Patrick Pilchar writes, in an opinion piece in the New Zealand Herald, about New Zealand’s poor innovation performance, most recently seen in the NZAhead report.
The report gave New Zealand a ‘C’, and Pilchar goes on to explore why innovation is key for New Zealand’s future, and the barriers currently standing in its way.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“What are implications of this unfortunate showing? While there’s little doubt that New Zealand enjoys many advantages in agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, and tourism continues to boom, the reality is that there is only ever going to be so much wealth that can be generated on a national basis by exporting dead animals, bits of wood and bottles of wine.
“Unless New Zealand can continue to diversify and grow its economy beyond these low value primary sectors, future generations of New Zealanders could find themselves doomed to decreasing living standards as we continue to slide down the OECD ladder.”