<p>Chantal Thomas asks the newly appointed <a href="https://www.visa.co.nz/visa-everywhere/everywhere-initiative1.html">Visa’s Everywhere Initiative</a> New Zealand judge about empowering women in tech and what motivates her. </p>
<p>And the 2017 winner of the most inspiring individual is ... Helen Robinson!</p>
<p>Medium-sized companies are the backbone of Germany’s economic success. "<span data-scayt-lang="en_US" data-scayt-word="Mittelstand">Mittelstand</span>" companies – which means "middle group" and refers to the mid-market sized enterprises as well as a certain mindset about business – have a lot in common with New Zealand’s medium enterprise sector and, as such, there’s a lot we can learn from the <span data-scayt-lang="en_US" data-scayt-word="Mittelstand">Mittelstand</span> way of doing business.</p>
<p>From a dairy-centric slam poetry film to a high-tech scale that scans RFID chips in farm animals, to a new government website combatting cyber-crime, to an exhibition space housing Aotearoa’s iconic constitutional documents, the best in New Zealand Design for 2017 has been revealed.</p>
<p><span data-creator-ids="99516f8fd74a anon">What happens when <span data-scayt-lang="en_US" data-scayt-word="organisations">organisations</span> become dysfunctional, where the mission becomes more important than taking care of the people working to make it happen</span>? Silvia Zuur, Lani Evans, and Marianne Elliott explain - and what we can do to fix things.</p>
<p>Judit Maireder shares four things that make a social enterprise successful.</p>
<p>Retailers who care about their customers and have mastered the art of making money while doing so <span data-scayt-lang="en_US" data-scayt-word="shouldn">shouldn</span>’t fear the increasing challenges of the industry, says retail strategist Juanita Neville-Te <span data-scayt-lang="en_US" data-scayt-word="Rito">Rito</span> of Retail X. She was the keynote speaker at Latitude Financial Services’ thought leadership series breakfast, ‘Transforming retail pioneers: From selling to seduction”.</p>
<p>Turns out retail's not dead: Silicon Valley’s most beloved woollen sneaker, Allbirds, has opened a second store in Soho, New York. Its first store was opened in April in San Francisco – and more stores are on the horizon, including here in New Zealand. </p>
<p>Andy Crowe and Rui Peng love asking questions, answering problems and the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill – and they have turned all these passions into a social enterprise tackling inequality. It does this by co-creating inventive products, spaces and experiences using digital technologies while currently operating out of a low-decile school.</p>
<p>The polls got trump wrong, says Jeremy Suisted. But there's a way they could have gotten things right - and there are plenty of lessons organisations in Aotearoa can learn from their failure.</p>
<p>There have been plenty of ups and downs in the election so far, and social media analytics platform Zavy, a company created by insights agency TRA, is tracking how Kiwis are reacting and responding with a clever election tracker tool. </p> <p></p>
<p>As part of Idealog's Technology Month, we've picked the brains of some of the movers and shakers in the industry to find out their favourite tech-related things, their biggest fears for the future and what other companies and individuals inspire their work. Here's Xero managing director Anna Curzon.</p>
<p>As existing products, companies and, in some cases, entire industries are disrupted, the world of business can seem fairly chaotic. But there are ways to prosper. Peter Lee, consulting professor, commercialisation and entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland and chief technologist at the New Zealand Defence Force, explains how businesses old and new can use the tools at our disposal to adapt, innovate and find new opportunities. </p>
<p>With just over three months until the final awards night, the C-Prize finalists are busier than ever. We went behind the scenes of the first Bootcamp to see what they’ve been up to.</p>
<p>Jennifer Rutherford has been named as the Hi-Tech Trust’s new chair and has vowed to help with the organisation’s newly announced goal to encourage more diversity in the sector. She fills the gap left by Wayne Norrie, who stepped down from after 10 years at the helm in May. </p>
<p>Could tech one day overtake dairy as New Zealand’s top export? It’s a pretty bold claim, sure. But the folks behind the <a href="/Users/ben.mack/Desktop/techsummit.nz">Canterbury Tech Summit</a> think it can happen.</p>
<p>A new VR and mixed-reality <span data-scayt-lang="en_US" data-scayt-word="centre">centre</span> has launched in Wellington. That, by itself, is not news. But what is news: the fact that <a href="http://www.projectr.nz/"><span data-scayt-lang="en_US" data-scayt-word="Projectr">Projectr</span></a> is being launched with the help of Victoria University of Wellington and other high-profile supporters for far more than just making immersive games.</p>
<p>Warren and Mahoney principal Scott Compton shares views on the creative process - and what young designers need to learn.</p>
<p>Youth-led organisation Generation Zero has been one of New Zealand's most influential political agitators of the decade. In this piece originally published on the <a href="http://rwponsonby.co.nz">Ray White Damerell Group website</a>, Leroy Beckett explains some of his group's big ideas. </p>
<p>The Ministry for Women has released a new report highlighting the gender pay gap between women and men and the need to take action for a more equitable society. But will anybody listen?</p>
<p>Seeing as though the <a href="https://www.sewf2017.org/">Social Enterprise World Forum</a> is heading to Christchurch in September, crowdfunding platform PledgeMe is gathering a list of New Zealand's social enterprises. Its goal is to provide exposure for all of the Kiwi social enterprises improving New Zealand and further abroad.</p>
<p>When reflecting the fact that just one in four mergers result in success, TRA’s head of strategy Colleen Ryan told <em>NZ Marketing</em> earlier this year that culture - or two cultures and the failure to leverage the value of two businesses because of cultural differences - is a major culprit of failure.</p>
<p>Social media can be a great boon for any leader in an organisation - but it can also undermine leadership by harming self-esteem, says Sarah Pearce.</p>
<p>GirlBoss founder Alexia Hilbertidou, who is 18 years of age, has been working to get more girls into STEM careers the past two years, with almost 8000 women now members of the GirlBoss network. Now, her efforts to increase diversity in tech have scored her an invite to be the youngest person to go on a mission with NASA for its SOFIA project. </p>
<p>Simplicity, the nonprofit KiwiSaver provider which owns shares in the top 50 listed companies in New Zealand, has written to all top 50 CEOs advocating for full diversity in board and senior management within five years. But will anyone listen?</p>
<p>New Zealand is known as a nation of innovation. Do you have something cool you've come up with that you think deserves to be <span data-scayt-lang="en_US" data-scayt-word="recognised">recognised</span> at the 2017 New Zealand Innovation Awards? Then enter it in the Innovation in Education, Training and Development, sponsored by Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://nzfintech.kiwi/blog">Kiwibank Fintech Accelerator</a>, a 14-week business growth programme held at Wellington’s <a href="http://creativehq.co.nz/">CreativeHQ</a> and powered by startup accelerator brand <a href="http://www.lightninglab.co.nz/">Lightning Lab</a>, held its Demo Day recently. We’re profiling the participants - this time Liberac, a fintech startup looking to make it easier for international workers to send money home to families in need. </p>
<p>It’s no secret that there’s some great female entrepreneurial minds in New Zealand – but the potential of many may still be untapped. Melissa Woods shares some insights from her time at the <a href="http://www.wwgsd.nz">Women Who Get Shit Done</a> (WWSD) Unconference weekend away in Waihi, including finding out what the hell an unconference actually is. </p>
<p>Good ideas sometimes need to be nurtured. However, not all such programmes are created equal. Do you have a kickass programme for idea acceleration or incubation that you think deserves to be recognised at the 2017 New Zealand Innovation Awards? Then enter it in the new Innovation in Systems and Performance Improvement category.</p>
<p>After a few years of sluggish growth the nation’s second biggest regional economy has kicked into gear with business confidence hitting a three year high. Local government support is fuelling growth and the booming tech sector is attracting top talent to the city. All told, Wellington’s vital signs are looking good.</p>