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Chairman's
report for the Eight months to the Year ended 30 June
2003
Since our AGM in October, the software industry in Canterbury has made significant progress and CSI has been proud to have been one of the organisations which has contributed to this progress. We have not only talked about doing things, we have done them and are recognised as the most active and influential cluster in the software sector. CSI is made up of individuals representing software and software services companies both large and small. Our objective is to provide activities which assist all member organisations to gain the skills and initiatives to grow and prosper, especially in regards to their export potential. Over the past 8 months since our inaugural AGM, I have been grateful for the huge amount of work put in by all members of your new formally elected committee. We ran workshops to teach the skills of managing tax, collaborating with partners, and getting funding. Our activities included individual company mentoring, the weekly BBQs, the monthly Elevator Cafes, the weekly Hyperlink News, and frequent representations to government, education and industry initiatives. All been of great success and looking forward, we have 6 or 7 activities planned for each month. You as members have been given new skills, obtained focus, and networked with other software industry professionals. We hope you and your businesses all received benefit from this. So how do we measure CSI success??? We look at the deals which you, our members have won. We add the improvements you have made to your focus, profitability and effective marketing strategies. We look at the impact you are making in the local and international market - the way you present yourselves as professionals with a purpose. Our relationship with the Canterbury Development Corporation continues to strengthen and we are grateful to them for their support in the provision of facilities, mentoring services, workshops, and finance, plus also for their assistance in helping us to employ a part time facilitator, James Saruchera, to enable us to further extend our volunteer services. Our special thanks also go to Steve Hampson at the Canterbury Innovation Incubator, the unofficial bricks and mortar home of CSI where we are always welcomed with a warm heater and a smile from him and his team. Trade New Zealand and Industry New Zealand have both been of great assistance to CSI providing finance, facilities, initiatives and communications to other software organisations and growth initiatives both inside and outside of New Zealand. But its a two way street where we have seen CSI representatives active speaking at many invited forums assisting them find focus and direction in their sphere of the software industry and adding value by presenting material first delivered at CSI workshops. A special thanks to the team at SPIS who maintain and enhance our website, enabling us to communicate fully with you our members and provide the interchange that is so much required for a successful cluster. And also thanks to Carol Webb of WebbWords who researches our software industry success stories and provides a raft of technical tips and marketing information for the benefit of our members. Finally, thanks to you, as a member of Canterbury Software, for helping others in the cluster with your support, advice, services, and encouragement. These elements are all required for our industry to grow and be great. The success of the cluster is collectively about the sum of what we all do, and we are succeeding. Keith Cowan Chairperson
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