Cutting-edge NZ technology could save tax payer millions

Cutting-edge NZ technology has potential to save tax payer millions of dollars

Statistics New Zealand has embraced an innovative, home-grown mobile software solution, developed by Auckland-based company Kinross Group Ltd. This solution will revolutionise the way the Department collects data to compile its Consumer Price Index.

Statistics Minister Craig Foss has just announced that the use of tablets is making the collection of fruit and vegetable prices from shops around New Zealand far more efficient. This data is used in the Food Price Index and Consumer Price Index, both of which are used to measure inflation.

“This data, which has been collected with pen and paper for 100 years, is now in real time — data collectors enter the price on their tablets and it goes straight back to Statistics New Zealand. A whole lot of paper work will disappear and a whole lot of time will be saved,” said Foss.

Foss went on to say, “Every week, about 15 Statistics New Zealand data collectors have had to visit shops around the country, write down the price of 31 different fruit and vegetables, then courier the information back to Wellington. This is an excellent example of a government department utilising technology to ensure its services are efficient and provide value for money.”

John Bruce, the CEO of Kinross Group Limited and architect of the AMS software that drives the Statistic Departments new data gathering process, is delighted that Minister Craig Foss and the Statistics Department have gone public with their use of his company’s ground-breaking software.

“I hope it gives confidence to all the other government departments and places like DHB’s to implement our mobile data gathering solution, because it has the potential to save the tax payer millions of dollars each year. It’s also great to see lots of New Zealand and overseas companies are adopting our software that allows them to mobilise their workforce,” said Bruce.

A particular focus for many businesses right now is improving health and safety. The immediacy of mobile data collection simply gives earlier detection of possible risks. Furthermore, New Zealand’s topographical extremes creates challenges; Kinross customers have responded positively to unique AMS feature, which allows them to record their data on their devices, even when they are out of range of a cell tower. This means that companies who have workers in remote areas now have the capacity to simply store information on their devices, until they are back in range and can send it through to their office.

Bruce said, “What we’ve created is a flexible tool that lowers administrative costs by reducing the time it takes to collect the data New Zealand enterprises, government departments and even small to medium size business need to be more efficient and profitable.”

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