Wellington’s burgeoning digital sector is a major contributor to the region’s economy, and yet it flies under the radar compared to other key sectors such as film and tourism, a Victoria University of Wellington report has found.
Students from Victoria’s School of Management interviewed 140 business owners, managers and employees from 50 Wellington digital companies late last year.
The results, detailed in the report ‘Wellington’s digital sector – growing under the radar’, were released to 150 industry professionals at the University yesterday.
Project leader Dr Richard Norman, from Victoria’s School of Management, says Wellington’s digital sector is a major success story of the last decade and the report explores challenges faced by companies in the sector in attracting, retaining and developing staff.
“The pioneers of Wellington’s digital sector, Trade Me, Xero and Datacom, have been joined by 400 to 500 smaller companies during the last 10 years. More than 20,000 people, or 10 percent of the region’s work force, are in digital sector roles in these companies and within larger public and private organisations. It’s a sizeable part of the workforce, but the public has barely heard of them,” he says.
Work classified as Information, Media and Telecommunications contributes 6 percent to the region’s GDP, and Professional Scientific and Technical Services 10.7 percent. By contrast, tourism, which has been a highly visible growth area of the past decade, contributes just 2.9 percent to Wellington’s GDP.
Dr Norman says the digital sector’s low profile is largely because it operates on a business-to-business model, focuses on niche markets and has a predominantly international client base.
“For some in the industry, it’s a cause of frustration. They feel Wellington as a digitally creative centre is too much of a secret. The report identifies some of the challenges of being nearly invisible to the public, one of which is recruitment. Companies are increasingly recruiting internationally,” he says.
The report showed that overall interviewees felt positive about further growing Wellington’s digital sector and the potential to develop an international reputation as a leading creative city.
Many interviewees commented on characteristics unique to Wellington that have helped cultivate the sector. For example, many praised the city’s compact size and its strong emphasis on networking and collaboration, which put professional relationships at the forefront of business.
One interviewee commented on Wellington’s size where it’s “much easier to maintain networks … So I think encouraging our staff to get out and walk around is important. How we do social events and catch ups down here is completely different to Auckland.”
The full report ‘Wellington’s digital sector – growing under the radar’ is available online.