Kiwi Software Industry to Get Extenda Advantage

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Kiwi Software Industry to Get Extenda Advantage

Auckland, 11 July 2007 – The University of Auckland’s Centre for Software Innovation (CSI) and Business School announced today the launch of the new, flagship post-graduate Extenda programme (http://www.csi.ac.nz/services/extenda).

Extenda is a unique programme that will partner New Zealand’s SME ICT companies with the University of Auckland to give these companies the expertise they need to establish a research-led culture and innovation capability that will transform their business.

Extenda will be launched at a gala cocktail event at the University of Auckland’s new Fisher and Paykel Pavilion by Rod Drury, CEO of Xero, Paul Millar, Managing Partner of IBM New Zealand and Peter Lee, CEO of UniServices.

Tony Price, Director of Procam commented “ICT Companies need to put resources into R&D and software development because that is really their future lifeblood. It is a very fast moving field and any company that have products that are more than two or three years old is going to be a follower and not a leader. Leading products we have today will not be the leading products in three to five years time.”

Professor John Hosking from the University of Auckland’s Cenrre for Software Innovation stated “Extenda has been developed to fill a gap we have observed during our consultation with ICT companies. Although there is much software innovation within software development companies in New Zealand, we often see them as being one product companies without a repeated cycle of innovation. The aim of Extenda is to … develop a repeatable innovation strategy.”

Extenda is aimed at SME ICT companies that are focused on developing innovative software products but which lack internal capability to use research in initiating and accelerating product development. It will give these companies the opportunity to transform their research capabilities, technology planning, and ultimately enhance their products. This improvement in innovation and quality will make companies better placed to compete both nationally and internationally.

ENDS

About The University of Auckland’s Centre for Software Innovation (CSI)

The Centre for Software Innovation draws on the significant research resource of New Zealand's largest research-led university, The University of Auckland, which is internationally recognised as a computer science and software research leader.

CSI works with internationally respected researchers in computer science, software engineering, and computer engineering to harness the collective research strengths of over 100 PhD level researchers in developing innovative solutions to sometimes profound software challenges.

Founded in December 2005 as a separate consulting and research organisation, CSI draws on a highly successful track record at the University in delivering solutions to leading commercial and government organisations where their researchers have enabled major projects to succeed.

They provide consulting for big or small problems, and draw on the business expertise of the University's commercialisation company Auckland UniServices Limited, which is now the largest organisation of its kind commercialising university research in Australasia.

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