Doctor sticks to script to create world class hospital

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This vision has been driven by Dr Colin Hutchison, who will be joined by local surgeons and local investors in creating a state of the art world class hospital. Kaweka Hospital’s stage 1 will open in July in Canning Road, Hastings and is expected to undertake 5000 operations a year. Stage 2 is also under construction and is set to open in December 2024.

What’s your career background?

I trained as a doctor in the UK initially starting my career in adult medicine. I then spent five years doing research in new technologies to treat people with kidney failure before moving to Hawke’s Bay to be the region’s specialist kidney doctor. From that I moved into public healthcare leadership with the Hawke’s Bay DHB, for five years including a year as the Chief Operating Officer.

What was the motivation for moving to New Zealand?

For family reasons. I had spent my childhood in North America and although I enjoyed living and working in the UK, I knew that I wanted to give my own children broader life experiences and we found that Hawke’s Bay was very attractive with the beaches and access to the mountains. I came across a kidney doctor role at the Hawke’s Bay hospital online and the region looked really attractive, so we came to give it a go.

What was the inspiration for establishing a new hospital?

At the moment in New Zealand there is a lack of healthcare facilities and this causes challenges for senior doctors who want to provide really good care for their patients. Therefore as a group of senior doctors in Hawke’s Bay we thought outside of the box to solve the problem. Over the course of the last couple of years we have designed and raised money to build a new private hospital. Although the vision has been forming over many years, we really got going on the project in 2019.

What suite of services will the new hospital offer?

Our first stage will offer elective surgery and will have four operating theatres in which we aim to do about 5000 operations a year. We will provide a broad mix of surgical disciplines including general surgery, urology, ENT and gynaecology. We want to deliver a new way of surgical care. Presently a lot of healthcare consumers are disempowered and don’t get a good healthcare experience. One of the reasons for this is that healthcare organisations are quite old and have facilities that are run down.

At Kaweka they will be cared for in a state of the art, modern healthcare facility. Our Hospital will be the first 4 star, Green Star Healthcare facility in Hawke’s Bay and the most earthquake secure building. We aim to create a warm healing environment for all of our patients and a great place for our staff to work. Our staff have been recruited because they have real passion for caring for patients and that is from our doctors and nurses through to our support staff and management team. They are all dedicated to giving a first class health experience and raising the bar for healthcare in Hawke’s Bay.

How does private and public health sector work together?

I really see that the private sector is here to support the public sector. The public sector provides the bulk of healthcare in New Zealand and always will, but they only have so many resources at any given time and as a private partner to the DHB we are here to support them and help them deliver elective surgery.

How did the name Kaweka Hospital come about?

We did some brainstorming with a really creative design team. Our aim was to have a name that represented the fact as an organisation we were “from the people of Hawke’s Bay for the people of Hawke’s Bay”.

We looked at natural landscapes and when you look out west you see the Kaweka Ranges rising high above and cradling the region and protecting it from the elements. This was our inspiration. We partnered with Architecture HDT who have used the Kaweka Ranges as a strong influence on the architectural design of the hospital. We are very grateful to Ngati Kahungunu for approving our use of the name.

This is a private entity establishing Kaweka – how did it you approach getting local investors interested?

Most hospitals are part of larger organisations now and as consequence a majority of NZ hospitals are not owned by New Zealanders anymore. This means there is a lack of local decision making and direction. Our surgeons and anaesthetists wanted to guide this project for the future of Hawke’s Bay and that is easier by keeping the hospital in local ownership and governance.

So we now have some incredible Hawke’s Bay families that have invested and are supporting the hospital.

How do you see Kaweka Hospital evolving over the next decade?

Healthcare needs in New Zealand will grow immensely over the next few years as our population ages and unfortunately we have a population that has many health problems. Kaweka is in a great position to react quickly to the needs in our community and in our Stage 2 facility, which is underway and expected to be completed by the end of 2024, we will add a new radiology suite with MRI, CT and Breast imaging, a new cardiac catheterization laboratory in a 6000 m2 complex.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

We have had to raise a lot of money and that requires a lot of conversations whether that is with Hawke’ Bay investors or banking partners and that means a lot of people need to understand the project in detail and make sure that we are doing the right thing for Hawke’s Bay. We have to show that we have a sound financial structure and good governance around us.

You were already busy before taking on a project of this scale – how have you managed this?

I have had to step back from clinical medicine over the last few years. Most doctors work fulltime either private or public and I have dropped a lot of my clinical hours in the last two years to make this possible but I also love surrounding myself with really good people and I have an amazing team at Kaweka, which certainly does lighten the workload.

Do you have any other projects underway?

I’m really pleased to just announce a collaboration with surgeons in Palmerston North to help them build a new hospital, which will complement Kaweka.

What are the selling points in trying to recruit and attract new staff to Hawke’s Bay?

The selling points are having really great facilities to live and work in. Surgeons spend 15 plus years training so they want to work in an environment that makes it easier for them to perform their skills. We will surround our surgeons with confident support staff and the best of modern technology.

Hawke’s Bay offers an awesome lifestyle, great schools, easy access to the outdoors, which when you come from a city in the UK, like I do it is a very attractive place to live. But to attract the best doctors and nurses to Hawke’s Bay we also have to have a great medical environment, so if we can provide that and then showcase the lifestyle, we are on to a winner.

What do you do in your spare time?

We have a young family and we really enjoy getting out and about in the Bay. In the winter we ski and the summer we love the beach and an ocean swim.

Hawke’s Bay Airport announces partnership with Trustpower for solar farm development

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Hawke’s Bay Airport today announced that it has entered into a partnership with Trustpower Ltd as part of the proposed commercial solar farm development to be built on land adjacent to the runway. The partnership will allow the development to move to the next phase, which will involve community consultation and seeking resource consent for the construction and operation of the farm.

Upon completion of the sale of its multi-utility retail business, Trustpower will be rebranded Manawa Energy, and will be New Zealand’s largest independent electricity generator and renewables developer, representing around 5% of New Zealand’s existing generation capacity. The airport development will be Trustpower’s first solar energy project, and is an example of the partnership approach Manawa Energy will take to funding and developing renewables projects in New Zealand.

Chief Executive David Prentice says the partnership with Hawke’s Bay Airport shows the company is making good on its commitment to increasing New Zealand’s renewable generation capacity.

“We are excited to be part of this important development in Hawke’s Bay, and look forward to working with our partners to deliver locally sourced renewable energy to the region” says Prentice.

The airport development will be Trustpower’s second renewables project in the region, after it commissioned the 4-megawatt Esk River Hydro-electric Power Scheme in northern Hawke’s Bay, which has been generating since 2013.

Hawke’s Bay Airport Board Chair Wendie Harvey was thrilled with news of the partnership. “It’s fantastic the solar farm project is going forward with Manawa Energy; a company that understands and is aligned to Hawke’s Bay Airport’s commitment to safeguarding the future and creating the long-term resilience and sustainability of airport land.”

“We can now move ahead with next steps of the project, which will ultimately help us achieve our vision of carbon neutrality by 2030.”

Under the current plans, when complete the solar farm will have 52,000 solar panels capable of generating 24 megawatts of electricity, or 36,000 megawatt hours. The output would be enough to power 5000-6000 households per year.

Making Security awareness a habit

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Looking forward to 2022, we can expect another period of dealing with the invisible and deadly COVID-19 virus. Three years in, it has changed how we live, work and interact with others nationally and globally. We have trained ourselves to keep to our one-metre distance in public places, wash our hands thoroughly, and use sanitisers.

We wear masks and use technology to track our activity in case of possible exposure and communicate sites of interest, more recently, as a vaccine pass. It’s true to say that these measures have worked, and it is also true that we will have these methods at the ready once we get past this season of the disease and see another pandemic coming our way. But, as much as it has disrupted our personal lives, it has also affected our businesses. It has upset inbound and outbound global supply chains, put burdens on hospitality, increased remote working from home (turning our homes and lives on end), and meant meeting online at all hours of the day and night, not to mention reading and responding to more emails than we would like to.

And that has also seen us come across an increase in other invisible, deadly killers to business- forms of malware, delivered primarily via email phishing to unsuspecting individuals or vulnerabilities to weak and underperforming technologies. So for every notable reported attack (the NZX in 2020 and the Waikato DHB in 2021, for example), there are an untold number of those that go unrecognized and unreported.

All of the cybersecurity predictions for 2022 and beyond are pretty much alike- expect more, expect worse, and expect harsher damages from attacks. We will see an increase in ransomware and attacks against mobile and IoT devices, a rise in frequency, and sophisticated methods of avoiding detection.

What can you do?

An Information Security Management System (ISMS) is not just an assortment of technology; it is the collective series of methods that a company employs to achieve their cybersecurity goals. Most companies have some form of implementation (or parts thereof) but different requirements and ways to achieve them, typically letting them down. Here are four common suggestions and steps for every business in 2022:

  1. Conduct a Cybersecurity Assessment

I hear a lot of, “We don’t know what we don’t know,” and that is precisely what hackers exploit. An audit performed by an independent cybersecurity professional outside of your organisation or service provider will ensure an evidence-based, impartial review, define gaps, and make appropriate recommendations and is well worth the cost. You wouldn’t let your accounting department do your financial audit, and you should look outside for your cybersecurity review.

  1. Understand and incorporate good governance

The NZ Privacy Commissioner revised the Privacy Act of 2020. It has new rules and penalties around digital information and for failure to recognise and protect the privacy of your stakeholders.

They have a free short 30-minute e-Learning course that will help you and your employees get to know the regulation. Combined with appropriate policies and procedures, they set the tone that management takes the security of the business seriously, thereby protecting the needs of all employees, suppliers, and customers.

  1. Apply 3 pillars for protection

There are three foundational pillars to cyber protection that every business and individual should take to defend themselves against harmful threats; training (securing people), email filtering (securing communications), and deploying next-generation Antivirus (securing technology). These three methods are similar to the preventive measures we apply to COVID-19. Individually, they won’t prevent an attack, but together, they help reduce the risk and damage from one.

  1. Stay aware.

CERTNZ, SecurityBrief NZ, and other security bulletin websites can provide knowledgeable, timely information about what is happening in New Zealand. Just ten minutes a day is all it takes to stay ahead of the game.

Unlike COVID, threats from cybersecurity attacks will never go away, and like COVID, everyone is a target. So vigilance and resilience are our number one defence, and the approach to taking it seriously now and every day is the only way to guarantee your cybersecurity looking forward.

The Employee Experience – Now is the time

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A tight labour market, closed borders and now The Great Resignation (a term used to describe an unexpected side effect of the pandemic, where people are rethinking how to live their lives and what type of meaning and purpose they want out of work and life), the task of finding and keeping talent needed to operate in business right now is an overwhelming challenge.

Many employers either don’t know how to tackle the situation or have been distracted by other challenges the pandemic has posed, but now more than ever, employers have a unique opportunity to think more strategically about their people and attract and retain the talent they need to create a thriving postpandemic organisation.

Leadership with a Difference

To lead well during these times is not easy and requires some real thought to get it right. It requires re-imagining how you – the employer, lead and develop others, how you create strong teams, how you communicate and how you develop a positive workplace culture.

Employees are tired and they are looking for a revised sense of meaning and purpose and this requires great leadership. Be conscious about setting in place a vision of what you are trying to achieve and align everyday work to the vision and purpose. All work can be meaningful. Reframe tasks to connect to the larger purpose (remember the NASA janitor who, when asked, “what do you do?” answered “helping put a man on the moon”). Does it mean your people need a ‘calling’? No. But you can establish meaning by setting the vision, telling your story, and making the connection for them. Know what you stand for as an organisation (your values) and double down on culture.

What’s your EVP? Know your Employee Value Proposition.

Genuinely ask the question “Why would I work for your company instead of elsewhere?”. Understand what your employees are running from and what they gravitate to. Gain information from them – ask them – and utilise information sources such as exit interviews (best done by an independent party). There can be a lot of things at play here – remuneration yes, but also meaning, impact, job content, development opportunities, culture, team and life balance.

Employee Experience

Take time to consider the key touchpoints in your employees’ ‘lifecycle’ – these are the human aspects of work that can make a big difference and includes people processes such as:

  • Hiring
  • Onboarding
  • Development
  • Reward and recognition
  • Exit

Look at the social and interpersonal connections both spontaneous and formal to develop a sense of community. Review communication effectiveness and set in place meaningful interactions, not just transactions. Meetings are a classic connection point – when done correctly they pose an opportunity; know their purpose and do them well. Take a conscious look at how you engage your people, how can you enhance wellbeing and build a sense of team and create a strong organisational culture?

Time and again, engagement surveys show that staff development is a priority, so put in place development plans and mentoring programmes.

A Flexible Working Model

From an attraction and retention perspective, flexibility is a key selling point. Redesigning your work model is better than watching your investment walk out the door. Employees are looking for greater flexibility. A willingness to accept employees’ commitments and ensure they feel supported in doing what is important in their lives, will help employees feel strongly about their commitment to the organisation. A hybrid work model should be a serious consideration. However, do not underestimate the amount of structure needed for this to work well.

For those who’ve tried this without the right structures in place, it has been a disaster. It needs careful planning and design, an understanding of people’s personal situations and a balance of care that is offset with communicating personal responsibility and productivity along with a focus on outcomes rather than actions. It may also need a re-education of more traditional managers – a remote employee is not automatically less engaged or less communicative – don’t mistake physical presence for loyalty. It also needs the right digital communication platform to act as a main channel where information and conversation is captured for both remote and onsite workers.

My overarching point here is to keep your eye on the ball. Take some time and be strategic and about how things are done and change it up. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

Understand legislation changes to land before acting

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A hot topic for many years has been the house market. Specifically, how the Government has attempted to create affordable housing for those priced out of the market. The most recent of these is the National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 and the proposed repeal and replacement of the Resource Management Act. Hastings and Napier District Councils will be required to review their existing District Plans to determine where and how they can support future housing growth within their regions. Potential changes may provide you with various options for the development of your land which may have been unavailable to you previously. But before rushing out to take advantage of the current market, there are a few matters for you to consider first.

Tax – that old chestnut

There are several possible tax implications when it comes to developing property. The most important consideration is the intent at the time of purchase. Any profits gained from the sale of land that was purchased with the intention to develop and sell will be taxable. Inland Revenue has wide ranging powers to determine the original intent and purpose.

Where a property is bought and sold within 10 years, the development will be subject to tax when the work undertaken is considered ‘more than minor’. Various factors including the time, effort and expense that has occurred in undertaking the development will be considered.

Where property is owned for more than 10 years and then developed, any development will be taxed where there have been significant costs incurred for earthworks, drainage and connection of utilities like power, water and telecommunications.

There is also provision applying to the sale of property within 10 years where the property has been rezoned pursuant to the Resource Management Act. Then there is the overriding bright-line test. This provides for any residential or lifestyle property sold within 10 years to be taxed upon sale, regardless of the original intention when purchased. For properties purchased prior to 27 March 2021, the timeframe is five years.

Land Covenants and how they affect your plans

Land Covenants are agreements that outline resections on how land can be used or developed, the objective being to maintain the quality of a subdivision and the value of the properties within it. Land Covenants are recorded on the Record of Title and pass onto all future landowners. Examples include restrictions on the design of the house, materials that may be used and ongoing maintenance requirements.

One covenant that needs careful review is any clause that may prevent further subdivision. No further subdivision clauses can come in two types – there is the express ‘no further subdivision’ clause and then there are limitations on the number of buildings that may be erected within a defined area.

Land Covenants are private agreements which, provided they do not contravene any local council bylaws, will trump any Council zone definitions for minimum lot size. Councils are

not required to consider any existing private Land Covenants noted on a Record of Title when reviewing any subdivision applications. There have been instances where Councils have issued a Resource Consent allowing a subdivision to proceed, but the owner of the land has been unable to legally subdivide the property due to a no further subdivision clause contained in existing Land Covenants.

Removal of redundant easements

During the planning stage, the removal of redundant easements can have a significant effect in lessening costs and reducing timeframes.

An easement is a right from one landowner to another to use a specified area of land in a specified way. These are generally in the form of rights of way, rights to convey water, electricity, telecommunications, and rights to drain water or sewage.

When a new title is issued, all existing interests on the old title ‘drop down’ onto all new titles. The effect that this sometimes has is that easements are registered over land that has no direct access to the easement area or the right to use the same. This can create issues when it comes to selling the new titles. The most cost and time efficient solution is to ensure all easements are only brought down or registered over the relevant land to be affected. This may require some easements to be fully or partially surrendered as part of the subdivision process.

In other cases, your existing title may already have redundant easements from an earlier subdivision that should really be removed to ‘tidy up’ the title first. Some of the points outlined above may appear complicated and confusing. We are here to help you with all of this and reduce any concerns you may have to ensure you get the most out of your investments and development. Give me a call and I’ll be happy to discuss.

Mega win for local Mitre10 MEGA Trade store

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Mitre 10 MEGA Trade Hastings has taken out the much coveted Mitre 10 MEGA Trade store of the year award for 2021.

Mitre 10 MEGA Trade General Manager Tristan Seccombe says the award win has been something the team has been working on for the last six years and is well deserved and tops off the continued growth in market share for both the Hastings and Napier stores.

“We have worked very hard to be the building supplies provider of choice for many building and trade businesses across Hawke’s Bay and the award recognition is something we are all very proud of.”

Tristan says the two Hawke’s Bay Mitre 10 MEGA Trade stores have focussed on making it easier for local building firms, investing in back-end systems that streamlines ordering building materials.

He adds that a key point of difference with Mitre 10 MEGA Trade is being able to supply everything from a ‘buildings foundations to the fence-line.

“We can provide a much wider offering from materials for foundations to kitchens, bathrooms, plants, permanent fencing and everything in between and this appeals to small and large building firms.”

Tristan says an example of the wider service and product offering is winning a tender last year to supply a Recognised Seasonal Worker accommodation complex with everything from building materials right through to beds and linen.

In winning the award local owners Graeme and Stephen Ricketts praised the team for their win.

“We couldn’t be prouder of the teams achievements and they definitely deserve this recognition,” says Graeme Ricketts.

Regional Trade Development Manager Tony Scott  says Mitre 10 MEGA Hastings has raised the bar for the way we service our customers’ needs, at the same time continually looking for new ways to strengthen and grow the relationships they have with their customers.

“Having achieved exponential sales growth in a challenging environment during a timber crisis, the Mitre 10 MEGA Trade team continue to strive for excellence ensuring the customers’ needs and expectations are met every single day.”

Hastings HIVE continues to grow

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The HIVE is growing and is abuzz with a suite of new offices and new coworkers.

Hastings HIVE has just opened its second stage of six office suites ranging in size from four desks up to seven desks.

Already three of the offices have been snapped up by newcomer to Hawke’s Bay in DCA Architects, along with The Lean Hub, who have taken up their own space and the Hastings City Business Association who have relocated within the HIVE.

The area also has a new video conference suite, the first of two within the HIVE, using Logitech 4k Meetup conference equipment with camera/speaker, remote microphone and plug-and-play connectivity for all those Zoom meets.

Hastings HIVE managing director Rob Gill says he and wife Jenny are thrilled to finally open the latest stage which, in normal circumstances, they had hoped may have been a bit earlier, but COVID-19 lockdowns in March 2020 and 2021 delayed both customer uptake and, to a degree, construction.

However, Rob does see a silver lining .The HIVE is buzzing with over 20 small to medium sized businesses in residence, and there’s strong interest from businesses looking for greater flexibility with none of the usual tenancy commitments.

National firms such as engineering consultants BECA and construction firm Apollo Projects have set up at the HIVE alongside thriving local businesses such as new i-office customer The Lean Hub.

“Businesses like the flexible terms, as well as the ability to upscale to a larger office when they grow, or downsize if needed due to a change in circumstances. COVID has really highlighted the need for businesses to have greater control of their fixed costs and future cost commitments.

“We offer a shared working space that provides businesses with a corporate environment in quality offices, with generous meeting rooms, guest lobby, luxurious bathrooms and fast fibre connectivity, as well as a café area and free espresso coffee!”

As well as opening stage 2, Hastings HIVE has launched their premium i-desks in the shared co-working area featuring electrically operable worktops to sit or stand at.

Already four out of six premium i-desks have been snapped up and Rob says they are likely to add more as they are proving popular with the likes of new coworker William Horvath, of insurance brokering firm ICIB, enjoying this capability.

William told The Profit, “A coworking desk is a great place to start for us as we establish ourselves in Hawke’s Bay. We aim to grow our business with more people and the HIVE gives us the opportunity to manage this incrementally.

Redesigning the way we work

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COVID-19 has, in many respects, fast-forwarded changes that had been occurring slowly for years — it’s a big impact change that provided a platform to create a true shift in the way many businesses operate.  We have seen the signposting for this change cycle of increased business flexibility via the rapid escalation and uptake of cloud based products such as Xero and the growth of remote operating systems such as wireless and mobile operated POS systems. 

Below are 3 key issues every business needs to be aware of when taking into account this ever changing business landscape we are continuing to see in 2021 and will undoubtedly continue to operate in for the foreseeable future.

1.  A deliberate focus

We are starting to see accelerated change in focussing on tackling business challenges  of the future now — signifying that business owners are proactively addressing necessary change demanded by a range of factors.

This is not just about focusing on one aspect of an organisation’s culture such as values on a wall — rather, it is being deliberate in designing and building the culture and direction for an organisation, from elements of risk, through to innovation, customer satisfaction, employee wellbeing and beyond.

The common thread is the need for an agile mindset. Businesses that adapt to a changed situation quickly, even without the full picture, prove to be more resilient, and businesses are more likely to perform positively and proactively if you have already adopted a ‘risk-welcoming’ attitude.

Developing this mindset isn’t easy, because a more conservative approach is often more comfortable. Before taking the next step, leaders often seek clarity on the problems they are facing. But considering the longevity of this pandemic, clarity is likely to be a long way off, and waiting for information is more of a risk than making quick decisions with incomplete information. “The art of the unknown” is the skill of wading out into uncharted waters and being decisive in the face of uncertainty.

2.  Redefining flexibility

We are now looking at the workforce of the future. In this future we are finding market forces and employee expectations are driving organisations to think about the ways they will need to operate in the future in order to maintain any kind of competitive edge. More and more employees have expectations of flexibility when seeking employment and are looking for organisations to deliver on this.

Another aspect of flexibility in the workplace, is that businesses are also now expecting this from other organisations that they interact with.  Post 2020 lockdown, consumers and business to business operators largely expect organisations to be able to remain operating in some capacity and to still meet their business obligations.  Government restrictions aside, if it is possible for your business to operate, there is a waning sense of understanding if the necessary plans have not been put into place by now.  As part of this plan, organisations need to deliberately look at what elements of the work-from-home experience they need to put in place, want to retain, and how they will shift and grow their approach to flexible work in the future.

3.  Creating a symbiotic relationship

Originally wellbeing was led from a compliance perspective — based on the concept of ensuring the physical safety of staff as they worked on the company premises. Gradually it became program based, focused on ‘how do we provide Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services, or wellbeing programs that provide support to employees beyond their immediate physical safety?’ Now the shift is in how we design the way we work to incorporate the whole sense of wellbeing for employees. It is an acknowledgment that when employees feel that their wellbeing is prioritised and accommodated for by their employer, that employee is willing to step up and be a full contributing team member when the organisation needs it the most — developing a true symbiotic relationship.  It is considering how work needs to be performed, what work is essential in times of upheaval and how we consider the needs of individuals in designing work elements and integrating wellbeing into the way we work.

Recent changes to the way we work have been driven by large-scale events, changing attitudes and social pressure for demonstrated accountability — forcing organisations to redesign workforces that are centred on deliberate design and requiring a new set of skills and effective change management.  Being able to provide your staff with the ability to (where possible) work remotely as well as providing wellbeing and equality policies is no longer a perk of your offer of employment but an essential element of your business plan.  In today’s business landscape just having these policies in place is not enough. Your businesses ability to thrive in the unknown often directly relies on its people and their willingness to strive for mutual success — both for the individual and the organisation.  For many organisations, the process of changing quickly and decisively can feel like too big a problem to face, but organisations who get this right are recognising that it pays dividends in staff satisfaction, customer retention, revenue, and  growth — which all lead to bottom line performance.

Digital display screens make big impression

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Different types of digital displays are all around us, and both getting bigger (billboards) and smaller (watches).  This technology is unavoidable, and although it looks to be changing and growing fast, it may not be as more significant change as we would expect.  Before we see where we are going, let’s first take a look at where we have come from.

Virtual Reality has been around for over 100 years, and many of us know an early form of this in the View-Master toys that we had as kids.  As digital tech started taking over, and all the toys needed batteries, this type of VR almost disappeared.  Fast forward to the early 2010s and VR began to take off in new ways.  Now we can make a mount for our phones out of cardboard and use these for our own VR experience at home.

If we look at the iPad, this seems like a standard and very normal touch screen tech that came quickly and hasn’t left.  But let us not forget the tablets that came before this.  Some of you may remember the old flip tablet/laptops with Windows XP or even going back as far as Windows 3.1.  They were clunky, expensive, not very user friendly, and you had to use a stylus.

Then came along the iPad in 2010 with its sleek design, and we could throw away that frustrating stylus. While all the above was going on, classrooms had moved from blackboard to whiteboards, and some even used projectors on the whiteboard to display content from computers.

The incorporation of computers and whiteboards has been a goal of many for over ten years. In the early days, it was again clunky, expensive, and not user friendly.  Now, with help from Covid, video conferencing using apps like MicrosoftTeams or Zoom are very mainstream.

By using an interactive whiteboard, with a good camera, speaker and mic, a boardroom now allows businesses to connect and meet between cities or even countries without the expensive cost of travel.  Engineers can work on designs together, management can work through board papers and mark up changes or suggest adjustments required, and suppliers from across the globe can meet you in your own business and bring expertise otherwise inaccessible due to distance.

With other advances in tech, like IoT (Internet of Things), ML (Machine Learning), and AI (Artificial Intelligence), this allows for displays to be much more informative and valuable to businesses and their customers.

For example, you are heading to the Airport, IoT and AI knows that parking sections A, B and D are almost full, so a sign directs you to either C or E parking sections.  When you are going to check in your bags, IoT ML and AI can know how much luggage needs to be checked-in in each line and can estimate the length of time-based on past history.

The digital displays can then guide you to the quickest line.  At the café, instead of staff handwriting, the labels and prices of everything on the display cabinet, the glass of the display cabinet could be a transparent digital display and show you the price and the wait time for that tasty cheese scone.  And when the last scone is taken, the price and description automatically disappear.

With a world that is getting physically bigger (due to travel restrictions) but digitally smaller, other technology like AR (Augmented Reality) will likely become more critical. AR is already here, and most of us have heard of games like Pokemon Go, it was a big hit in 2016 but has disappeared from our focus.  Some local businesses are already using AR today.

I don’t expect to see considerable changes in digital display technology, but bigger changing in its integration with other technologies, whether mobile, IoT, ML, or AI, and it will change the way we use digital display and the value we place on them.

Who’s responsible/ The uncertainty of business liability when a cyber attack strikes

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As technology continues to dominate everyday activity, the risk of cyber-attacks occurring also increases. Businesses, irrespective of their size, are becoming more vulnerable to the menace of cyber-attacks. Ransomware, malware, and broad sweeping data breaches are only a handful of the growing categories of cyber-attacks prevalent in today’s market.

As the threat rises, questions of business liability because of an attack on client data remain unanswered. However, the responsibility to protect client data falls on the business itself. But how can that be? Do we not consider the exploitation of the business itself as the victim of the unlawful act of an internet stranger? Unfortunately, this may not be the case and businesses can be left exposed to the possibility of being held liable in law.   

The vigorous pace in which cyber-attacks have matured means that the law of business liability in this area remains unclear. How might New Zealand businesses be held liable in law when a cyber-attack strikes?

The cyber-attack on the Waikato District Health Board (DHB) in May of this year provides some insight. The malware attack on the DHB’s IT system saw the publishing of confidential patient information on the dark web, including bank details and passports. Privacy Commissioner John Edwards explained that the DHB may be at risk of claims against it if patients could establish harm resulting from the breach.

In his statement, Edwards confirmed that the responsibility of mitigating the harm of cyber-attacks on patient information fell on the DHB, explaining that an onus fell on the DHB to secure the data and communicate the privacy breach with the victims of the attack. In labelling the patients of this attack as “victims”, Edwards highlighted the seriousness of cyber security breaches.

The liability alluded to by the Privacy Commissioner is that of negligence. Businesses owe duty of care to their clients that their information will be securely held, and liability can arise when clients become the victims of cybersecurity breaches.

For businesses, preparation is everything. To ensure you are protected from the possibility of breaching your duty of care owed to your clients, preventative action needs to be taken to mitigate business liability.

One option available to businesses is inserting effective exclusionary clauses in your terms of trade. An exclusionary clause operates to protect businesses by excluding liability in the instance of a situation ordinarily considered a breach, and the clause should afford the business some protection against claims of liability in the event of a cyber-attack.

What constitutes a valid exclusionary clause is governed by the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 and the discretion of Judges in court proceedings. For businesses who have already entered contracts with clients, exclusionary clauses may still be incorporated, however, an incorporated exclusionary clause must comply with the rules prescribed in law. It is therefore critical that in drafting exclusionary clauses businesses seek expert legal advice.

The rapid expansion of technology has brought many positive impacts on businesses with it. However, as cyber-attacks continue to increase in our developing technological environments, business data becomes increasingly susceptible to exploitation. Now is the time to take preventative action and protect businesses from the uncertain liability that may attach to the offending of another.