Bay of Plenty Business News June/July 2019

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS June/July 2019
PlantTech a big boost for Bay Agritech
From page 1
5
able to do that thing reliably,
time and again, at a cost that
the market could bear.
He paraphrased agritech
investor Michael Helmstetter,
who has observed that the first
pitfall comes between basic
research and the commercialisation
of a new product. This
gap most often occurred when
public investments were made
in very early stage research
without sufficient attention to
the later stages of the innovation
process.
“I believe that there has
been a long and widely held
misconception that this ‘innovation
gap’ is somehow a market
failing,” said Begbie.
“I suggest it is much more
accurate to view this as a
‘market characteristic’, that is
an inevitable consequence of
the desire to move from new
knowledge to new products
and capabilities, based on that
knowledge.
“We cannot plug the gap
and walk away, somewhat
like the boy with his finger
in the leaking dyke. Rather,
we must find a way to work
together, over the long term,
to carry promising ideas across
the gap.”
The next key factor was
change, said Begbie. “The
issue of how we realise social,
environmental and economic
benefit from innovation is
more pressing now than ever.”
He quoted Canadian Prime
Minister, Justin Trudeau, who
told the World Economic
Forum in 2018: “The pace of
change has never been this
fast, yet it will never be this
slow again.”
Trudeau went on to say:
“You are rightly anxious
about how quickly our existing
business models are being
disrupted. Still, if you’re
anxious, imagine how the
folks who aren’t in this room
are feeling.”
Triple Helix
The third thing related to the
concept known as Responsible
Research and Innovation
(RRI), a term used by the European
Union to describe scientific
research and technological
development processes that
take into account the effects
and potential impacts on the
environment and society.
“The means of addressing
the first two [issues] - and
what the RRIs are a version of
- is what is becoming widely
known as the Triple Helix,”
said Begbie.
Current thinking and the
“triple helix” model could be
traced back to 1949, with the
establishment of the Fraunhofer
Society, a three-way collaboration
between industry,
academia and the Bavarian
government.
By 1952 the society was
formally recognised as an arm
of non-university research, but
it was not until 1973 that the
Fraunhofer Model was agreed
with the Federal Government.
“This model established a
long-term, sustainable partnership
and it enabled the
Fraunhofer organisation to
become a global cornerstone
of science-led industrial innovation,”
said Begbie.
Similar approaches are now
established across Europe,
North America and the
Asia-Pacific.
“This is a space and a mission
that genuinely excites me,
Science Minister Megan Woods and PlantTech chief executive Mark Begbie
with Bluelab chief executive Greg Jarvis. Photo/John Borren Photography.
and in which I see success as
one - but a critical - part of
delivering national competitive
advantage.”
Begbie said when he was
approached about PlantTech,
one of the things that attracted
him was the clear and positive
commitment to change taken
by the government and MBIE,
to dedicated triple-helix entities
doing excellent science
with, and for, industry.
“Another was the manner
in which the founding consortium
had sought out global best
practice and endeavoured to
build on the shoulders of giants
- creating a market-driven, but
research-focused, partnership
with customers built in.”
The aim was to build a
structure with the right ingredients
to deliver outcomes and
increase business expenditure
on R&D through growing
confidence in its value, added
Begbie.
PlantTech had managed to
secure some excellent talent,
said Begbie, and the real journey,
the scientific and innovation
journey, had now begun.
“PlantTech’s mission is
not to develop solutions and
present these to a customer,”
he said.
“Nor is it simply to collaborate
with partners to jointly
create a solution, though that is
part of the job. It is to build the
skills, capabilities and capacity
for companies to accelerate
their own growth.”
More innovation and
improved wellbeing
Science Minister Megan
Woods, who is a former business
manager for Crop & Food
Research and its successor
organisation Plant and Food
Research, began by acknowledging
PlantTech’s founding
shareholders and particularly
Priority One for its vision and
engagement during the institute’s
establishment phase.
The government’s vision
was to build a better New Zealand
for all its people, she said.
“A prosperous, sustainable
future for New Zealand is one
which means high-quality jobs
for all New Zealanders, higher
wages, lower environmental
impact, more innovation, and
improved wellbeing.
“Science and innovation
will help us achieve this vision
by generating leading-edge
ideas and knowledge that our
industry and public services
can apply.”
Woods said PlantTech -
supported by a start-up investment
of $8.4 million through
the government’s Regional
Research Institute Fund - was
positioned as an agri-tech
innovation centre, focusing on
the horticultural industry.
“The Bay of Plenty is a
regional powerhouse for the
horticulture industry, with the
fifth largest regional GDP and
second highest GDP growth
rate - it is the perfect home for
PlantTech,” she said.
“PlantTech shareholders’
commitment to R&D investment
in this region, the University
of Waikato’s new campus
in Tauranga, and growing GDP
and strong export streams, creates
the perfect environment
for an advanced R&D hub.”
This would continue to
drive economic development,
high skill jobs, and higher
wages for the area and New
Zealand, she added.
“Through robotics, autonomous
systems and AI research,
PlantTech will ensure the horticulture
industry remains ahead
of shared challenges such as
environmental sustainability,
labour shortage, productivity,
climate change, and biosecurity,”
said Woods.
“This also gives us the
chance to become a global
leader in supporting customised,
precise and automated
production systems that are
accessible to all scales of business
– not only benefiting the
New Zealand horticulture sector,
but also impacting global
markets with home-grown
technologies.”
It is an absolute pleasure
for me to officially launch
PlantTech Research Institute
here today.
PlantTech’s research and
close collaboration with
industry partners will be an
important part of ensuring
science and innovation help
create a sustainable future for
New Zealand.
High tech potential
Woods also acknowledged the
presence at the launch of opposition
leader Simon Bridges,
the MP for Tauranga.
Bridges told the Bay of
Plenty Business News he was
excited to see PlantTech come
together.
“Although it has had plenty
of parents, this is a little bit my
baby,” he said, having signed it
off during his tenure as Minister
of Economic Development.
“When I think about
PlantTech I think about the
humble kiwifruit, which could
have been an ordinary commodity
at 30/40 cents a dollar
and now sells in the world market
at $10-15,” he said.
“PlantTech is going to continue
to be grow our ability to
increase value in the horticulture
space, and it’s got to be
good for the BOP.”
Barry O’Neil, president of
Horticulture New Zealand,
who was among the guests,
told Bay of Plenty Business
Continues page 6