It’s time for CHCH to ring in the new year with a new approach on technology & innovation. Web3 & AI are about to steamroll industries in a wave of innovation and the adoption uptake is going to be faster than any technology uptake anyone has ever seen. Recently a new AI called “Chat GPT” came out and the uptake has been cataclysmic to say the least, it saw 1 million sign ups in just 5 days, to put it into perspective it took Twitter 24 months & Facebook 10 months to achieve their first 1 million users.
As a city, it’s important for Christchurch to embrace these new technologies and find ways to integrate them into our daily lives. By doing so, we can not only improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our daily tasks, but we can also position ourselves at the forefront of the tech industry and attract top talent and businesses to the region.
The adoption of Web3 and AI is a major opportunity for Canterbury businesses to position themselves a step ahead of the rest of New Zealand, and we aren’t just talking about tech businesses because in time all businesses will adopt it. By embracing these technologies and finding ways to integrate them into our daily lives, we can drive innovation and attract top talent and businesses to the region. One way that Christchurch could embrace these technologies is with the creation of a dedicated AI & Web3 tech hub.
AI & Web3 is going to be a fastly evolving field over the next few years and if we are smart enough to implement a footprint into the tech landscape we could easily become the new tech capital of New Zealand. Because we are about to see a massive amount of companies adopting this technology we are also going to see a huge amount of startups & small businesses catering to the new demand. It’s possible to create a dedicated Web3 & AI hub without all that much funding; with a few anchor tenants and a handful of EOI’s (expressions of interest) we could see this become a reality before the end of the year. We aren’t talking about building a dedicated building, instead we would find a large empty shell of a building and adapt it to work.
I envisage a large coworking environment that is specifically designed for small businesses with a core focus on new and innovative tech integration. Ideally a few larger key tenants will cover the ongoing cost of the premises with enough space in the premises for people to expand their footprint as their companies slowly grow. Ideally even the key tenants will have fewer than 20 full time employees onsite. Footprints and headcounts for companies would be capped and a maximum length lease could be enforced to encourage a healthy turnover of new tenants and startups. Hopefully it would be a place where companies outgrow the facilities themselves and start looking for their own dedicated premises but this hub gives companies the ability to have flexibility and certainty that they have a space for about half a decade before they are expected to relocate.
The average company in NZ has 4.4 staff and 97% of businesses have fewer than 20. The idea is to provide these smaller startups with what they need while keeping the overheads low. Many companies struggle in the early days and it’s no wonder why a large portion of startups fail. If we could help them with what they need by giving them access to resources and connections it will help Canterbury as a whole. Maybe make it so founders would have free access to the facilities and hotdesking for 3+ months or until they hire their first employee, after that they can start paying rent for a dedicated desk or as their team grows they could have dedicated office space.
With Web3 & AI all in one location it would allow a better collaboration across different sectors and existing organisations. It would be the ideal starting point for anyone who is looking at the technology. A revolving roster could have someone at the front counter answering the phone and greeting people as they enter the building to help answer their questions or point them in the right direction. There could be weekly events including awareness, education, recruitment, integration, startups, business and promotions. Overall a community lead approach to help small businesses & startups grow and innovate together.
So what are your thoughts? Would you be interested to back such a hub?
