In my work at Jack Yan & Associates, I came across a company called Nanosolar, which, according to our description, ‘is poised to mainstream the idea by printing solar cells, rather than use conventional silicon cells.’ Without getting into the technical stuff, I believe our city should lead the way in sustainable energy such as solar power. If the city can help drive prices for solar cells down by adopting them on a wider basis, then it will help everyday Wellingtonians meet their electrical needs without hurting their wallets quite as much. And allow Wellington to be the envy of other capital cities. At the very least, we need to examine the implications here, rather than have steep power bills that do not help ordinary Kiwi families.

electricity · Environment · green movement · Jack Yan · Nanosolar · solar cells · solar energy · solar power · sustainability · technology · Wellington · Whanganui-a-Tara

The more I consider this site, the more I wonder why Wellington does not already have one that puts policies out to the people, allows feedback, and helps the Council with decision-making. (I realize there are great Wellington blogs out there—what I mean specifically is one set up by the city.) While I know there’s a tendency for blogs to attract some of the more extreme views—I have been blogging since 2003 and have seen the decline into mud-slinging in some quarters—the city needs something like this.
   While Wellington is one of the few places where you can check the government value of your home online, we need to build on this, and let people have a real voice. Transparency and even more representative democracy should be things we demand of our city. And we can use technology to get them.

Aotearoa · blogging · blogs · democracy · internet · New Zealand · representation · transparency · website · Wellington · Whanganui-a-Tara

In 1989, I signed up to Kosmos, the Wellington City Council’s email service. WCC, as far as I can remember, wanted to lead the way in becoming a wired capital, and offered free email to those who signed up. It was my first email account.
   It strikes me that we have lagged behind somewhat, although Wellingtonians, by nature, are very creative. In fact, that’s one thing that sets this city apart: our innovation and our spirit of independent, individualistic thinking. Sure we are the political capital, which implies only incremental thinking; perhaps as a counter to this, the rest of us seem to like thinking outside the square.
   We need a stronger IT strategy again, and that means we need to start looking at how we can get free wifi, with some data caps, in public spaces. That means Civic Square, the City Library, the Art Gallery and those areas should have free wifi for ratepayers. Our tourists should benefit, too, since they’re most likely going to blog or upload things favourable to Wellington.
   This is the creative capital, and programmes to support that should be at the forefront of our strategy.

Aotearoa · computing · creativity · independence · innovation · IT · New Zealand · public spaces · technology · Wellington · Whanganui-a-Tara · wifi

We understand that the Overseas’ Terminal building will become apartments on the upper level, which is fabulous to those who want a waterfront property in a building that was nearly obsolete by the time construction finished in 1964. But Wellington seems to be missing a mid-sized music venue, one around the size of the Terminal. Do we need one, and, if so, where could it be located? And could this help revitalize another part of our city? Your thoughts are welcome.

Aotearoa · arts · culture · entertainment · music · New Zealand · Overseas’ Terminal · Wellington · Whanganui-a-Tara

Older Wellingtonians will remember when there were many head offices in the capital. Now many are in Auckland. However, filling the void are high-tech businesses, spurred in part by the growth of the film industry, and by the internet.
   It’s a good thing to have this growth sector in the capital, but can we do more to help them, especially entrepreneurs who want to set up business here? Is this something the city should be involved in actively assisting, especially as it’s ultimately beneficial to have a vibrant business community—real and virtual?

animation · Business · commerce · entrepreneur · entrepreneurship · high-tech · internet · multimedia · tech sector · Twitter · web development · Wellington · Whanganui-a-Tara

Earlier this year, Wellington City Council was proposing to get rid of the green recycling bins, due to a shortfall in the budget, and replace them with plastic bags. Public outcry and a petition ensured the status quo, and the Council has been forced to look for ways to save money elsewhere.
   It seems a no-brainer to continue the recycling programme rather than use more resources to make plastic bags, or sting Wellingtonians with an extra c. $60 per annum.
   We’d be interested in your comments, and if there are more things we can do with our recycling to become even more environmentally responsible.

Creative Commons photograph by

Environment · green bins · recycling · sustainability · waste · waste management · Wellington · Wellington City Council · Whanganui-a-Tara

I have lived in Wellington for more of my years than any other place. I first arrived in 1976, and have been proud to call it my home. I did virtually all my schooling here, from primary to uni.
   When I started my business in 1987, I have watched companies here go through good and bad times. But in business you can only do so much. More recently, I became interested in seeing what we could do to make and sustain positive change for our city.
   Wellington is already a great city. We have a great cultural core, and a population that cares as much about the meaning in their lives as the quality. But there are a few problems, such as our population growth lagging behind Auckland and Christchurch. And what can we do to encourage and grow business here, without losing our essence?
   Can we grow while being sustainable? What safety issues are there for families living here, and can we make it more accommodating for them? How about our roading and traffic? What about our sporting and recreational venues?
   I set up this blog to find ways we can all explore that. I firmly believe if others around us benefit, we each will, too. I want to hear from you, either through my personal site’s feedback form, or here in the comments, on topics we need to address. We’ve kicked off with a few, and we’ll announce this site with a bit more hoop-la toward the end of 2009.

Aotearoa · arts · Business · commerce · culture · ethics · Family · growth · immigration · Jack Yan · New Zealand · opinion · Politics · prosperity · safety · Security · sports · Wellington · Whanganui-a-Tara

[Cross-posted] The first I ever heard of the Auckland “super-city” proposal was in The New Zealand Herald, after a business trip. It was the main headline of the day. As I boarded the plane, I grabbed the newspaper.
   The headline read something along the lines of, ‘We’re going to be a super-city’.
   When I read the actual article, there was no such move mentioned. In fact, a commission had reported its findings, and the article did not conclude whether Auckland would or would not become a “super-city”, i.e. one where many of its individual councils would be amalgamated into one.
   I wanted to blog this at the time but didn’t think it that vital. After all, it wasn’t as though I was running for mayor of Auckland. As a proud Wellingtonian, the item wasn’t top of my list.
   As legislation has passed making way for the “super-city”, and with Māori groups deeply concerned about representation (given the Treaty of Waitangi’s provisions I can fully see why), it does seem there are a few things that need to be ironed out.
   I remain sceptical. Some feel the amalgamation would make the city less accountable to ratepayers. Some feel that it’s an excuse to sell of Auckland’s assets to foreigners, continuing policies that have not enhanced New Zealand’s industry or society.
   Nearly a year since the Herald article, I am only slightly better informed, but what concerned me was that first piece I read.
   It is nearly never good news if a foreign-owned newspaper reports something as a fait accompli in its headline when the article below it offers nothing to support those words.
   Which made me wonder: what agenda does an Irish–Australian newspaper have in this whole thing?
   If you begin looking at it from that point of view, it gives a little bit more, albeit not much, suspicion to those people who have their doubts about the technocrats.
   Apart from the hikoi and the dull, everyday minutiæ of passing legislation (the latter being something few of us would care about), the negatives have not really been reflected in the media. Māori were painted as undemocratic by the mainstream media, somehow offending PM John Key’s idea of “one person, one vote”, when the real fact is that the Treaty of Waitangi makes certain guarantees over joint sovereignty.
   That issue, I know, opens up another can of worms, which was not the point of this post. But frankly, I don’t think the Māori view, one that concerns all of us, has been fairly represented in the reports I have encountered.
   So we know from the media alone that foreign interests want this “super-city” to go ahead. We know that some local interests do not. And we know the rest of us have a big question mark over what the heck the PM and the ACT Party’s Rodney Hide are on about, because we don’t live in Auckland.
   Now we have the Hon Peter Dunne MP, one of Parliament’s more intelligent members, suggesting Wellington should consider doing something similar.
   I might agree if the motives are to create a city that would be a rival to Auckland and attract investment and jobs.
   Mr Dunne’s stated belief is that having amalgamated councils which had been competing, rather than cooperating, would make sense. In that sense, I agree with him.
   As long as Wellington is not put on the block and the resulting council provides the same, if not better, representation for its citizens.
   Nevertheless, Auckland still gives me some cause for concern. Granted, I am grasping at the tiniest straw here in creating my suspicion. But that straw was in a very large Miller typeface as the Herald’s lead story that day, and on this occasion, I do not think it was sloppy editing that saw such a gulf between headline and copy. Not for the biggest story of the day. There was something more to it. And we should be vigilant, certainly more than I have been, about our biggest city’s affairs.

accountability · Auckland · council · Jack Yan · mainstream media · media · MSM · New Zealand · Peter Dunne · Politics · ratepayers · super-city · Wellington · Whanganui-a-Tara