It would bring together a line-up of highly-regarded entrepreneurial scientists, futurists and international academics at Auckland's Shed 10 on November 10.
It would focus on international trends and emergent technologies set to have potentially destabilising implications for our primary and food systems, Tru-Test chief executive Greg Muir said.
Tru-Test had a vested interest in leading the call to understand and prepare for accelerating change and in seeing the greater agribusiness sector prosper.
"We were founded 50 years ago on industry-changing innovation and preparing for change is critical to business success.
“We must acknowledge the fast-changing rules of doing business and anticipate dynamic shifts in our traditional value chains,” Muir said.
New technologies such as ag-robotics, Internet of Things sensing solutions, synthetic milk and cultured beef would present both real opportunities and potential threats to New Zealand’s primary industry.
Callaghan Innovation’s national technology network manager for sensing technologies Andrew Dawson said “We are well placed to capitalise on our size, distance and unique point of view.
“Disruptive change is being driven from outside traditional sectors so staying alert to the drivers of change and looking outward will be vital.
“In our favour, New Zealanders have a naturally-developed sense of observation and big is no longer better so smaller countries and companies can be more agile and responsive to dynamic change.”
“Disruptive change is being driven from outside traditional sectors so staying alert to the drivers of change and looking outward will be vital.
Andrew Dawson
Callaghan Institute
Beyond the Line of Sight would bring together about 400 industry leaders who would hear from:
- KPMG global agribusiness head Ian Proudfoot
- Professor Mark Post who created laboratory-grown beef
- mobile robotics specialist Professor Gregory Dudek
- Kiwi-born Rhodes scholar and physicist Sean Gourley of Quid
- futurist Thomas Frey from the DaVinci Institute, and
- Institute for the Future research director Bradley Kreit.
“The take out message will be clear – rapid dramatic change is coming, how will we respond?” Muir said.
