Marian Johnson: The Influencers
March was a month of total gratitude for our fellow citizens who, once again, pulled together and looked after one another. The whole world has taken note of the power love can wield against fear and hatred. Let’s hope humankind can carry on down this path.
The team at Ministry of Awesome (MoA) celebrated the early days of March with the launch of the NZ Aerospace Challenge driven by Airbus, MBIE, ChristchurchNZ, Blinc Innovation, and Spacebase. The purpose of the competition is to use space technology for innovation in agritech. We are fortunate to have Emmeline and Eric Dahlstrom, Spacebase founders and space technology pioneers, here in Christchurch as guides for the duration of the competition.
March also marked the launch of the 2019 EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards (EoY) – the most prestigious business awards in the world. The launch took place at MoAs new HQ, Te Ōhaka – Centre for Growth and Innovation. It was wonderful to see so many potential future winners in the room – all from Ōtautahi.
Another March highlight was a visit to AI Day in Auckland. Most attendees were thrilled and concerned in equal measure at the developments that have taken place in the field of artificial intelligence in only a few short years. It’s clear that the coming impact of AI on our world is enormous and we must prepare to harness AI for positive world impact.
