Innovation prize of $1m up for grabs

Industrial Research is giving away up to $1 million of research and development help in a competition to encourage companies to look to the future.

Chief executive of the Crown research institute Shaun Coffey said the competition was aimed at not only getting a good project running, but also at encouraging debate about the role of innovation in diversifying the economy.

"While the economic outlook is challenging, the current environment also provides opportunities. Opportunities for New Zealand businesses to change the way they operate, to ensure they can not only survive the tough times but prosper in the long term and in doing so collectively strengthen the New Zealand economy."

Most manufacturers understood the need to invest in research and development to develop high-value products that would compete on performance rather than on price, Coffey said.

"Far from being a sunset industry, manufacturing could be, for New Zealand, the goose that lays the golden egg - emancipating the economy from the strictures of the commodity cycle and becoming a catalyst for sustainable economic growth."

Minister for Research Science and Technology Wayne Mapp said the Government was encouraged by the competition.

It is open to any New Zealand company and is targeted at manufacturing and industrial sectors.

Entries close on May 24 and details can be obtained from whatsyourproblemnz.co.nz.