Movers and shakers: Nicholas Fourie, Grant Hopkins and Hamish Grant
- 12 September, 2017 08:30
The ultimate goal [is] that the business has an even better customer experience when dealing with us and that the interaction is simply world class
Nicholas Fourie of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare talks about holding one of the biggest CIO roles in New Zealand.
“Since my appointment in February, I have had my head buried deep in learning all areas of ICT and getting to know various parts of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare a little better,” says Fourie.
Fourie, whose title is vice president - ICT, took over from Winston Fong, now vice president - surgical technologies at F&P Healthcare.
“The primary focus for the ICT group is our global ERP replacement project, and this will be so for at least the next two to three years,” Fourie tells CIO New Zealand.
“Whilst we have successfully rolled out our new ERP solution to a number of locations, including NZ, Mexico, Australia, China and Japan, we still have US, Europe and a few other smaller ones to go.
“We have also been focusing on taking our communication and collaboration with the business to the next level,” he adds.
“Simply put, it’s including more of the human factor in the way we work with our people in the business...The ultimate goal [is] that the business has an even better customer experience when dealing with us and that the interaction is simply world class.”
“This is no small feat and the secret sauce in making this successful is a highly capable leadership team,” says Fourie.
Three strategic appointments have been made to accomplish this, he states.
The first is Ruth Carpenter, in the role of Programme Manager. “Formerly with Air New Zealand, Ruth is leading our project management function and has a remit of developing a world class suite of capability and resources to help deliver projects in the most effective manner,” says Fourie.
The second is Jacqui Chow, in the role of Development Manager. “Formerly with Olympic Software, Jacqui is leading our charge around highly agile development of bespoke solutions to support the wider organisation, including the promotion of digitisation where applicable,” he states.
The third is Mark Jones, in the role of General Manager - Enterprise Systems. “Mark has been with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare since 2014 in the capacity of ERP Project Lead. He has lead a highly successful rollout of our new ERP solution, and in this new capacity will continue to do so but with an increased accountability over all Enterprise wide system strategies and implementations.”
HP recently celebrated its 50 years in New Zealand. The milestone signifies HP’s commitment to the New Zealand market, says Grant Hopkins, HP NZ managing director.
HP was born in a one-car garage in Palo Alto and the birthplace of Silicon Valley, HP’s legacy now spans more than seven decades of innovation, including five decades on the ground in New Zealand, says Hopkins.
“HP has been present in New Zealand since 1967, providing market leading products to consumers and cutting-edge IT solutions to small, medium and large Kiwi businesses.
“We have a rich local history and long-standing relationships with our customers and partners. We are also proud of the community partnerships we have established over the years including Te Papa; WOW, Trelise Cooper and ATEED.
“We bring the best of HP’s global innovation to New Zealand and also provide a pathway for our local customers and partners to creatively push the boundaries and export homegrown innovations to global markets,” says Hopkins.
Hamish Grant is now CEO of retail software provider Ontempo. He is also principal at business consultancy firm AnnexIT and before that, was CIO at EziBuy.
Forsite, a smartphone-based health and safety solution, has been named as a finalist in the 2017 NZ Innovation Awards.
The announcement comes off the back of a very successful month for the two-year old company which was awarded a Callaghan Innovation grant for $15 million over the next three years, in August, says co-founder and CEO Simon Yock.
Forsite was conceived in 2015 between Yock and Property Managers Group (PMG), one of New Zealand’s private property and fund managers, which was looking for a solution for its own portfolio of properties to protect its people, tenants and investors from injury as well as ensuring compliance under new health and safety legislation.
It is now the only health and safety solution in the country and, as it is understood, in the world of its kind to provide real-time health and safety tracking, recording and monitoring, says Yock. The winners of the NZ Innovation Awards will be announced at the awards dinner on October 19.
A number of new appointments have been made to three of the Government’s seven Crown Research Institutes, providing new talent and experience for the institutes, Science and Innovation, says Minister Paul Goldsmith.
The five appointments are to the Boards of The Institute of Environmental Science Research (ESR), The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS Science), and the New Zealand Forest Research Institute (Scion).
“These reappointments are a testimony to the strong leadership, commitment, and contribution these members have made to New Zealand’s science system. I welcome the valuable knowledge and experience these appointees will bring to their respective boards,” sats Goldsmith, in a statement.
Professor Cris Print from Auckland University and Dr Andy Shenk, Chief Executive of Auckland Uniservices, the commercial arm of Auckland University have been appointed to the ESR Board. Professor Print is a specialist in human genomics and bioinformatics and Dr Shenk has extensive experience in the commercialisation of science and research.
Northland based professional director Paul White has been appointed to the GNS Board. White currently sits on the Top Energy Board and a number of iwi-based trusts.
General Manager of Arbogen Australasia, Greg Mann has been appointed to the Scion Board alongside previous Plant & Food Board Member Stana Pezic, who has extensive chief financial officer experience.
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