April 22, 2021
Raukawa draws industry heavyweights for tech initiative
Te Wānanga o Raukawa has teamed up with tech industry leaders including former Air New Zealand boss Rob Fife and Microsoft NZ managing director Vanessa Sorenson to create a kaupapa Māori digital training programme and start-up incubator.
Chief executive Mereana Selby says the Ōtaki-based tertiary institute wants to inspire and prepare more Māori to participate in the technology industry.
She says it can't do it alone, so it has joined with industry leaders to ensure students are job ready.
Technology is the highest paying industry and the country's third largest export earner, and the lack of Māori participation means not only a missed opportunity to accelerate Māori economic growth, but Industry is missing out on Māori who can offer dual competencies in technology and mātauranga.
The Whitihiko ki te Ao initiative also aims to support industry to lift its game and become employers of choice for Māori where being Māori is an asset.
Advisory group chair Rob Fisher, the lead partner for technology consulting at PwC, says the establishment of an incubator in Ōtaki will provide a pathway and support-structure for students with entrepreneurial ambitions, and could lead to a new wave of Māori start-ups thriving on the local and global stage based in regional Aotearoa.
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