In this episode I'm joined by Leon Gurevitch - an Associate Professor at Wellington’s Victoria University in their Design school. Leon’s research focuses on global creative industries, innovation and transformative technologies.

Recorded late last year - it is a discussion that really couldn’t be more on point for today. Particularly, as the national discussion focuses on restarting the economy and taking the opportunity to reset and rethink what we want our post-COVID world and post-COVID New Zealand to look like.

It is quite a wide ranging chat where we look at encouraging experimentation, what is innovation, the importance of R&D spend to attracting highly qualified international talent, the opportunity that World War two presented to put aside conservatism and the barriers to innovation, and the kind of policy settings that have been helpful elsewhere in the world.

Leon has researched closely Weta Digital and other global digital workshops - so the discussion is often through the case study of Weta and the lessons or insights we can take from this example.

Guest bios:

  • Leon Gurevitch: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/design-innovation/about/staff/leon-gurevitch

For comments and feedback:

  • Email: thefridaydownload@nzuscouncil.org
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  • Website: nzuscouncil.org

Credits – opening and closing music:

  • Happy Boy Theme Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
  • Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
  • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

About the NZUS Council

Established in 2001, we are a non-partisan, non-government organisation focused on advancing New Zealand’s interests in a strong bilateral relationship with the US.