Nā Te Tumu Whakarae | Acting Chief Executive update
Kia ora koutou
It has been a very busy August with many events and announcements.
At the end of last week, we announced the election of nine new Companions of the Society (CRSNZ). Read more about our new Companions, Ngā Takahoa hou. My very sincere congratulations to Peter Barrowclough, Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield KNZM, Dr Stuart Henrys, Dr Bronwen Kelly MRSNZ, Professor Graham Le Gros CNZM FRSNZ, Dr David Lillis, Dr John McDermott, Dr Te Rita Papesch, and Dr William Rolleston CNZM. We look forward to welcoming these new Companions to the Society at a Companion Day event, in our whare in Wellington, on 8 October this year.
On 7 August, the Society held the 2025 Falling Walls Lab Aotearoa New Zealand, a highlight of the Society’s annual calendar of events. There were 21 fantastic 3-minute pitches. After judging deliberations, well-deserved accolades went to runners-up Manochitra Loganathan (Unitec) and Erica Sue-Tang (Lincoln Argitech). The winner was Ankit Parikh (Auckland University of Technology / Exsurgo Ltd). Ankit will represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the international event in Berlin in early November. Falling Walls Lab Aotearoa New Zealand is hosted by the Royal Society Te Apārangi with support from the German Embassy in Wellington, the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment and Euraxess Australia & New Zealand. See photos of the event and watch the pitches.
On 12 August, the seventh Parliamentary Science Forum of the year was a fascinating insight into Artificial Intelligence and its applications in Aotearoa New Zealand – two great speakers with very different subject matter and presentations. Dr Jaco Fourie from Lincoln Agritech spoke to some high-profile negative case studies (including the $1 Billion+ AI failure of IBM’s Watson in medicine) but also of successes in New Zealand-AI including in the forestry and honey industries. By contrast, Associate Professor Te Taka Keegan (Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakaue) opted with doing a live demonstration of AI technology communicating fluently in te reo Māori – the demo was very impressive! Dr Keegan discussed concepts of Māori data sovereignty and governance of future Māori AIs by iwi. He acknowledged that views around AI and language vary but the most important thing is to protect te reo Māori and iwi knowledge as taonga.
Finally for this month, we are looking forward to making another announcement, in the not-too-distant future – that of a new Chief Executive for the Society. Paul Atkins will finish as Chief Executive of the Society on 30 September 2025, so he will have one more update for members in The Link before he finishes. From me though, I will take this opportunity to wish Paul all the best for the future!
Ngā manaakitanga,
James Henry
Acting Chief Executive & Chief Operating Officer
Royal Society Te Apārangi