Spark New Zealand unveiled an innovation hub to support local enterprises’ use of emerging technologies to transform their businesses and drive growth as they adapt to challenges including Covid-19 (coronavirus) and climate change.

IoT lead Tony Agar said the Innovation Studio aims to bridge the gap between understanding and action by demystifying emerging technology and showcasing real-life examples of how it can solve business challenges.

He described the studio as a hands-on and collaborative place where businesses can learn how to become more productive, resilient and sustainable. They can test new services on 4G, 5G, NB-IoT and LoRaWAN networks, and co-create alongside technology engineers and experts, the company stated.

“When you consider the challenges we are facing as a nation, from Covid-19 to climate change to lagging productivity, it is clear that technology is going to play an important enabling role in helping us adapt,” Agar explained.

The studio features four interactive zones showcasing how new technologies can aid key sectors including agriculture, aquaculture, utilities, transport, logistics, government, and health and safety to benefit from the digitisation of their operations.

Spark selected Amazon Web Services as the cloud provider for the studio.