It’s been an insightful incentive for me as I traverse middle age and wonder whether New Zealand’s identity crisis will ever be resolved by trying to become another Ireland, Finland, Singapore or Silicon Valley.

It’s tempting to look to others for clues when successive governments, playing spin-the-bottle with the economy, have undermined our national self-esteem.

Despite the current ‘wave’ of knowledge economy talkfests there’s a sense we’re still adrift in a sea of hyperbole, desperately needing a practical, encompassing vision to steer us away from the rocks.

The decade long push for a marketable hi-tech New Zealand brand emcompassing software, computing, IT, telecommunications, electronics and engineering user groups has failed to ignite leadership.

We want a knowledge economy but make little effort to quantify, define or globally market the fastest growing sector. An arrogant bureaucratic attitude within government, and sectarian thinking across rapidly converging hi-tech industries, obscures our chances of presenting a united front to the world.

We applaud when the latest IT and communications figures show 7 per cent growth to $11 billion for 2000, but forget we still have the lowest proportion of high-tech exports of any developed country.

About 30 companies earn half our foreign exchange with only one in 25 exporting - 95 per cent export less than $5 million a year. Instead of attracting business investment it seems we’re in the midst of a fire sale. Mergers and acquisitions to offshore interests topped $12 billion for 2000 – this year will be worse.

Government asset sales were supposed to pay the bills but as deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton keeps pointing out, we haven't paid our way in the world for 27 consecutive years. Living standards have fallen dramatically and we owe $105 billion ($27,000 per person) because we’ve been living in the past.

We’ve failed to regard industry barons and wealth creators as heroes, despising their fortunes and conveniently forgetting their investment in productive job creating industries.

Craig Heatley founder of Sky TV and one of the countries richest men on his exit warned we lack a national plan for success in the world. He says we need to develop innovation and leadership, offer better tax rates to attract foreign investment and forge stronger links between public and private sectors.

Professor Howard Frederick, head of Unitec’s centre for innovation and entrepreneurship says we’re very good at creating truly novel things, but our entrepreneurial skills need advancing so our inventions can actually reach the marketplace.  

At long last though the government has seconded someone who knows what they’re talking about to champion our ‘knowledge economy’. Following the advocacy work undertaken by the late Trevor Eagle, business entrepreneur Sir Gil Simpson has become our de-facto hi-tech cheerleader. As head of the e-commerce action team (eCat) he believes technological prosperity can only come through a renewed sense of the pioneering spirit with business developing its own vision. Government must simply remove any impediments. 

At law firms, investments banks or hi-tech companies around the world you’ll find a Kiwi somewhere near the top. Nick Bain former head of NZInc and now with the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was told by a Silicon Valley executive: "If you had Indians involved in your organisation at board level 15-years ago it was a sign you were going to be successful. Now having a Kiwi high up in your organisation has become a measure of market success."

Why? Because of our entrepreneurial overview across multiple disciplines, our good work ethic, skills and training and our ability to quickly pick up what’s happening globally, give it a contemporary spin and make it our own.

The knowledge industry is about creativity and innovation whether it’s in music, film, publishing, software, management or consulting, all of which we have in abundance.