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Auckland-based company SB2 International Ventures is hoping to facilitate substantial two-way trade with an area of eastern Canada’s “technology triangle” region that houses much of that country’s high-tech industry.

It is working with Enterprise North Shore, whose patch contains one of the largest concentrations of New Zealand high-technology companies. 

The initiative comes from Canadian-born Neil Movold, who when he came here five years ago after marrying a New Zealander noted the disproportionate levels of inventiveness. 

“I set out [with SB2 International Ventures] to establish a fast route to international readiness and success for New Zealand companies trying, in the first instance, to enter and expand their presence in the North American market,” he says. “I want to do my part in showing the world that New Zealand is much more than The Lord of the Rings.”

Both are looking over the US border from Canada to help New Zealand-based enterprises expand into a supportive environment and use that as their base for North American trade.

The high growth Waterloo region, which is less than an hour from Toronto in Ontario on the main route between Canada and the US, is well used to collaboration in the support of enterprise growth and the commercialisation of ideas.  
Waterloo is the birthplace of globally renowned enterprises such as Research in Motion, the largest listed company in Canada and the creator of the Blackberry phone. As a result, Waterloo is often referred to as the second most important high tech city in North America.  

 “The breadth and depth of collaboration is impressive,” says Terry Hoskins, chief executive of Enterprise North Shore. “People have a genuine desire to create and foster enterprise in this economically vibrant and successful part of Canada.”

The Waterloo Research and Technology Park is a focus for ICT enterprises in the region. The Waterloo Accelerator Centre (WAC), located within the park alongside Google, Open Text, RIM and Sybase, is similar in nature to incubators such as the Albany-based Massey e-Centre, which also focuses on the commercialisation of research and the acceleration of enterprise growth, with a strong emphasis around the cultivation of technological entrepreneurship.  

The WAC is connected to the Waterloo region’s world-class tertiary institutions (Waterloo University, Guelph University, Wilfred Laurier University) as well as to government and business. Mr Hoskins says this mirrors the connections Enterprise North Shore has, as the economic development agency for North Shore City, with the council, Massey University, Unitec, AUT and the Massey e-Centre.  

The WAC has a flexible relationship with its tenants, who pay premium rental but include in their tenancy access to support such as training, advisory boards and various other programmes. Criteria for companies who wish to locate in the  WAC include:

• There are no freebies – they have to be able to pay the rent;
• Their business plan must make sense; and 
• They must be mentorable – that is, listen, learn and heed advisers 

High Profile Solutions, a North Shore company that specialises in systems compliance software, is checking out the Waterloo region and the WAC with a view to establishing a base there. 

“The links High Profile will make with the accelerator centre and other organisations in the region will add considerable value to its product,” Mr Hoskins says. “It will also prepare them for future expansion into Asia from New Zealand.” 

Two other features of the Waterloo region that Enterprise North Shore is encouraging local tertiary institutes to explore and adopt are policies on co-operative education and intellectual property.  

Co-operative education involves tertiary institutions working cooperatively with enterprises that employ students and provide opportunities to apply what they learn as they progress throughout the degree process.  

Mr Hoskins says these programmes are prevalent in North America and are more than just “work experience,” as they are woven into the degree structure and learning. The University of Waterloo pioneered co-operative education and has a large, well established co-operative education programme with more than 12,000 students. 

Co-operative students are paid taxable wages during their placements and can largely fund the cost of their education from the proceeds. Students often end up on graduation being employed by enterprises that participate in the programme.
The University of Waterloo’s IP policy means that rights are held directly by those academics, researchers, students and enterprises that create it. It is not shared by the institutions and removes ambiguities about who holds entitlements and provides a free hand to the IP owner to commercialise it as they deem fit.  

“This open attitude, combined with collaboration and Co-op education, is a defining factor of the success of the Waterloo region,” Mr Hoskins says.

ON THE WEB

SB2 InternationalVentures
http://www.sb2ventures.com/

Enterprise North Shore 
www.ens.org.nz

Canada’s Technology Triangle
www.techtriangle.com

Nevil Gibson
The National Business Review