Science & Innovation Sector

REANNZ: Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Research, Science & Technology

Purpose

This report provides summary information on CCMAU, background information on REANNZ, and an update on key issues of current relevance to REANNZ.

CCMAU support for the Minister of RS&T

The current Output Plan between the Minister for Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) and the Executive Director of CCMAU for 2007/08 sets out the outputs that CCMAU will Ministers under Vote CRIs.  This includes providing advice to the Minister of Research, Science & Technology with regard to REANNZ.  If you require, we will provide a copy of the Output Plan. 

We propose providing written advice to you on an as-required basis and will also provide updates on relevant REANNZ activities and governance issues in advance of meetings with REANNZ representatives.  On some occasions, it may be necessary to meet with CCMAU to discuss issues.

In your interaction with CCMAU, you are likely to have contact with the following CCMAU staff members.

Table 1.                       Key CCMAU contacts

CCMAU contact person	Position	Contact numbers
Murray Wright	Executive Director	04 474 8260 021 425 645
David Ryan	Acting Manager - Science & Innovation	[withheld under OIA section 9(2)(a)]
Deepti Chotai	Senior Advisor - Science & Innovation
Steve Rich	Manager - Appointments & Governance	04 474 8268 021 445 180

Background information on REANNZ

Wellington-based REANNZ has a staff of nine and is a Crown-owned company, incorporated under the Companies Act 1993.  Its shareholders are the Minister of Finance and the Minister of RS&T.  Although REANNZ is not a Crown Entity listed under the Crown Entities Act 2004 (CE Act), it is the intent of the shareholders that it act in a manner consistent with the CE Act.

REANNZ was set up in 2004, to establish, own and operate a high-speed telecommunications network called KAREN (the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network) for the research and education sectors.  KAREN will allow and promote collaborative activities between users within New Zealand and overseas who are on similar networks.  The government is investing $43 million over five years in this project. 

KAREN went live on 15 December 2006.  REANNZ is now in what it considers is its ‘sustainable’ phase which will be the company’s focus for the next three years. [withheld under OIA sections 9(2)(b)(ii), 9(2)(i) and 9(2)(j)].  Potential sources of revenue include schools, libraries and technology parks, increasing the attractiveness of connecting to KAREN by improving reach and richness of experience, and exploring funding from other sources (eg e-learning funds).  It should be noted that KAREN was originally expected to be a ‘connectivity only’ network and, therefore, the above strategy broadens its original purpose.

Capability building 

Funding for training and pilot opportunities that enhance the use of KAREN is available through REANNZ's Capability Build Fund.  Cabinet made a provision for capability building of $1.221 million (ex GST) per year for four years (2005/06 to 2008/09) in July 2005. 

Objectives

Cabinet has agreed the following key objectives for REANNZ:

•  enable leading edge e-research

• facilitate universal connectivity throughout the New Zealand and international research and education community

• encourage broad participation by the research and education sector in New Zealand through accessible technology and reasonable pricing

• connect research and education sector to the broader innovation community for pre-commercial, research and development based collaboration

• facilitate participation by multiple telecommunications sector partners so as to ensure the greatest possible flexibility for ongoing evolution

• operate in a financially sustainable manner and manage foreseeable upgrades and increases in network capacity through the accumulation of reserves

• endeavour to transfer the Crown's shareholding in REANNZ to users (eg tertiary education institutes and Crown research institutes) within a reasonable timeframe.

Performance

REANNZ’s performance is measured in terms of:

• network operations -  the number of access points to KAREN and network reliability and availability

• capable communities – building communities capable of using KAREN eg number of KAREN champions, visitors to karen.net.nz, use of Capability Build Fund

• content and services provided for on KAREN

•  business development – extending the reach of KAREN beyond the original 18 members.

We consider that, to date, REANNZ has been broadly successful in connecting KAREN to the 18 founding members (nine CRIs, eight universities and the National Library).  The key issues for REANNZ going forward will be to secure additional income from other users of KAREN, build user capability, and implement new services on KAREN. 

[withheld under OIA sections 9(2)(j), 9(2)(i) and 9(2)(b)(ii)]

Board appointments

The current composition of the REANNZ Board is shown below in Table 2. 

Table 2.               Current REANNZ Board composition

Director	Term expiry	Skill set
Dr Jim Watson (Chair)	30 June 2009	Governance, science, commercialisation
Prof Warwick Clegg	30 June 2008	University sector, academia, research
Carol Moffatt	30 June 2008	Education sector
Dr Rick Pridmore	30 June 2008	CRI sector, commercialisation, company management
Jane Taylor	30 June 2009	Accounting and finance, law, CRI sector governance

At the time of incorporation, all five board members were given interim terms of one year.  At the conclusion of the first year of REANNZ’s operations (2005/06), two members were reappointed for two years and three members for one further year.  This means that the terms of Professor Warwick Clegg, Carol Moffatt and Dr Rick Pridmore as REANNZ directors will need to be addressed by 30 June 2008.  The process for these appointments/reappointments will be incorporated as part of the 2008 CRI appointment round, the process for which will commence shortly, before the end of 2007.