Stimulus/Rationale:
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited 's diverse teams work closely with the region's business, creative, cultural, education, conservation, sporting and tourism sectors.
It delivers a co-ordinated, region-wide programme to maximise cultural, social and economic benefits for Auckland’s residents and visitors, as well as supporting local businesses to succeed and attracting multinational investment.
Process:
There are various programmes available, including:
- GridAKL is part of Auckland City’s Wynyard Quarter Innovation Precinct. The GridAKL ethos is one of inclusivity and prosperity for all of Auckland. GridAKL looks to bring together Place, Community and Services with a mission of growing innovative businesses, creating jobs and entrepreneurial talent to enrich the wider innovation community for Auckland’s economic future. GridAKL also has a memorandum with Fukuoka (Japan) to encourage co-operation in the start-ups.
- AR/VR Garage is a Research and Development space for companies looking to create, develop and prototype augmented reality and virtual reality applications, technologies and services, connecting their talent internationally.
- The FoodBowl - Te Ipu Kai is Auckland’s state-of-the-art facility for food and beverage producers to test and develop new products. Emerging food entrepreneurs in west Auckland can now apply for “The Kitchen Project”, a local initiative that offers affordable kitchen space for product development as well as a mentoring programme. This is inspired by a project in San Francisco where this has been life-changing, particularly for local migrant women.
- Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) is an experiential programme where students set up and run a real business. Each YES company creates its own product or service and brings this to market. This programme is characterised by high ethnic diversity, reflecting the secondary school population[CR2] .
Key reference documents: DIGMYIDEA Māori Innovation Challenge for Māori entrepreneurs with a digital idea that could go global.
