David Clark (minister for the digital economy and communications)
The Government is investing $20 million over four years in Budget 2022 to support the growth of New Zealand’s digital technologies sector.
“In 2020, the digital technologies sector contributed $7.4 billion to the economy. Since 2015 it has, on average, grown about 77 percent faster than the general economy,” minister for the digital economy and communications David Clark said in a pre-Budget announcement today..
“We have been working with industry on a Digital Technologies Industry Transformation Plan (ITP), to help our tech companies fulfil their huge potential as generators of high-value jobs and export revenue."
Clark said the funds would support the growth of the software-as-a-service (SaaS) community and take the Tech and Innovation Story marketing initiative to the world.
“New Zealand has a number of globally successful SaaS companies and we want that to increase," Clark said. "The SaaS subsector has experienced sustained growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic and nearly doubled both its export revenue and headcount within a five-year window."
The new funding would help the SaaS community to build momentum further, expand its network and support the delivery of short courses for digital skills development.
“We know for the digital sector to grow, it needs access to the right people," Clark said. "Historically, there has been a 'skills mismatch', but the key to future success is training our domestic talent with the right skills, and encouraging New Zealanders to participate, whatever their background."
Government’s recently announced rebalance of immigration system it said would help alleviate some of the immediate pressures on industry, enabling businesses to lure skilled labour from offshore.
