The role of VR in the classroom, something we should be embracing or not? 

Leveraging technology in the classroom is pretty well documented and understood these days. The need for enhanced digital technology skills and capabilities to be taught to ensure our ākonga (learners) are developing the range of skills they require for their future jobs is also well understood. Here in Aotearoa NZ we have a digital technology curriculum […]

Griffin on Tech: Yet another eye-watering mega merger IT bill comes in

The bill to merge the IT systems of the country’s 16 polytechnics, which now operate as one education super-entity, Te Pūkenga, has been totted up – $285.9 million over four years. Te Pūkenga’s management outlined its IT spending needs as part of a request for additional funding totaling $422.6 million over four years, Pattrick Smellie […]

The next generation of connected IoT

Today, technical advances such as lower power chips, better connectivity, and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are unlocking new Internet of Things (IoT) use cases. Applications in healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation are taking off. A McKinsey report projects that, by 2030, IoT products and services will create between $5.5 trillion and $12.6 […]

Investing in life sciences R&D by design

Issues facing the global community have also spurred innovation in life sciences. Research in areas like agriculture technology and virology could help address some of the challenges wrought by climate change, which, as Freeman asserts, directly contribute to global instability. “The big flashpoints geopolitically in the next few years are probably going to be around […]

Innovation in the space industry takes off

Space technologies are taking off in the UK, alongside other emerging technologies like quantum computing. “I don’t think there’s a way we can do comprehensive space research and travel, if you like, without quantum technology,” explains Simon Phillips, chief technology officer at Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC). “It’s just too much to calculate.”   “I think […]

The Download: the battle for satellite internet, and detecting biased AI

What’s coming: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are about to lock horns once again. Last month, the US Federal Communications Commission approved the final aspects of Project Kuiper, Amazon’s effort to deliver high-speed internet access from space. In May, the company will test its satellites in an effort to take on SpaceX’s own venture, Starlink, […]

Taking stock of our climate past, present, and future

Before you say anything, I do know that it is, in fact, nearly April. But this week has the distinct feeling of a sort of climate change New Year’s to me. Not only is it the spring equinox this week, which is celebrated as the new year in some cultures (Happy Nowruz!), but we also […]