It is argued that through identifying the success attributes underpinning industrial clusters a baseline can be established for decision making by both industry vertical groups and various levels of government. It is also proposed that the application of this baseline logic to the development of the New Zealand ICT will enhance the domestic and international development of these clusters.

The paper identifies that the key components of successful industrial clusters exist within three discernable categories, that have been labelled ‘the core cluster’, ‘emerging innovation’ and ‘globalisation’.

The GIF’s action areas include improving international connections and stimulating the innovative capability of New Zealand firms.

As part of this focus on the development of policy initiatives that promote technology collaboration between New Zealand and overseas firms in the ICT sector, the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) has initiated a project to better understand possible measures that Government can take to enhance international linkages.

These measures are intended to improve the capability of New Zealand firms to introduce new technologies and facilitate the early adoption of technologies across

different sectors of the economy.

This document provides the output of a specific research project that was designed to:

• describe the origins of and reasons for technology collaborations between New Zealand and overseas firm in the ICT sector (where, how and why the linkage was initiated or how the foreign direct investment [FDI] was

attracted);

• identify the motivations of the companies involved;

• identify any barriers they faced;

• identify the critical success factors (what works) or the factors that contributed to any failure (what doesn’t work);

• assess the sustainability of successful and potential collaborations; and

• draw any lessons and policy implications from these experiences, including looking into the potential of New Zealand as a test bed for new technologies.