Investment to Help Deepen Innovation Reporting

Callaghan Innovation Investment to Help Deepen Innovation Reporting

Callaghan Innovation, the government’s high tech HQ for Kiwi business, is to help deepen New Zealand media coverage of the commercialisation of innovation through an arms-length partnership with independent business news service BusinessDesk.

Under the agreement Callaghan Innovation will help fund an extra senior journalist, enabling BusinessDesk to focus more of its resources on reporting Kiwi commercial innovation.

Callaghan Innovation Chief Executive Mary Quin says: “Our role is to accelerate commercialisation of innovation by firms in New Zealand. Innovation is a vital driver of business success, which is why we are helping raise awareness of its importance.”

Mary Quin says the arrangement will help better inform New Zealand businesses and investors about the commercial environment and opportunities for commercialising innovation and knowledge.

The material that BusinessDesk produces will focus on:
• Innovation approaches and performance of specific companies.
• Innovation trends in specific sectors such as ICT services, agri-tech or medical devices.
• Innovation opportunities from advances in technologies such as robotics, cloud computing or 3-D printing
• Profiles of individuals who are pursuing innovation.
“We know we won’t always like what we read, but in a sense that’s the point,” Quin says. “We want to see robust reporting around innovation and how it can help New Zealand businesses succeed.

“We see this as an investment worth making on a careful, small-scale basis to help deepen the pool of coverage, using a service that has substantial reach in mainstream media.”

Public notification of the contract is intended to provide transparency for BusinessDesk’s customers and readers. BusinessDesk will retain editorial independence, including the freedom to be critical of Callaghan Innovation, with stories quoting Callaghan Innovation carrying clear identification of the agreement.

The Callaghan Innovation funding will run for an initial period of 18 months, be reviewed at regular intervals by both parties, and may be contested at its conclusion.

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