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Auckland's "digital sector" has been talking up its potential to become a more significant export earner, and now it has $2 million of Government money to - hopefully - prove the point.
Economic Development Minister Pete Hodgson and Communications and Technology Minister David Cunliffe announced the funding this week. It will be distributed to regional development agency Auckland Plus over two years.
An additional $500,000 targeted at growing the digital content sector will come "from the region" - namely via local economic development agencies and the digital industry itself.
The funding follows July's birth of Creative Digital Content Auckland, a group that brings together businesses in the animation, gaming, visual effects and education sectors, with support from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Film Auckland and the Auckland City Council.
So what is the digital content industry and why should it have money thrown at it? CDC Auckland's members include (to name a few) Kangoo Animation, Flux Animation Studio, Yukfoo Animation, La Luna Studios, Deep Animation, Huhu Studios, Massive Software and Sasquatch Productions. These are all businesses living the "weightless economy" dream - exporting their high-margin digital creations via the internet rather than the cargo ship.
According to Kangoo director and CDC Auckland president Shona Grundy, Auckland's digital content sector is already internationally competitive but needs the Government funding boost to unlock its full potential.
"We are very excited about the growth opportunities this initiative promises to bring to our sector. Our innovation levels are high and some products globally recognised - we now need help to attract and retain more investment, expertise and entrepreneurs so Auckland can lead industry developments from the very front," she says.
Speaking of high-tech exports, the export categories of the annual AmCham-UPS Awards, announced last night had a strong high-tech flavour. Local network monitoring technology success story Endace won Exporter of the Year in the over $5 million category, energy-saving motor developer company Wellington Drive Technologies took the $500,000 to $5 million category, and Thureon Holdings, an engineering and IT operations company involved in the development of products for server protection, won the under $500,000 section.
