Joint Announcement: Tuanz and e-Vision To Merge

Joint Announcement From The Trustees Of (E)-Vision And The Board Of TUANZ

The Trustees of Wellington's (e)-Vision Trust, and the Board of Telecommunications Users Association TUANZ, have announced the joining of their two organisations from 1st January 2004.

(e)-Vision is a six year old organisation that brokers ideas and relationships in high technology businesses and the wider community. It has an 80-seat high technology events centre in Wellington's Wakefield Street with sophisticated computer and video conferencing facilities. TUANZ is a fifteen-year-old non-profit organisation providing representation and education to major telecommunications users with emphasis on regulatory policy, call centres, schools and multi media developers.

The Chairman of Trustees of (e)-Vision, Chris O'Connell, said that the initiative would be of great benefit to the multi media sector in the years ahead. "(e)-Vision has played a major role over the past six years in establishing Wellington as a serious multi media and interactive centre," he said. "It has shown how much can be done when an organisation is driven by passion and utter commitment to the development of an industry. Under TUANZ, the ideals and programmes of (e)-Vision can be developed to the next stage - hopefully including the development of a serious nation-wide presence over time."

"(e)-Vision and TUANZ are a natural union," TUANZ Chairman Graeme Osborne said. "TUANZ has a strong history of commitment to supporting the multi media sector through targeted professional development programmes as well as the annual TUANZ Interactive Awards. What is good for this sector must also be good for the wider TUANZ membership by providing members with access to New Zealand's leading multi media organisations, so together they can develop new online services, and by facilitating future adoption of technologies such as broadband, mobility and multi casting. (e)-Vision looks to push the boundaries and understand the impact of the information society on New Zealand's future. There are real implications for access to information, privacy, cost, economic and social development and government policy. This integration will allow TUANZ and its members to get to the heart of that visionary debate."

The merged operation will be governed by the existing TUANZ Board. The (e)-Vision component will be guided by a committee that several of the current (e)-Vision Trustees will join. The current TUANZ Chief Executive, Ernie Newman, will continue to manage the combined operation. The (e)-Vision Trust will be disestablished over time.

All (e)-Vision staff have been offered ongoing roles within TUANZ. TUANZ will continue all its current activities as normal. However, its work with the multi media sector will be branded as "TUANZ (e)-Vision" so that the former "TUANZ Interactive Awards" will in future be known as the "TUANZ (e)-Vision Awards".

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