Prime Minister John Key and a troop of VIPs were dazzled by high definition video conferencing over KAREN last Thursday during the opening of the new national ICT Innovation Institute, NZi3.

Academia and industry come together at NZi3

Officially opened by the Prime Minister on 23 April, the Institute is New Zealand’s first dedicated ICT research centre and has a vision to be a globally-recognised innovation centre that links academia and industry.

Located in the brand new high-tech NZi3 building, the Institute houses a number of leading innovation centres including the Geospatial Research Centre, Wireless Research Centre, BlueFern Supercomputer and Advanced Video Collaboration Centre.

Donald Clark, REANNZ Chief Executive, spoke to the Prime Minister and guests via video conference, demonstrating the inspiring capabilities of KAREN and the superb quality and realism of high definition video conferencing over this connectivity.

The Prime Minister said "This type of technology is fantastic. We should be investing in this for not only research and education, but also for the state sector."

KAREN's part at NZi3

“KAREN is a vital part of the NZi3’s business infrastructure, ensuring the institute’s research groups have the reliability and scope of bandwidth they need to lead ICT innovation in New Zealand and globally”, said Donald.

“New Zealand’s innovation and entrepreneurialism in ICT is well-known. This new Institute will help us continue to carve out this niche and raise recognition of our talents across the globe”.

Video conferencing helpdesk service

This event was followed by the launch of the Advanced Video Collaboration Centre on 24 April. The launch brought together over 50 guests, Ian Town, University of Canterbury, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Lesley Middleton, General Manager of Research & Science at MoRST and Donald Clark via high definition video conference.

“This service will help our community enormously, really accelerating their ability to exploit video conferencing for research collaboration and teaching. I applaud the University of Canterbury and MoRST for making this critical investment in advanced networking services“, said Donald.

More information

AVCC - Advanced Video Collaboration Centre

NZi3 - ICT Innovation Institute

[Image: (from left) Nathan Gardiner, AVCC Manager; Rex Williams, University of Canterbury Chancellor; Donald Clark (via HD video conference), REANNZ CEO; Prime Minister John Key; Darin Graham, NZi3 Director]