Leading speakers from industry include Sean Simpson, LanzaTech founder and CEO; Will Barker, founder and CEO of Mint Innovation; and Page Crahan, general manager of Tapestry, X’s (formerly known as Google X’s) moonshot for the electric grid.
Key speakers from the not-for-profit or public sectors include Matt Petersen, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI); Rod Carr, chair of He Pou a Rangi | ClimateChange Commission; and Cristiano Marantes, CEO of Ara Ake, New Zealand’s Future Energy Centre.
Speakers from research organisations, which play an important role in advancing and commercialising knowledge, include University of Auckland Professor Christine Woods, who is Theresa Gattung Chair for Women in Entrepreneurship and part of the directing team at The Icehouse; Daniel Hikuroa, who is an Earth systems scientist and senior lecturer in Māori Studies also at Waipapa Taumata Rau; Will Charles, UniServices executive director of commercialisation; and Luke Taylor, commercialisation manager for Otago Innovation Ltd.
Manutaki Whanaketanga Umanga Māori | Māori Business Development Director Dion Peita of UniServices will host a discussion on Indigenous innovation, which will consider how to value and protect knowledge systems, how to create culturally safe pathways for innovation and commercialisation and highlight some exemplar Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs.
“A Māori perspective places the greatest importance on tāngata (people) and the whenua (land),” said Peita.
The conference will include panel discussions, thematic interactive workshops and networking events where innovators and entrepreneurs will showcase and discuss their technologies. There will be the opportunity to build long-term networks and even invest. To learn more or register, visit blueandgreentech.co.nz.
