AgResearch is entering into a major programme to prepare New Zealand for the new era of digital agriculture.

The programme will identify the barriers to taking up new digital technologies on and off the farm, and will develop a technology roadmap to support the industry's transition.

Many farmers are already using technologies such as sensors on their farms connected to their mobile phones or devices. However there is enormous potential for uptake of exciting new tools, alongside digital platforms that can bring together and analyse large amounts of data from different sources across the farm to guide decision-making.

"There are huge gains on offer from digital agriculture in terms of productivity, the environments we farm in, and pressures on farmers," says AgResearch Research Director Greg Murison.

"It's crucial that New Zealand - as an agricultural nation and exporter - stays ahead of the game.

We want to support the industries as best we can to do that. We believe our programme will be among the first of its kind where a system-wide analysis of digital agriculture has been undertaken in New Zealand."

"There's a lot of smart people and companies developing these new digital tools for farmers. Our role is looking at the big picture of adoption across New Zealand, and how best to measure and interpret the data essential to the operation of these tools. We are already collecting data from the likes of our Tokanui research farm, where for example we are digitally tracking the movements and behaviour of the cows."

"We are also focused on the testing and trialling of new technologies that become available - to see how they can be integrated into New Zealand farming systems, and what value they can bring for our farmers.

We have recently partnered with Australian firm Agersens to trial its new virtual fencing technology in New Zealand. This technology uses collars on the livestock that enable farmers to restrict, move and monitor their animals - from anywhere and anytime - via an app."

A component of digital agriculture is precision agriculture, where variability of crops is monitored, measured and responded to with the purpose of optimising returns and preserving resources.

The International Tri-Conference for Precision Agriculture in 2017 will be held in Hamilton from October 16-18.

Visit www.precisionagriculture.org.nz for more information.

| A TheCountry release  ||  October 13,  2017   |||

SEATTLE, Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NutriBullet, the world's original nutrient extractor, today unveiled the newest addition to its collection of products designed to achieve ultimate wellness – NutriBullet Balance – at the Smart Kitchen Summit. The NutriBullet Balance represents the evolution of blending by providing consistent taste, and detailed transparency of nutritional statistics such as calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat and sugar intake, among others with every smoothie.

In partnership with Perfect Company, NutriBullet has taken the art of smoothie making to the next level with NutriBullet Balance making its mark as the world's first fully integrated nutrition extraction system. Featuring a revolutionary integrated, Bluetooth-enabled Smart Nutrition Sensor™ that connects to a devoted NutriBullet Balance app on your smart device, NutriBullet Balance is designed to act as a Virtual Nutritionist™ assisting consumers in achieving health and wellness goals.

The NutriBullet Balance iOS and Android compatible app allows users to track real-time nutritional data as they build recipes, customize recipes to their desired taste, set and track their nutritional goals, create plans for optimum wellness, build shopping lists, and track items in their pantry. NutriBullet's team of registered dieticians, nutritionists and food scientists collaborated with Perfect Company to curate hundreds of recipes – tailored to various health conditions, nutritional goals and flavor profiles.

NutriBullet Balance is available for pre-order now and will be rolling out to select retailers nationwide this holiday season. For more information or to pre-order the NutriBullet Balance, please visit NutriBulletBalance.com.

A leading tech businessman, who has possibly done more to improve trade ties with Vietnam than any other New Zealander, has last night recognised for his leadership at the Auckland University of Technology Business School NZ Business Support Excellence awards. Augen director, NZTech and FinTechNZ chair Mitchell Pham was one of the finalists at the gala event in Auckland. Pham has impeccable links with South East Asia and was pivotal in setting up the Kiwi Tech Connection Hub in Ho Chi Minh city to help Kiwi tech businesses accelerate presence and engagement in the ASEAN region. “New Zealand lacks capability and reach to operate in Asia. There has been plenty of focus on China and India, but not enough capability in South East Asia. We provide that reach and operational capability on-the-ground with the Kiwi Connection Tech Hub,” Pham says. “New Zealand has not had the capacity or expertise to engage in broad business development activities and deep relationships with business networks as well as tapping into talent pools and investment capital in South East Asia. “We are starting to look at how we can take Kiwi Connection Tech Hub to the next level and provide a more direct business development channel to Kiwi tech businesses. New Zealand faces global demand for tech innovation, while at the same time we also suffer from shortage of both tech talent and investment capital to support international growth. “I feel very honoured to be a finalist in the awards last night, on behalf of all the people and organisations that I work with. As I don't work alone or achieve any impact on my own, this recognition is for them.” Pham developed his leadership skills from business and community engagements and has also spent time at Harvard University’s Kennedy School to further enhance and broaden his capability in this area as a result of being named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. His company, Augen, has brought resource scalability to help nearly 250 New Zealand businesses accelerate innovation and gain speed-to-market advantages, including such groups as Acuite, AgilityTRx, Atlantis Health, Auckland District Law Society, Benecura, Blackbay, Calqtech, Go Car Finance, GO Rentals, HealthSoft, Kiwa Digital, Manawanui In-Charge, MerlotAero, OMNIMax, Orion Health, Rhombic, RoleQ, ShapeShifter, SoftTech, Strategic Pay, SurveyOnline.com and Wizbang. Many of the Kiwi businesses assisted by Augen have also been upskilled with the capability to work effectively with international teams in today's diverse globally supply chains and digitally-connected business ecosystems. Pham was one of the refugees who were fortunate enough to successfully get out of Vietnam in the 1980s. He survived several near-death experiences crossing the South China Sea and two perilous years in four refugee camps in Indonesia. He says he resettled in the best country on earth, received world-class education, established his life in New Zealand, built a technology business group and expanded back into Vietnam years later. “I am very fortunate to have built a business career in an industry – technology – that is now the fastest growing globally. I reconnected with my immediate family after 13 years apart and reunited in New Zealand after 30 years. I have expanded my Kiwi technology group back into Vietnam to support the growth of New Zealand businesses and creation of opportunities for both countries.”

| A MakeLemonade release  ||  October 5,  2017   |||

On Thursday 5 October at 12.30pm, ambassadors and high commissioners from nine of the countries involved in Antarctica will visit the Antarctic Ecobots programme at Ara. Their visit is being hosted by Antarctica NZ.

Antarctic Ecobots is a free interactive workshop for year 9 and 10 students on 4 and 5 October. The focus in this workshop is to build a robot that can tackle dangerous environmental tasks using maths, physics and computer skills, utilising VEX IQ Robots and MBots that then compete to win the ‘Antarctic Mission’.

After learning about Antarctic science, including microbiology, glaciation, the effects of global warming and the damage it does to the environment, participants learn what robots can contribute in this environment and then build an ecobot robot.

Earlier in the week was Mission to Antarctica, a free engineering programme on 2 and 3 October for Years 9-11, exploring solutions for living in an inhospitable place.

Participants use engineering and architectural design principles and 3D printing to build geodesic habitats and energy systems for survival, and learn how to live in harmony with this unique and fragile environment.

The habitat created would also harness solar and wind energy and protect humans from radiation, cold, wind and extreme isolation – no small challenge, says Ara STEM Coordinator Miranda Sattherthwaite.

“Providing a substantial challenge raises the engagement of the participants as they strive to use design thinking, learning and resources to create solutions. There are many inhospitable places on the planet, each with their own challenges. This programme, run in collaboration with Fablab, gets participants thinking about how humans can exist in such places. Using the tools of engineering and broadens their understanding of what can be accomplished,” she said.

Engineering comes into many aspects of life near the south pole such as navigation, wearable technology and the science of Antarctic glaciology.

Miranda is seeing more and more robotics in learning in New Zealand and this is coming through to competitions as well.

Later in the year, she will help to judge the biggest robotics competition ever held in the Southern Hemisphere in Rotorua in December - the Asia Pacific VEX Robotics Competition 2017 .

Ara uses innovative technology such as robotics, modelling and 3D printing to engage students in science, technology, engineering and science.

School holiday programmes in these areas help students to broaden their awareness, start thinking about possible careers and check out study options and pathways - plus they are a lot of fun and free.

| An ARA release  ||  October 4,  2017   |||

When it comes to solar panels, the future is flexible. Vanessa Young discovers how a MacDiarmid project is unlocking the possibilities of a new generation of solar cell technology.

When we imagine solar panels, we think of hard rectangle frames, sitting upright on roofs, or spread out across expanses of deserts.

But imagine flexible, bendy solar panels, supple enough to skin a curved roof, pliable enough to be rolled up and transported easily. Lightweight enough to be a thin film for the roof of a tent. And portable enough to be rolled out to generate power for emergency relief operations, or taken into remote areas.

Printable solar materials that will allow all of this is closer than we think. Victoria University associate professor Justin Hodgkiss, lead researcher in a MacDiarmid Institute project investigating the possibilities presented by ‘printable photovoltaics’, says they will be low cost and could replace silicon as the next generation of photovoltaic (solar energy) materials.

“Silicon cells are getting cheaper but still require a high-temperature, high vacuum manufacturing process. For solar energy to be really accessible it needs to be much cheaper and faster to manufacture.”

He says these printable semiconductors, including polymers and nanoparticles, can potentially be manufactured on a roll, cutting production costs.

“Their ease of transport and light weight also mean it is feasible for these to be manufactured in New Zealand and shipped anywhere in the world.”

New generation flexible solar cell material. Photo: Eight19 Ltd

Shiny is the enemy of good

When we see photos of those bright shiny swathes of solar farms, we don’t automatically think of their shininess as a problem. But Hodgkiss says an ideal solar panel would look black.

“Every bit of light that reflects off a solar panel is light not transformed into energy. When no light bounces off it means all visible light is getting in.”

This is where nanotechnology comes in. He compares the idea to radio antennae on the roof of a building.

“When you see large antennae on the top of buildings, their size is related to the radio frequencies they’re tracking. Radio waves are of the order of metres, so the antenna discs are this size. But optical wavelengths are in the order of hundreds of nanometres.”

He says the MacDiarmid teams working on this are effectively creating tiny antennae that capture light and can direct it inside the solar panels.

“We’re making nano-patterns that make sure that light gets in and is not bounced away, and that capture and focus the light waves directly where it is needed in the solar panels.”

Continue to read the full article here published by The Spinoff on a MacDiarmid Institute Project a MacDiarmid Institute Project  ||  October 3,  2017   |||

ACL Airshop of the US and CORE Transport Technologies of New Zealand have announced an exclusive strategic alliance for bringing innovative new, field-proven Bluetooth® enabled logistics technology to the global air cargo industry, to jointly provide automated tracking of Unit Load Devices (ULD Equipment). ACL Airshop, with main offices in South Carolina and Amsterdam, is a worldwide provider of custom ULD solutions to over 200 air carriers and cargo clients, with services, repairs, and leasing operations at 40 of the world’s Top 50 air cargo hub airports, substantial manufacturing and supply chain capabilities for cargo control products, and 34 years of experience in air cargo. CORE Transport Technologies is an agile software developer, focused for over 10 years on services that provide significant improvement to the transportation process in multiple industries, with offices in New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Orlando FL.

Predictive analytics and Big Data are just part of the new efficiencies these innovations can bring to air cargo carriers, according to the two companies. They assert that airlines will also be able to track the actual cargo loads by the container and pallet, that the tracking system will yield real-time “dot on the map” monitoring and status reports, and will reduce both the loss and/or the overstocking of pallets and other mission-essential cargo equipment. This is coupled as a significant technical enhancement to ACL’s already robust ULD Control and bar-coding systems used by some of its customers.

The two companies have successfully concluded extensive beta testing in the field with international air carriers and an array of multiple ULDs, with 100% tracking reliability. Similarly, a global air carrier conducted another CORE test which succeeded with hundreds of ULDs. Market readiness is now complete. Regulatory aspects such as compliance with FCC and FAA rules have been addressed, plus rigorous adherence to RTCA-DO-160 (“Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment”).

Ian Craig, Managing Director & CEO of CORE Transport Technologies cited additional aspects of the logistics enhancements for clients, and explained the strategic alliance merits at a September air cargo conference. “While CORE has initiated a number of previous technology products independently, with the most current offering of COREInsight Tracking technology, we felt it is best suited for a partnership with a great industry leader like ACL Airshop.” Craig further stated, “By partnering with ACL, we introduce a new benefit to leasing ULD Equipment, whereby the lessee can now have an automated avenue to track their leased ULD even when it may be outside their own system. Core grants ACLAS the worldwide exclusive right to license, sublicense, and sell the ULD tracking technology, in tandem with us. ACLAS customers will always know where their ULD’s are located and when they are being utilized.”

Wes Tucker, Executive Vice President for ACL Airshop, said, “This partnership is not only about tracking ACL’s 40,000 ULDs, it’s also about partnering with a formidable technology company to bring electronic ULD tracking to the airline industry. We’ve been working in unison with CORE in testing and development of this technology. The results are quite impressive. This is the ultimate solution for ULD Equipment tracking available today.” Tucker further explained benefits for airlines customers, “This is a positive game-changer for ACL Airshop and its hundreds of airlines clients. COREInsight ULD service tracks these valuable assets in real time. FOR ACL’s airlines clients, we predict this will be a low-cost logistics efficacy enhancement that will remarkably improve how we can help them manage their fleet and save money long-term.”

Steve Townes, chairman of ACL Airshop and its parent company, said, “Speaking for our entire team of Ranger Airshop co-owners, we are excited to advance and accelerate this new logistics sophistication for ACL’s airline clients, and we are delighted to be partnering with such an excellent teammate as CORE Transport Technologies. We are aiming to accelerate Bluetooth tracking into usage for the many airlines customers who will value the compelling new efficiencies it is designed to deliver for their ULDs”

| A joint ACL Core release  ||  October 2,  2017   |||

Results show that while 30% of 3PLs and 16% of shippers see blockchain as a potential application, they have yet to engage with the technology says MH&L.

The 2018 22nd Annual Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Study, released on Sept. 26, shows the continuation of two trends: the importance of the relationship between shippers and 3PLs, and the importance of adapting to emerging technologies, including blockchain and automation. The result of these closely-forged relationships is improved services to the end customer.

The study sponsored by Penske Logistics, Infosys, Penn State University and Korn/Ferry, examines the global outsourced marketplace and leading trends for shippers and 3PLs in the logistics industry. The specialized focus in this year's report is blockchain, automation/ digitization, the logistics talent revolution required for shippers and 3PLs to drive technology advancements, as well as how shippers and 3PLs view their risk/resilience relationship.

Blockchain This is the first time that the 3PL study investigates blockchain. Results show that while 30% of 3PLs and 16% of shippers see blockchain as a potential application, they have yet to engage with the technology. The study describes anticipated benefits including improved supply chain visibility and potential challenges that participants will face in implementing blockchain.

"Blockchain has the potential to make significant improvements in security, transparency and governance, but only in supply chains where there is value in controlling consumer risk, valuable goods or complying with regulations," said Ken Toombs, Global Head of Infosys Consulting. "Shippers and 3PLs will need to work together to drive value from blockchain, using lessons collectively learned from missteps with other emerging technologies like Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)."

Automation/ Digitization in Transportation The study describes some of the exciting potential with on-road automation, such as driverless vehicles. It also describes many ways in which automation is already providing returns across the supply chain through digitalized load matching and warehouse robotics. Competitiveness is a key driver for a majority of 3PLs (62%) and shippers (57%) to invest in automation/ digitization. However, the report also revealed a number of reasons for lack of investment in digitization and automation, including a lack of in-house talent to develop, implement and monitor (12% of 3PLs and 10% of shippers).

Logistics Talent Revolution Technology is reframing the demands on the workforce, particularly within the supply chain where automation, digitization and data collection capabilities are growing rapidly. Supply chain leaders and logistics executives play even more critical roles as companies work to build more efficient and technologically advanced supply chains.

"It's no surprise that technology continues to unlock unforeseen value across the global supply chain in a variety of ways," said Neil Collins, regional managing partner for Korn Ferry's North American Industrial Markets. "To leverage the potential upside, organizations must now rethink their talent strategy from top to bottom. The supply chain/logistics leader must now be agile, a strategist, a visionary and a collaborator. The entire supply chain organization must now compete with technology, and the winners will be those that elevate their people using technology, rather than replacing them with it."

Risk/Resilience in Shipper-3PL Relationships Through all the technological advances, the opportunity to improve upon the risk/ resilience relationship between 3PLs and shippers continues: 79% of 3PLs and 64% of shippers report they have been involved in projects in which the ability to execute quickly was directly impacted by lack of complete, accurate and consistent information provided by the shipper.

The study shows a large increase in the percentage of shippers seeking information technology (IT) services from 3PLs, with 27% indicating outsourcing of IT services in the 2018 study compared to 17% in the previous year. However, the percentage of shippers indicating satisfaction dropped slightly this year from 65% to 56%, potentially due to higher expectations among shippers as technology has improved or because shippers are seeking enhanced analytical capabilities to help drive more effective supply chain decisions.

| A MH&L release |  September 29,  2017   |||

A new national group of New Zealand’s leading tech experts was formed in Auckland today, because the country is facing unprecedented growth and change in tech – which is now the nation’s fastest growing sector.

Tech Leaders has been set up with the support of NZTech and is a group of passionate New Zealand tech, digital and ICT focused-executives from leading organisations that will work together, with the support of NZTech, to use their experience to help address tech related issues of national importance.

NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says New Zealanders are seeing dramatic tech changes the likes of which have never been seen before.

“Electric car charging stations are popping up all over New Zealand and we are seeing the introduction of driverless cars and buses. A string of artificial intelligence and IoT devices are continually being introduced into our daily lives.

“With the ultimate goal of improving the prosperity of New Zealand underpinned by technology Tech Leaders will define, communicate and promote initiatives around the use of technology from their experience and perspective.

“These tech executive, from organisations such as Auckland Transport, Downer, Fonterra, Fletcher Building and Westpac, are at the coalface, driving the tech change in large New Zealand companies and organisations.“What they can see is new tech out there which will make New Zealand more efficient and businesses will benefit,” Muller says.

David Kennedy, Global Chief Information Officer of Transaction Services Group, is the first chair of Tech Leaders and he says it is up to the leaders to create a platform for the success of New Zealand today and for the future.

“To ensure international and domestic success of Kiwi businesses, it is vital we act now to consider what’s being covered in our education system. Learnings should be designed to develop global leading talent who can cope with all the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow’s world.

“Our education system needs to be producing these type of employees today. We do not have a shortage of skilled people – however, we need to be sure the education being provided is equipping people to succeed in today’s business, as well as tomorrow’s world.

“Tech Leaders is committed to delivering change to the very fabric of New Zealand. Never before has a group of the most senior tech executives got together in this way for the sole purpose of ensuring the prosperity of New Zealand.

“Tech Leaders will work together to answer the toughest questions around the impacts and opportunities of new technologies. Large firms are piloting artificial intelligence tools and fleets of vehicles will soon become driverless, potentially costing thousands of jobs.

“This is just one of the questions we should be asking… What should the government and New Zealand’s largest firms be doing to protect the livelihood of Kiwi families that rely on driving jobs for the food on their table when, not if, autonomous vehicles are widespread on New Zealand roads,” Kennedy says.

| A MakeLemonade release  || September 28,  2017   |||

Hawaiki, the new subsea cable system that will link Australia, New Zealand, and islands of the south Pacific with Hawaii and the mainland United States, reached another construction milestone. The 14,000 km of undersea fiber-optic cable is in the final stages of being loaded aboard TE SubCom’s cable-laying vessels, the CS Global Sentinel and the CS Responder. Installation of the system will commence in early October 2017.

The fiber cable was manufactured at SubCom’s Newington, New Hampshire facility, along with more than 170 completed repeaters. TE SubCom also noted that horizontal directional drilling (HDD) for the cable landing in Pacific City, Oregon and Sydney, Australia has been completed. In Sydney, the construction of the land duct route is complete, the installation of the terminal equipment has started and the pulling of the land cable is scheduled to begin shortly. In New Zealand, the construction of the land duct route is complete and the construction of a new cable station is underway.

The system is on schedule for completion by mid-2018.

The carrier-neutral Hawaiki cable system was co-developed by New Zealand-based entrepreneurs Sir Eion Edgar, Malcolm Dick and Remi Galasso.

| A Converge release  ||  September 26,  2017   |||

Rocket Lab today announced it will fly payloads for Planet and Spire aboard its upcoming second test flight, ‘Still Testing’, from Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand. Rocket Lab’s Electron orbital launch vehicle will carry two Earth-imaging Dove satellites for Planet and two Lemur-2 satellites from Spire for weather mapping and ship traffic tracking.

The flight is the second of three in Rocket Lab’s Electron test program and follows the successful inaugural Electron test flight carried out on May 25, 2017.

Peter Beck, Founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, says carrying a test payload marks a significant milestone for the Electron program, enabling Rocket Lab to gather crucial data and test systems for the deployment stage of a mission.

“We’re thrilled with Electron’s performance in the first test flight and now we’re eager to test the next crucial step – payload deployment. No major changes to the launch vehicle hardware have been required, the third-party error that meant we didn’t make orbit has been corrected and we’re focusing on the six Electron vehicles in production right now,” said Beck.

“While we’re still very much operating in a test phase and can likely expect a few scrubs during the second test flight attempt, we’re incredibly excited about carrying Planet and Spire payloads on Electron. The data these companies gather has an increasingly significant role to play in how we understand our planet and better manage it,” said Beck.

Mike Safyan, Senior Director of Launch at Planet, said: “Our companies have long shared an ethos of dreaming big and executing on that vision, so it’s only fitting that Planet is among the first payloads to fly on a Rocket Lab Electron. The Electron will be a game changer in a traditionally difficult launch market. We are excited to quite literally be riding the leading edge with Rocket Lab.”

Planet’s largest-ever network of 190 satellites collects more imagery daily than any other commercial provider, creating a completely new information feed about our world. With this comprehensive and empirical dataset, Planet uses machine learning-driven analytics to create unique insights that deliver crucial market intelligence for businesses, governments, and NGOs.

"The ability to iterate quickly and execute on an incredibly high level is core to the success of both Rocket Lab and Spire. ‘Still Testing’ is a culmination of that work into a single event,” said Peter Platzer, CEO of Spire, “and we're proud to be onboard for this inaugural deployment attempt.”

Spire, the world's first commercial weather satellite constellation, adds two satellites to an existing constellation of Lemur-2 satellites that covers every location on earth over 100 times per day. The multi-sensor satellites gather global atmospheric measurements for advanced weather warnings and predictions and track global ship traffic for multiple commercial and government applications.

The Electron vehicle for the ‘Still Testing’ flight is expected to be trucked to Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand, in October 2017, with a launch window to open in the weeks following once vehicle checks are complete.

| A RocketLab release  ||  September 27,  2017   |||