We are in a time when the pace of change driven by new technologies looks set to accelerate like no other time in recent history and it is widely recognised technology will be critical in driving the recovery of the global economy.

This is the year for EdTech. Now more than ever there is the opportunity and the imperative to reshape how we deliver education. While the New Zealand education sector has responded well to the current challenges, it also saddens me a little to think that it took a world-changing event to trigger change.

A new year and a new decade always presents the opportunity to look at things through a different lens and rethink our future. Here at EdTechNZ, we think now is that time for us.

Thanks to some great work from David Glover, three EdTechNZ Executive Council members met with the Productivity Commission earlier this month to discuss their current inquiry into technological change and the future of work.

The New Zealand Productivity Commission has released their first draft report New Zealand, technology and productivity which EdTechNZ made our own submission to earlier this year.

Spring is the season of new beginnings and so it is for EdTechNZ too.

I am excited that EdTechNZ’s first working group, the Digital Skills Working Group, is officially up and running and we are now working with external stakeholders to further our objectives. The primary purpose of the working group is to help solve the digital skills gap by demonstrating the effective educational technologies (tools, platforms and pedagogies) that work best for schools, tertiary learning and workforce training. The focus is on 21st century learning and skills, coupled with technology’s role in augmenting education.

It has been a busy three weeks with four diversity and inclusion events, the last of which is tonight in Christchurch. EdTechNZ has collaborated with TechWomen to take the topic of diversity on the road.

A prominent Kiwi businessman has set up New Zealand’s first ever enviro-tech camp at Raglan, south of Auckland.