New Zealand spends about $6 billion annually on domestic IT requirements, industry lobby group NZICT says.

The government absorbs around 40% of that, while the corporate sector takes up the remaining 60%. NZICT chief executive Brett O’Riley said technology was one of New Zealand’s fastest growing industries. Mr O’Riley said this was reflected in the recent Deloitte Technology Fast 500 report, where 51 New Zealand companies were included.

“Innovation is alive and well in New Zealand. This is a huge result that we must build on to grow these companies further. This is a massive improvement on last year’s results (which included 31 companies).”

Four New Zealand companies were listed in the top 50 in the report; these include NextWindow, Telesmart, Sonar6 and TracMap NZ.

Mr O’Riley said New Zealand had outperformed other Asia-Pacific countries in the report and was punching above its weight in the technology sector. But scaling problems, the continued skills shortage and constraints on capital and distribution were holding the country back on becoming a truly global player in technology.

“We are looking for support from government policies and improved infrastructure. The forthcoming findings from Capital Markets review are important in creating an investment environment where capital is available through multiple investment tiers.

“With ubiquitous high-speed broadband eventually reaching more places, New Zealand’s technology sector will have a better framework to not only improve its products and services in the domestic market but internationally (as well),” he said.

Mr O’Riley said New Zealand companies needed to focus on building partnerships, especially with larger or global companies, and distribution. He said the IT export industry worth an estimated $3 billion annually to the New Zealand economy.