Movers and shakers: An ‘interesting transition’ from CEO to CIO

As I have been moving through various roles, I have had strong mentors and people I tend to turn to for advice. It is important that you turn that around and give back to the communityAngela Nash, REANNZ

“The roles are quite disparate and quite different in a lot of ways, but at the end of the day most of them are still people management and managing culture change.”

This is how Angela Nash describes the common links to her two most recent roles – as CEO of QualIT and now as CIO of REANNZ.

“It has been an interesting transition, actually, because they are quite different companies,” says Nash, who joined REANNZ in October.

She has a degree in information systems from Massey University. As part of the leadership team at Telecom (now Spark), she completed a leadership development programme that led to a certificate in management studies at the University of Waikato.

She is currently doing papers for the Institute of Directors, preparing herself for providing critical advice on skills diversity with boards.

“The commercial aspects, combined with a technical background, are really valuable skills for the Board,” she says.

Nash is also a mentor and says this is about both giving back and personal growth.

She is currently mentoring a staff member at REANNZ and recently got involved in the business mentoring programme of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

She says the programme will link her up with a mentee, who can come from a startup or an established company.

“You check your own knowledge and keep yourself relevant and up to date on what is happening in other industries,” she explains on the upside of mentoring.

“As I have been moving through various roles, I have had strong mentors and people I tend to turn to for advice. It is important that you turn that around and give back to the community.”

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We are just flat out putting graduates into cool government department careers they have never previously considered.Nuwanthie Samarakone, ICE

Building a leadership pipeline for government ICT

A New Zealandcareers consultancy company, ICE, is helping provide a career path for graduates who previously had not considered working for government agencies.

ICE Professional founder and chief executive Nuwanthie Samarakonesays the group is working with seven government departments in providing jobs for many graduates.

She says with the Government ICT and digital graduate programme, ICE facilitated and promoted government as a sector of choice with the potential career pathways for new graduates.

“This is an exciting project. We are just flat out putting graduates into cool government department careers they have never previously considered.

Samarakone sits on university advisory boards so she understands the curriculum, university topline strategies and the varying pool of graduates coming through the system.

“We especially enjoy our work with NZTech to place graduates in exciting tech jobs. We launched a programme a few years ago endorsed by NZTech called ICE Tech 360 and currently support member groups with early talent coupled with coaching and mentoring,” says Samarakone.

Meet the new Callaghan Innovation CEO

Vic Crone will start her CEO role at Callaghan Innovation on February 28.

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“This is an exciting time for Callaghan Innovation and for the tech sector, with a new CEO who brings a fresh perspective and proven skills in leading change, complemented by the strengths and experience of the wider executive team,” says Sue Suckling, Chair of Callaghan Innovation, on the appointment of the former managing director of Xero.

Another new appointment at Callaghan Innovation is H?mi Rolleston, general manager sectors, M?ori economy and programmes. Before taking on the new role, Rolleston was Callaghan Innovation’s GM M?ori Economy and interim CEO.

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I can’t think of a better time to be part of an exciting, fresh tech business, particularly as it enters this new phase of growthJeremy Nees, The Instillery

‘Cloud first’

Jeremy Nees joins The Instillery as chief product officer along with Callum Robertson, cloud activations engineer; Eliot Foye, cloud activations engineer; Gene Giacon, cloud specialist; Jack Downs, front-end developer and Joyce Wong, finance manager.

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Nees says that he is looking forward to sinking his teeth into this new role and sees The Instillery as a great cultural fit.

“I can’t think of a better time to be part of an exciting, fresh tech business, particularly as it enters this new phase of growth,” says Nees, whose previous roles include chief product officer at REANNZ and chief operating officer at Network for Learning.

“There really is so much change going on with cloud disrupting the traditional playbook and there’s such opportunity to help local and global businesses realise their true potential.

“I’m looking forward to working with a bunch of like-minded individuals, as we continue to shake things up and have a bit of fun while we challenge the status quo.”

Founder and CEO Mike Jenkins says that the expansion is in line with the company’s growth strategy, to meet the increasing demand for ‘’cloud first’’ enterprise projects. Last month,The Instillery opened an office in London and will shortly move to a new Auckland-based headquarters to accommodate the rapidly expanding team.

Intergen’s new HQ

Intergen has moved its 220-strong Wellington based team into the Printers Yard development at 80 Willis St.

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The move comes a year after moving its Auckland team into the CBD’s innovation hub last year – with plans to move its Christchurch office back into the CBD in 2017.

“Wellington is undergoing a building renaissance and for Intergen, a company born here and committed for the long term, we are delighted to be part of bringing new life into a strong part of Wellington’s history in Press Hall,” says Intergen CEO Simon Bright.

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“We’ve embraced the building’s press printing history in our design, redefining our working environment and extending into the future by creating a modern and dynamic business and social hub in the heart of our CBD.”

Intergen’s new office layout and workspace code system centres around the client experience, says Bright.

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Multiple work spaces designed for different needs mean people can come together in client-centric teams to share ideas, solve problems and deliver solutions – with clients invited to become active team members given access to the workspaces and system.

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“It’s a new and dynamic working style that lets people choose the working space that optimises their client focus, whether that’s at a standard desk set up or at work walls, in booths, at caf?-style tables and more.

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Spark Plugs on the K?piti Coast

Spark and the K?piti Coast District Council are partnering to extend the Spark Plugs initiative, adding electric vehicle (EV) chargers to Spark phone boxes around the district.

The new chargers will be free for anyone to use for the first 12 months. Five Spark Plugs are planned to begin with and these will be installed over the next few months.

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The chargers will be similar to those rolled out north and south of Auckland earlier in 2016 during the pilot phase, which was an Australasian first.

Ed Hyde, Spark Ventures CEO, says the initial pilot has been an overwhelming success, with the chargers near Auckland being used every day.

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“Electric vehicles are the future of transport – they’re important to building a low-carbon society and they’re increasingly affordable. But what we don’t have yet is the widespread charging infrastructure to support and reassure EV drivers. Spark Plugs is an innovative attempt at helping to solve this problem.”

“By repurposing what many consider to be a bit of antiquated technology, we can help drive EV adoption forward and do our bit for New Zealand,” says Hyde.

Carl Church has been appointed as chief operating officer for lT systems and solutions integrator Optimation Group. He will lead operational, financial and commercial functions across the Group’s three businesses, Optimation New Zealand, Optimation Group Australia, and Presto Resourcing Options. Church was previously the COO at Solarcity.

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Delta Insurance New Zealand has made a comprehensive UAV (drone) operator’s insurance solution available. This launch took place in conjunction with Delta’s sponsorship of the NZ UAV Conference held at the Auckland University of Technology.

In New Zealand there is currently no legal requirements for UAV operators to hold insurance. Most aviation and liability insurers exclude risks that are specific to the UAV industry, such as breaches of privacy and statutory liability, says Craig Kirk, general manager, Delta Insurance. In addition, there are few products that provide a composite hull and liability insurance solution.

“To us it made sense to create an insurance solution that addressed all of the industries’ requirements. We knew there was demand, having been approached by a number of existing clients who were seeking to obtain more comprehensive cover for commercial UAV use,” adds Kirk.

Spark New Zealand has announced that Swedish company Ericsson has been selected to help deliver its next-generation, fully digital voice network technology. The new solution, called IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) brings Spark’s core networks together into a modern and unified platform, providing more diversity, reliability and scalability.

Ericsson helped us deliver New Zealand’s very first analogue mobile network in the 1980s, and we’re pleased to be working with them agaiColin Brown, Spark

Spark GM of Networks, Colin Brown, says IMS lays the foundation for growth in Voice over IP connections, driven particularly by the huge increase in fibre connections on Spark’s network and its wireless broadband products.

“Ericsson helped us deliver New Zealand’s very first analogue mobile network in the 1980s, and we’re pleased to be working with them again – they are recognised globally as leaders in IMS and have a huge global research and development operation,” says Brown.

Law firm Russell McVeagh has unveiled its new logo that better reflects the firm’s differentiated positioning and how it has evolved with the needs of its clients in today’s modern marketplace.

Deborah Macrae, director of business development and marketing, says the new brand identity and re-affirmed values showcase the firm’s commitment to evolve with the times and needs of its clients.

“We are rounding the edges, diversifying and encouraging fresh thinking – while continuing to deliver sound commercial legal advice. Our reputation as industry thought leaders, helping our clients to thrive and overcome obstacles, coupled with the quality of our work and specialist skills of our people, distinguishes us in the marketplace. Our confident new look brings this together and aligns our firm’s passionate, original and collaborative approach.”

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