Grow Wellington - Centres of Excellence

Centres of Excellence

The Centres of Excellence programme focuses on three specialist fields of work in the Wellington region that have developed renown for their innovation and distinction. These are the three areas that we will develop as world leading Centres of Excellence.

Screen and Digital Technologies
We are establishing The Institute for Screen Innovation and The Douglas Lilburn Studios.

Sustainable and Renewable Energy
We are establishing The Pacific Clean Energy Institute.

Biotechnology and Life Sciences
We are establishing the Health Education and Research Collaborative Centre at Wellington Hospital.

In Wellington we have world-leading industries. We have the ability to innovate and to think laterally and creatively. That is what we have here, in place, right now. Now we are going to take them further.

We have the vision of Wellington being the global centre of excellence for these industries. We will leverage off our core skills in education, research, industry and innovation. We bring together the constellation of tertiary education, research institutes, business, the service sectors, manufacturing, capital markets, infrastructure, policy actors and central and local governments to grow these centres; to make them truly and irrefutably world-leading.

That is the vision that we have for the Wellington region.

Grow Wellington has the task of implementing a strategy to grow and develop national Centres of Excellence in Wellington.

The Wellington Regional Strategy – a 20-year sustainable growth strategy for the greater Wellington region – has the support of the region’s nine local government agencies, New Zealand’s central government and the region’s business, education, research and voluntary sector interests.

Our – Grow Wellington’s – task is to manage the resources and framework for developing the Centres of Excellence.

By 2010, we aim to have the Centres of Excellence fully operational.

Each Centre of Excellence, during their development stages, has an international level advisory panel. These panels include representatives from:

Research
Education
Commercial interests
Incubation and capital
Support network
Infrastructure
Public policy

These panels give advice on strategic direction and ensure that we meet our goals of producing world-class business. The support is here. The will is here. The industry, the research and the education is here. To realise the value of the emerging innovation, these centres will be truly nationally and internationally collaborative.

Internships programme to build sustainable future for screen industry A new initiative from the New Zealand Institute of Screen Innovation (NZISI) will see internships form the basis for new skills development in the screen industry.

New Zealand Institute of Screen Innovation (NZISI) The New Zealand Institute of Screen Innovation is a new representative body that will engage in local and international relationships for the advancement of the digital content sector.

HERC Centre Wellington Collaboration is the key to ensuring world changing discoveries are made.

How is it that... How is it that such a small region in such a small and far-flung country can exert such a major influence in the world of innovation, scientific development and thinking?