up to 100Mbps of outbound Internet traffic. The access points for this service are open to existing and new customers at high-capacity fibre-connected nodes in Dunedin city. Content served via Innovate 100 is peered nationally at all of the neutral Internet exchanges to facilitate rapid access from all consumers regardless of ISP.

Innovate 100 is a step beyond existing service offerings and takes advantage of increased capabilities and under-utilised outbound capacity on our Internet backhaul. We believe that with the advent of Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB), a robust content and hosting ecosystem needs to evolve to meet future demand. Innovate 100 is the first step in stimulating local content providers to experiment with new ideas that will scale up to meet this demand. Stu Fleming, Managing Director and Chief Technical Officer of WIC NZ says: “This is the lowest cost of entry that we can think of to enable Dunedin-based content providers to be able to implement their ideas and get their online content to the world. All you need is a server and a network cable.”

Innovate 100 is available to new and existing WIC NZ customers and associates of The Distiller. “WIC NZ has been a long-time champion for Dunedin’s bootstrapped technology entrepreneurs through its unconditional support of The Distiller since its inception,” says Jason Leong, co-founder of The Distiller and PocketSmith. “Innovate 100 is a clear example of the forward thinking and action that will uplift Dunedin’s profile as a cradle for entrepreneurship, and we’re very excited to be a part this remarkable opportunity. We look forward to partnering with WIC NZ in building the next generation of products and services that will be consumed over the broadband of tomorrow.”

The Innovate 100 programme will operate for 12 months from January 2011. It is available initially at WIC NZ’s hosting centre at Cresswell St, Dunedin and within the Centre for Innovation at St David Street, Dunedin. WIC NZ is a Layer 2 provider with Flute Networks and can extend Innovate 100 at cost to reach any location within the Flute Networks coverage area.

WIC NZ Ltd is a Dunedin-based, privately-owned independent Internet Service provider operating since 2004. For more details regarding these announcements, please contact:

Stu Fleming, Managing Director (WIC NZ Ltd)
Tel: 0508 123 942 or 021 993 125

Wireless Internet Connections
PO Box 13146, Green Island, Dunedin
Email: stewart@wic.co.nz

Post By Elizabeth Kerr

FREE wireless internet in Dunedin …now that’s wicked!

Media Release
Dunedin, New Zealand. 12 November 2010.

Wireless Internet Connections (WIC NZ) Ltd launches free wireless access in Dunedin.

WIC NZ Ltd introduces its free wireless service in Dunedin under the Wicked Networks brand. Wicked Networks has been operating since March 2010 and has over 2300 registered users regularly using the network of around 30 Wi-Fi (802.11N) hotspots across the city. The service provides a registration-based, advertising-supported portal with high-capacity access to local services and shared Internet capacity upstream.

Wicked Networks was officially launched by Clare Curran MP at 5:30pm Friday 12 November 2010, at the Centre for Innovation, 87 St David Street, Dunedin.

Wicked Networks provides an easy, low-cost means of access to information and services by locals, business users and visitors alike. The coverage, capacity and user base of the service are all scalable at incremental cost. Wicked Networks has grown at the rate of 100 new users per week and delivers around 150GB of monthly traffic.

The Wicked Networks infrastructure provides an open-access platform to support services operated by multiple service providers. WIC NZ maintains robust interconnect arrangements with other local operators for high-capacity data exchange at low cost.

Wicked Networks is used by Otago Polytechnic to extend the range and coverage of their campus wireless network across the city. Wicked Networks is used to support the delivery of augmented reality content in a novel project supported by the Dunedin City Council lndustry Project Fund. Wicked Networks welcomes and encourages other operators to adopt the service and willingly engages with any third-party provider wishing to operate differentiated services on the open-access platform.

Wicked Networks addresses many issues that are commonly encountered for free wi-fi:
• securing the customer relationship via e-mail and text verification systems
• robust traffic management to reduce or eliminate unacceptable usage
• support for “access with payment” voucher codes at designated locations
• ability to cooperate with existing wireless providers.

The key to the success of this platform is the inclusiveness provided by the cooperative interconnect arrangements with other providers. Any service provider can broadcast their wireless service identifier (SSID) over the common infrastructure and have their traffic delivered at a designated exchange point. Usage of the Otago Polytechnic campus wireless service has more than doubled since the introduction of the additional coverage on Wicked Networks. The open access component was designed to stimulate innovation and we are delighted to see this happening already.

The costs of the Wicked Networks service are met by advertising revenue on the login and registration portal pages that appear in a Web browser, and from the interconnect arrangements with third-party providers.

For more information about Wicked Networks, please direct all enquiries to:

Stu Fleming
Managing Director, WIC NZ Ltd

Wicked Networks PO Box 13146, Green Island, Dunedin
Freecall: 0508 942 533 or 0508 WICKED
Email: info@wickednetworks.co.nz
www.wickednetworks.co.nz

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Connecting business and science sectors

### ODT Online Thu, 21 Oct 2010
Varsity part of $20m research scheme
The University of Otago is one of first six research institutions to be included in the Government’s new technology transfer voucher scheme. Research, Science and Technology Minister Wayne Mapp yesterday announced the initial list of six research institutions from which businesses participating in the scheme could choose. The “vouchers” will be awarded on application to businesses with a specific research and development project, but little or no in-house research and development capability.
The voucher scheme would enhance the connection between the business and science sectors, which would lead to innovation and business growth, which benefited all New Zealanders.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Heritage Reuse Design Competition

Download poster (PDF): Dunedin Heritage Reuse Design Competition

Further information (PDF): HeritageReuseDesignCompetition UPDATED

DCC Media Release
For the 2010-2011 Design Competition, the nominated building is Garrison Hall, Dowling Street, Dunedin. Entries need to balance creative design, economic viability and sensitivity to heritage features and values.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr