From Yesterday to Tomorrow: 60 Years of Tech in New Zealand

By Janet Toland

This is the authoritative source of the history of computing and technology in Aotearoa New Zealand, put together on the 60th Anniversary of IT Professionals New Zealand.
With 634 pages across 37 chapters, each chapter drills into a different part of the development of computing, written by a recognised national or international expert in each field. Chapter authors include experts such as Professor Tim Bell looking at education development, RedShield Founder Andy Prow looking at Cybersecurity, Privacy Commissioner John Edwards looking at technology challenges around privacy and so much more.
The book incorporates the full Looking Back to Tomorrow book, written during IT Professionals NZ (ITPNZ)’s 25th Anniversary, Return to Tomorrow, written during the 50th anniversary, and 15 new chapters written in 2021 to mark ITPNZ’s 60th Anniversary.
Chapters include:
1. The clandestine computer on The Terrace - Brian E Carpenter
2. Telecommunications infrastructure: Entering the fibre era - Bill Bennett
3. Primary, secondary and tertiary computing education in Aotearoa New Zealand - Tim Bell
4. A new environment for digital start-ups - Chris Gardner
5. A history of digital accessibility in Aotearoa - Chandra Harrison
6. Speed and stability: Redefining IT with DevOps - BMK Lakshminarayan
7. The future of testing? Challenges in application automation testing - Adesh Pednekar
8. Indian IT professionals in New Zealand - Sunit Prakash & Lalita Kasanji
9. 60 years of cybersecurity in New Zealand - Andy Prow
10. Advances in Agile software development - Diane Strode
11. Fragments of the Real Me: National identity in New Zealand – Richard Williams
12. Challenging technologies: Perspectives from the Privacy Commissioner - John Edwards & Lauren Bennett
13. Te Hīkoi Roa: A journey of Māori towards information technology mastery - Robyn Kāmira
14. Re-connecting the public service: Openness and data sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic - Jon MacKay
15. Making New Zealand’s cities smarter - Mark Thomas
16. A history of ICT: Selected highlights - Henry B Wolfe
17. From Eftpos to Trade Me: The growth of electronic commerce - Janet Toland
18. Triumph and disaster: The tumultuous history of health IT - Ray Delany
19. Computing in local government - Jim Higgins
20. ICT in New Zealand universities, 1985–2010 - Neil James & Marjan Lousberg
21. Progeni, 1968–89: Success and failure - Perce Harpham
22. Building digital communities: A history of the 2020 Communications Trust - Laurence Zwimpfer
23. The digitisation of New Zealand’s research, heritage and culture - Nigel Stanger
24. Hobbyist computing in 1980s New Zealand: Games and the popular reception of microcomputers - Melanie Swalwell
25. Early days in school programming competitions - Derham McAven
26. Hypermedia’s influence on business and social interaction - Lesley A Gardner
27. The open source business in New Zealand - Johnny Chan
28. Aotearoa before the computer - W Winiata
29. From monsters to micros - GJ Tee
30. The impact of computers on the public sector - AC Shailes, Controller and Auditor-General 1975–1983
31. Computers and banking - IH Archibald
32. Computers in business and industry - SJ Bell
33. Expert systems and their impact on the professions - WR Williams
34. Personal computers - Selwyn Arrow
35. Computers in education - CJ Potter
36. The social implications of computers - Paul Bieleski & Jim Higgins
37. A new industry for New Zealand - MS Kaiser

ISBN 978-0-473-58175-6. 634 Pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Janet Toland
• Release date: Jul 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9780473581763

Book preview

From_Yesterday_to_Tomorrow_front_cover_-_24_June.jpg

Contents

Part One

Yesterday and Tomorrow

Introduction

Anthony Dowling, 31st president of ITPNZ, 2020–

ITPNZ and NZCS: A history spanning 60 years (1960–2020)

Paul Matthews

Setting the scene

Chapter 1

The clandestine computer on The Terrace

Brian E Carpenter

Chapter 2

Telecommunications infrastructure: Entering the fibre era

Bill Bennett

Updating

Chapter 3

Primary, secondary and tertiary computing education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Tim Bell

Chapter 4

A new environment for digital start-ups

Chris Gardner

Chapter 5

A history of digital accessibility in Aotearoa

Chandra Harrison

Chapter 6

Speed and stability: Redefining IT with DevOps

BMK Lakshminarayan

Chapter 7

The future of testing? Challenges in application automation testing

Adesh Pednekar

Chapter 8

Indian IT professionals in New Zealand

Sunit Prakash & Lalita Kasanji

Chapter 9

60 years of cybersecurity in New Zealand

Andy Prow

Chapter 10

Advances in Agile software development

Diane Strode

Chapter 11

Fragments of the Real Me: National identity in New Zealand

Richard Williams

Tomorrow

Chapter 12

Challenging technologies: Perspectives from the Privacy Commissioner

John Edwards & Lauren Bennett

Chapter 13

Te Hīkoi Roa: A journey of Māori towards information technology mastery

Robyn Kāmira

Chapter 14

Re-connecting the public service: Openness and data sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jon MacKay

Chapter 15

Making New Zealand’s cities smarter

Mark Thomas

Part Two

Return to Tomorrow

Introduction

Don Robertson, 27th president NZCS, 2007–10

Setting the scene

Chapter 1

A history of ICT: Selected highlights

Henry B Wolfe

Chapter 2

From Eftpos to Trade Me:

The growth of electronic commerce

Janet Toland

Returning

Chapter 3

Triumph and disaster: The tumultuous history of health IT

Ray Delany

Chapter 4

Computing in local government

Jim Higgins

Chapter 5

ICT in New Zealand universities, 1985–2010

Neil James & Marjan Lousberg

Chapter 6

Progeni, 1968–89: Success and failure

Perce Harpham

Chapter 7

Building digital communities: A history of the 2020 Communications Trust

Laurence Zwimpfer

Chapter 8

The digitisation of New Zealand’s research, heritage and culture

Nigel Stanger

Chapter 9

Hobbyist computing in 1980s New Zealand: Games and the popular reception of microcomputers

Melanie Swalwell

Chapter 10

Early days in school programming competitions

Derham McAven

Tomorrow

Chapter 11

Hypermedia’s influence on business and social interaction

Lesley A Gardner

Chapter 12

The open source business in New Zealand

Johnny Chan

Memories of the early days — NZCS: Why and how it was so

Bruce Moon

Sonnets 53 and 54 from 60 Sonnets

by Wellington poet Llewelyn Richards

Part Three

Looking Back to Tomorrow

Foreword

by the Rt. Hon. DR Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand

Introduction

CR Boswell, President 1983–1985

Setting the scene

Chapter 1

Aotearoa before the computer

W Winiata

Chapter 2

From monsters to micros

GJ Tee

Looking back

Chapter 3

The impact of computers on the public sector

AC Shailes, Controller and Auditor-General 1975–1983

Chapter 4

Computers and banking

IH Archibald

Chapter 5

Computers in business and industry

SJ Bell

Chapter 6

Expert systems and their impact on the professions

WR Williams

Chapter 7

Personal computers

Selwyn Arrow

Chapter 8

Computers in education

CJ Potter

Tomorrow

Chapter 9

The social implications of computers

Paul Bieleski & Jim Higgins

Chapter 10

A new industry for New Zealand

MS Kaiser

Annex

A few of the first

Epilogue

NZCS/IITP/ITP presidents

References

About the editor

Publishing information

Part One

Yesterday and Tomorrow

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge Sally Jo Cunningham, Tony Dale, Paul Heath, Robyn Kāmira, Tony Lyne and Jeremy McClure for their help in planning, selecting and reviewing material for this book. I would particularly like to thank all the authors for their enthusiasm, hard work and dedication in researching and preparing their chapters. Each chapter was independently reviewed by at least two people and I would like to express gratitude to all those who were involved in that process. Thanks to Matthew Bartlett for organising layout and production under considerable time pressure. This book builds on and incorporates the previous two books and I would like to acknowledge the efforts of all who were involved in producing both Return to Tomorrow and Looking Back to Tomorrow which form the foundations of this publication. —JT

Important note

The chapters in this book contain the honestly held views and opinions of their authors only. While fact-checking has been undertaken where possible, those selected to contribute are recognised experts in their field, hence where an opinion or viewpoint has been expressed it has been left in its entirety. Please be aware, however, that these viewpoints may be opinion only and do not necessarily reflect the position of IT Professionals New Zealand.

Introduction

Anthony Dowling, 31st president of ITPNZ, 2020–

Sixty years is a long time for any organisation to exist, yet comparatively we and our industry are merely in our infancy.

The major difference between us and longer-standing organisations and industries is the explosive pace of innovation. The digital advances that our industry provides and their permeation into nearly every facet of human life drives the need for our organisation to grow and develop not only professionals but the profession itself.

IT pioneers of the ’60s set a precedent of learning and excitement that encouraged the innovators of the ’80s, who in turn motivated the visionaries from the start of this century. This exchange of generational learning together with a fundamental platform for growth and development ensures ITP is on track for the future.

As the pre-eminent professional IT membership body in New Zealand, the Institute of IT Professionals has overcome many challenges and there will be many more trials ahead. As we recognise and celebrate the pioneers of our industry we can also learn from them to help us choose the right direction as we move forward.

Technology is no longer ‘becoming a part’ of everyday life, it is now central to everyday life — this makes ITP relevant to every New Zealander. The institute plays an important role advocating for ICT education and professionalism by proactively addressing key issues while aiming to uplift not only our members, but the profession for the benefit of the New Zealand public.

With the rapid advancement of digital technology, we need to ensure the divide between the haves and have nots does not continue to widen, we need to embrace digital inclusion to make certain no one is left behind. As we move into a new decade, we now have a large group of individuals entering their careers who have no experience of a non-digital world. This new generation will drive diversity of thought and ensure representation within our industry is inclusive and provides opportunities for all that wish to enter.

While technology moves at light speed, the people that develop, use, implement and share these advances are essential for its progress. Any successful project manager will agree that even though technology enables, people are the driving factor behind a project’s success. Therefore, it is essential for ITPNZ to provide a solid platform that promotes professionalism, encourages education and facilitates growth and development to ensure our future generations are well prepared to support society.

People are the driving force behind digital advancement, and it will be people that ensure our communities are able to come together. Given the exponential growth rate of technology, the technology of the past 10–20 years is unlikely to age gracefully, yet people can mature and learn providing great foundations for the next generation.

And it is for this reason that we’ve captured some of the stories of tech people during the last 60 years in this book — so we can celebrate the brilliance of many of our pioneers who have contributed to the tech industry directly and indirectly over the last 60 years, while also welcoming a new cohort of brilliant individuals that will set the scene for the 100th celebration of our industry.

This isn’t any ordinary history book; it’s been developed over many years and includes stories compiled during the 25th anniversary in 1985, the 50th anniversary in 2010 and again at this 60th anniversary — brought together to create a compelling and ongoing record of tech innovation in New Zealand.

The great thing about digital technology is that we know that future tech pioneers will produce innovations and provide opportunities we cannot envisage today. They need to, as they will have to address unforeseen dangers and risks in order to protect New Zealanders and the world.

We honour tomorrow’s innovators by recognising those of yesterday, and we hope you’ll enjoy the many great stories of the history of kiwi tech contained in these pages.

ITPNZ and NZCS: A history spanning 60 years (1960–2020)

Paul Matthews

As the oldest tech body in the country, IT Professionals New Zealand, previously the New Zealand Computer Society, boasts a proud and colourful 60-year history. Throughout these 60 years, ITPNZ has been a strong and unwavering advocate for IT education, and has provided rich and independent advice, guidance and advocacy to government, the industry, the profession and the public.

This short history has been written over many years and incorporates a summary of the first 15 years by John Robinson, the following decade by Bill Williams, then the remainder assembled and written by current ITPNZ Chief Executive Paul Matthews, with contributions and assistance from many of the society’s fellows and long-standing members.

1960–65

The Data Processing and Computer Society was registered by the Registrar of Incorporated Societies on 6 October 1960, with these original members: Gordon Oed, WL Birnie, EW Jones, AW Graham, P Walker, HF Foster, JG Miller, JV Robinson, JJ Campbell, AS Carrington, SR Searle, ADG Connor, WJ Wills and J Martin. The name was changed to the New Zealand Computer Society on 20 February 1968.

When the inaugural meeting was being set up and the draft constitution was being prepared, the main topic of concern and discussion (and a rather surprising one in retrospect) was the need to ensure that the machine houses did not take control of this new society and make it a promotional, rather than a learned one. At least, for those who had been exposed to this view, the way each of the companies formed a phalanx of staff in the Victoria University lecture room at the first meeting seemed to justify this concern. In hindsight this was much more likely to have been due to the fact that they preferred to sit with people that they knew and that company management wanted to help the society get started by ensuring that it had as many members as possible, rather than to any covert intention. However, voting membership was limited to two from each company until the constitution was changed in 1970.

Wellington branch was the first, with Canterbury, Otago and Auckland branches following, but there was very little activity on a national basis. The affairs of the society at that level were in the hands of an executive committee which met very infrequently. A Wellington-based standing committee dealt with detailed organisational matters for the executive. By 1965 there were over 200 members in the established branches, Wellington and Canterbury, and Otago and Auckland branches were forming up. This growth made it clear that there needed to be a re-assessment of the society and its role.

This was discussed at the executive meeting in October 1965, where it was agreed that the constitution needed review, that the possibility of holding national conferences and of publishing a journal should be assessed, and that nationally organised lecture tours by overseas specialists were still not practical.

1966–70

During these five years the society underwent a major rearrangement and national affairs began to increase in importance. A postal ballot was held in 1967 to get the view of the membership on a change of name, and on the membership restrictions on machine company staff. There was also a growing concern about the lack of formal education in computing in New Zealand.

Auckland ran the first national conference in 1968. Its success and the opportunity which it gave for a wide section of the membership to discuss the society, its future direction and some of the issues facing the computer industry, such as education, gave a great impetus to both the national activity and overall coherence in the society.

The executive and the standing committee amalgamated in order to cope with the tasks with which society management had been charged. A report was prepared on the role of the universities in education and research in computing. The Technicians Certification Authority was approached to see whether they would consider extending their certificate to include computing. The constitution was completely rewritten. The grade of ‘member’ was established to identify the ‘competent computer professional’. Organisationally the society was changed from a reasonably loose alliance of individual branches to a national organisation. The implementation of this change was a good deal more gradual than the constitutional change that gave it form.

By the time the second national conference was held in 1970, however, the stage was set for an effective national organisation.

1970–75

While total membership numbers stayed static over this period there was a shift from associate member to member that resulted in a doubling of the number of members. This typified the changes in this period — a shifting emphasis on creating a professional society. Associated with this, there was acceptance by both the government and the public generally, that the society was representative of the computer practitioners of this country. The society responded to this acceptance with an examination of some of the social issues related to the use of computers. This was undertaken not only from a sense of social obligation but also because it was felt that some self-regulation by the industry over issues such as privacy could prevent crippling legislative constraints on computing.

During this period the society adopted its first logo in the form of four squares, suggesting four punch cards, each showing one of the letters NZCS. The logo was selected from 41 entries in a competition held in 1971, the winning entry being submitted by Paul Compton of Wellington. The first edition of the society’s quarterly Bulletin made its appearance in October 1973. It was much enlivened by the occasional cartoon from its editor ‘Slim’ Burns.

In the field of formal education, the society was instrumental in getting the Technicians Certification Authority to institute the New Zealand Certificate in Data Processing in 1972. Support of this part-time course has been good and justifies the effort that it took to get it started. While not so direct in effect the report produced by the society on university education and research helped create a political climate that fostered the growth of computing education in the universities.

Conferences continued to be outstandingly successful and became a well established and valuable part of the society’s activities.

The minimum necessary standard of experience set for transfer to the grade of member continued to improve. Union membership also became an issue, as the growing size of the industry and the differences between computer and clerical work become less marked.

A major activity in the early part of this period was that arising from a motion proposed at the Dunedin conference, that the society investigate a unique identification system to facilitate communication. The original suggestion had been that the study be restricted to commercial communications, but members opted for the wider study. After very full discussion and debate in the society the committee tabled its report which found, inter alia, that it saw no grounds for establishing unique identifiers for use on a nationwide basis. The report was eventually endorsed at a special general meeting in 1972.

1975–80

The opening years of this period saw three important projects brought to a conclusion.

The code of ethics, which had been debated for over three years, was agreed following consideration at two special general meetings in 1976 and 1978. By general consensus the code was to apply to all three main grades: fellows, full members and associates.

The other two projects were related, being the question of registration of computer practitioners and the requirement to join unions. The society’s view on registration was that the time was not opportune for such a move, but if it were to be contemplated the society would wish to be involved in the formulation of the rules and possibly the administration. In the event the government did not follow up the original suggestions. The debate on joining unions centred around programmers who, the union claimed, were carrying out clerical functions. A special committee set up by the society to handle the matter established a good relationship with leading union officials and especially with the Clerical Workers’ Union. In the end the status quo was preserved.

The previous period had also witnessed much public and professional concern over proposals for the Health Department computer system. Society members expressed disquiet on two counts: that the prime contractor had been appointed without public tender, and that the system they proposed was unworkable. As a result formal representations were made to the Minister of Health, and the president, who later reported that ‘While the Health Department officers were able to quite adequately assure me on the Society’s concern relating to the appointment of the consultants, I cannot report that I was equally well satisfied on the degree of technical assurance applied to the acquisition of this major system.’ Subsequent events were to prove the society’s reservations were well founded.

Several procedural changes were made during this period to improve efficiency and lighten the burden of administration. Firstly, the central membership system now in use was introduced; secondly, changes were made to the constitution to bring it more into line with modern practice; and thirdly, the quarterly Bulletin was replaced by a monthly newsletter published in every issue of the journal Data Processing in New Zealand.

Two important reviews were carried out. The first, in conjunction with Victoria and Massey universities surveyed data processing staff in New Zealand, and the second looked at the profile of society membership. The latter pointed out that while society membership appeared to cover a satisfactorily wide range of occu­pa­tions, there was low representation from government departments, computer engineers, operators, young people and ‘interested amateurs’. It was therefore suggested that recruitment of members should be especially concentrated in these areas.

The subject of privacy raised its head many times during the period. The society played an active role in shaping the Wanganui Computer Centre Act and its subsequent revisions. It was invited to make nominations for the committees to be established under the Act and one of its nominees was eventually accepted. Nationwide publicity was given to the society’s stand on the question of the proposed sale of computer records by a city council. The society established its general guideline, later to be expanded into a full position paper, that ‘personal information should be used only for the purposes for which it was given’.

Much effort continued to be put into the fields of education and consideration of the impact of computers on society. Typical examples were a most successful series of continuing education seminars and further useful dialogue with the unions on the introduction of computers in the workplace, culminating in the sponsorship by the society of a visit to this country of Kristen and Johanna Nygaard.

1980–85

The 1980s found the society becoming involved, to an ever increasing extent, in a wide range of activities. More and more the society was being consulted on matters relating to computing in all facets of law, government and society, visible proof of the success of early efforts to raise the society’s profile.

The extent of this involvement can be gauged from a list of activities taken over a three-month period in 1980. They included submissions to or work for:

the Auditor General in his review of computing in the public sector.

the Planning Council in response to their position paper ‘An Employment Strategy for the 1980s’.

the Communication Advisory Council on the impact of view-data type systems.

the State Services Commission on amendments to the Wanganui Compu­ter Centre Act.

the New Zealand Product Numbering Council — Adoption of Product Numbering Standards for New Zealand.

the Committee on Official Information.

a revision of the Electoral Roll.

It was apparent that all this was placing too great a workload on volunteers from the membership and that more support for committees and project teams was imperative. It was for this reason that, when the secretary retired at the end of 1980, he was replaced by a part-time executive secretary, the late Bill Williams. This was seen as the first step towards the society having available the services of a full-time national staff and office, eventually achieved in 1983 when Williams became the society’s first full-time executive officer.

Bill Williams was instrumental in bringing about law changes related to the Wanganui Computer Centre, Election Reform, the Crimes Act (as it affected computer crime), the Copyright Act (relating to the protection of computer software), and provisions for protection of personal information. Williams also set up a joint study group with the Law Society, the Human Rights Commission and the Medical Council, which resulted in an agreed position on how those holding personal information should respect the privacy of individuals. This was widely accepted and adopted and later formed the core of New Zealand’s privacy legislation. Williams also edited the NZCS 25th Anniversary Book, Looking Back to Tomorrow: Reflections on Twenty-Five Years of Computers in New Zealand.

It was also agreed that the opportunity for a greater degree of continuity should be given to councillors and the president and in both cases the initial term on election was changed from one to two years. More emphasis was placed on forming project teams, not necessarily restricted to councillors, to undertake specific activities.

The society achieved a new high in the number of its publications. It produced its first book Choosing Your First Computer System, two position papers (on privacy and education), a booklet listing consultants, counsellors and expert witnesses, a further booklet on Guidelines on Privacy — Security — Integrity, and a NZCS Year Book. It adopted a new logo and changed to the magazine Interface for the regular dissemination of information to members. Another first was the concept of an inter-conference year mini-conference. RUTHERFORD 84, restricted to members, with New Zealand speakers on the theme of communications presenting in a lighter vein, was voted a great success by those who attended. This conference led to the establishment of the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) in 1987.

However, if one activity were to be highlighted it would be that of education. The society’s Continuing Education Programme was strengthened and put on a professional footing by the appointment of a Director of Continuing Education, which enabled an ambitious and successful programme of seminars to be launched. NZCS also helped establish the Computer Education Society, both at a national level and a number of regional Computer Education Societies. These were the first computing teachers’ associations in New Zealand, and were a driving force in providing a voice and community for those interested in computing education and in promoting the use of ICT in schools.

NZCS also played an active role in the deliberations of the Consultative Committee on Computers in Schools and with the Vocational Training Council took active steps to improve the professional standing of its members by setting new requirements for advancement to the professional grade of full member. Greater emphasis was given to the acquisition of formal academic qualifications.

1985–90

Additional regional Computer Education Societies were formed in the mid-to-late ’80s in several regions around New Zealand and, together with NZCS, contributed to a raised profile and participation of computing education in schools.

The profile of the society was raised significantly when president Jim Higgins became famous for his regular morning slot on National Radio, educating the public about all manner of computing and IT matters. Higgins continued the slot for 20 years, finally hanging up the microphone in 2009.

This period was also famous for a refusal of the society’s annual general meeting to accept the annual accounts due to what appeared to be a significant unexplained drop in funds. In actuality this was mainly due to an employment dispute and payment, which was the subject of a non-disclosure clause, with the president and national council unable to discuss or even disclose its existence, resulting in a very long and tense AGM. With nobody wanting a repeat, the subsequent special general meeting passed the accounts in record time; so fast, in fact, that Computerworld reporter Stephen Bell was almost trampled by the members beating a hasty retreat when he arrived a few minutes late.

In 1987 PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner Phil Parnell was elected president and worked tirelessly to improve the structure and financial footing of the society.

In 1988 Drew Bond (who later became president) penned a discussion paper on health information policy for the then Department of Health, foreshadowing much of the subsequent policy in this area.

Over this time the large national and smaller Rutherford conferences were hugely successful, being the annual events for the sector. Additional events in conjunction with the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) led to a very full calendar of events.

On the international stage, the society scaled down activities with IFIP amid some protest from longer-standing members, and instead joined the South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC) with a view to contributing more significantly to the Asia Pacific Region. Through president Philip Sallis, NZCS also participated strongly in the ACM Computer Science Curriculum and Research Committees in Hong Kong and New York.

1990–95

Having been at the forefront of advocacy around privacy and the protection of personal information, the society was heavily involved in the establishment of New Zealand’s Privacy Act 1993, enshrining several key NZCS privacy and information-related positions from the previous decade.

The society continued to be well served by strong advocates to government including Jim Higgins and the late Bill Williams, with president Philip Sallis also chairing the government’s Consultative Committee on Information Technology and serving on the Science Curriculum Task Group and the Information Technology Advisory Committee.

1994 saw the appointment of Ian Mitchell as president. Mitchell embarked on a strategy of rebranding and refocusing NZCS, and strengthening the society’s links to education in schools and the tertiary community.

Mitchell had strong views regarding the direction of the society and was known for his ‘100 ideas a minute’ approach, ranging from the genius to the not-so-brilliant, however, he was a dedicated and hard working servant of the society.

1995 also saw the establishment of the Internet Society of New Zealand (ISOCNZ), later renamed InternetNZ. While not directly linked to NZCS, many of those involved in the establishment of ISOCNZ were also involved with NZCS and ISOCNZ was seen by many as a kindred body.

1995–2000

The operational structure of the society was changed in 1996 with the establish­ment of the society’s first chief executive position (previous appointments being executive officers). The appointment of recruitment agency the Doughty Group founder Beverley Pratt was not without some initial controversy, primarily due to the choice of someone with a strong commercial background, which was somewhat of a departure from the previous custom in the society. The appointment of a female chief executive in such a male-dominated industry also raised some eyebrows, but was met with approval from most, especially when Pratt excelled in the role.

The move to a chief executive, especially one with commercial experience, marked a gradual shift in how the society operated. In previous decades it had been run almost entirely by volunteers, with the president being a close to full-time role and volunteers often paid by their companies to participate. However, society in general was changing, and the time people could contribute was diminishing.

1999 saw the appointment of the society’s first, and to this date only, female president in Gillian Reid. Gillian was very keen in reviewing the criteria for membership and advancement, including modernising the process of becoming a fellow from being nominated to applying, and establishing a new honorary fellow (HFNZCS) title for those the society wished to recognise and honour. A council ‘committee of two’, being Gillian and Ian Howard, was set up to look at options. Their simple task was to come back with new criteria for levels of membership and criteria for advancement, including moving the process of becoming a fellow from being nominated to actually applying.

Gillian was heard to comment that climbing Mt Everest without oxygen would probably have been easier. It took the two of them many months of hard work, several iterations to council for review, and then a survey of all the members following council’s final agreement on the new membership structure. They survived, just, and the new structures were put in place in 2000.

2000–5

Upon joining the South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC) several years earlier, NZCS had agreed to organise and host the annual SEARCC international conference in 2001. Unfortunately the date of the conference was November 2001, two months after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The effect was dire — almost all international delegates, especially those from anywhere in Asia, immediately cancelled their registrations. Ditto for most of the over 50 Australian Computer Society (ACS) members already registered, as there were ‘no flying’ instructions sent out to employees of almost every company of any significance as a reaction to the attacks. The society stood to lose significant funds from the conference.

The Australian Computer Society went into bat for NZCS, trying to obtain a commitment from SEARCC to underwrite any significant loss from the conference from their substantial funds, or even just loan the difference to NZCS so that creditors could be paid. The confederation was deeply divided on the issue, which caused much friction. When the dust settled the SEARCC secretary general had resigned, but alas still no support. Indonesia then withdrew from hosting the 2002 SEARCC Conference, citing concerns over cost and liability.

At the time, NZCS branches maintained separate funds, and ended up contri­bu­ting to what was eventually a relatively minor loss, and the conference went ahead with about 220 attending. By all accounts it was an excellent conference.

Around this time early stage discussions were instigated by vendor body the IT Association of New Zealand (ITANZ) about forming an umbrella IT group made up of ITANZ, the Internet Society (InternetNZ), the Telecommunications Users Association (TUANZ), NZCS and the Software Association, with TUANZ rejecting the idea outright and all other groups being lukewarm at best. These discussions would continue for several years, culminating in the ICT-NZ proposal that would end up causing great division in NZCS.

The following years saw the society take positions on a number of issues, such as the inadequacy of contracts many software developers operate under, and in 2004 instigating structural governance changes, halving the size of the national council and increasing the council voting power of the two larger branches.

2005–10

In 2006 the ICT-NZ concept and proposal, where the major IT bodies would effectively merge into one larger group, was at the fore of discussion. A group primarily from the Auckland branch of the society were pushing for the society’s entry into ICT-NZ, gaining support to continue looking into it from an at times heated and somewhat controversial AGM in 2006.

The discussion and consultation that followed resulted in a deep divide at all levels, from national council to branches and among the membership, pitting branch against branch in a robust and at times bloody debate about the future of the society. Proponents saw the ICT-NZ model as a way forward for what had become a relatively inactive and (some believed) irrelevant society, where the future could be secured as part of a larger group with the carrot of government funding. Those opposed felt that the profile, culture, purpose and objectives of the society would be lost, that the needs of a professional body were different to those of a vendor group, that the new body would access the society’s revenue stream, matched by government funds, but then use it to further activities that were not core to the society’s purpose, and that NZCS had the potential to be the body leading much of the work that was important to the organisation anyway. There was also nervousness about the implication that ICT-NZ was a government-promoted and funded body, and up until then NZCS had been fiercely independent — from government and vendors.

Wherever the truth lay, the main debate was in relation to what was termed the ‘One World Government’ approach of all organisations becoming one, versus the ‘United Nations’ approach, with all participant organisations maintaining their own identities but coming together to form an IT Council to collaborate in areas of mutual interest.

The debate dominated society activity and discussion for well over a year with other activities grinding to a halt. The matter came to a head in early 2007 with a series of motions put forward by the NZCS Auckland Branch to force a binding referendum and commit the society to joining ICT-NZ, countered by a series of motions from Wellington branch disbanding the working group established to consider the idea, and putting any plans on hold until other, more representative, models could be at least considered.

Following much heated debate, the Wellington motions succeeded and any decision on the ICT-NZ model was deferred for ‘at least’ six months. President Richard Donaldson’s casting vote was used to disband the ICT-NZ working group with all other motions passing with a clear majority. One of those spearheading the call to look at other options first, Don Robertson, was appointed to lead a new working group bringing together wider options to be considered, and later became the next president. Another, Paul Matthews, went on to become chief executive and lead a programme of change within the society.

The debate and fallout from the decision had caused a deep division in the society. However, it had also resulted in much consideration into the purpose and future of the organisation and can be credited with focusing the new leadership to returning to the previous times where NZCS was significantly active in education (school, tertiary and ongoing), advocacy, government policy and other activities.

The decision spelt the end of ICT-NZ, with the government pulling all funding and instead forming the NZCS-supported Digital Development Council, similar to the ‘United Nations’ model put forward by NZCS and others and not subsuming identity. The funding of this didn’t survive the 2008 election and the body disbanded in 2009, leading many to wonder whether the promised ICT-NZ funding would have met a similar fate had the society gone down that track.

One of the first issues tackled by the new leadership was the dismal state of computing-related achievement standards in schools, with the society commissioning a report looking into the issue penned by Auckland teacher Margot Phillipps and AUT academic Gordon Grimsey, and reviewed by 13 academics and senior professionals throughout New Zealand.

The report found that none of the existing IT achievement standards were suitable for the assessment of IT, which led to significant advocacy activity spearheaded by the new chief executive and major changes to the way computing and IT was taught in schools. This included a new digital technologies curriculum, a full set of new achievement standards, updated unit standards, and additional teacher resources to improve the standard and consistency of learning in the field of IT.

2010–15

This was very much a growth period for the organisation, with an expansion of the refocus on being a professional body ushered in by the new leadership and with broad support from members.

Over the next few years the society’s renewed focus was translated into specific initiatives such as the implementation of the IT Certified Professional (ITCP) accreditation, which became Chartered IT Professional NZ in 2015, a revised mentoring programme, work towards implementing internationally aligned industry accreditation of tertiary degrees, plus a host of other projects.

Ray Delany, a tech leader from Auckland, was appointed President in 2010 and held the role until 2014, when Ian Taylor, of Animation Research Ltd fame (later to become Sir Ian Taylor) took on the presidency, and both were pivotal in continuing the growth of the organisation.

NZCS changed its name to the Institute of IT Professionals NZ (later shortened to IT Professionals NZ) in 2012, following significant membership consultation and with support from 97% of members. This new name matched the new focus of the organisation. NZCS also re-established national conferences, starting with a bumper conference in 2010 marking 50 years of tech innovation, with a host of industry heavyweights speaking and attending.

Over this time the society also became active again in advocating issues such as copyright, promotion of education and skills, and a host of other initiatives and advocacy areas, once more establishing itself as the voice of the IT profession. And then came the battle against software patents.

The changes to the Patents Act in New Zealand started in 2010 when the Commerce Select Committee, reviewing proposed changes to the Patents Act, recommended that software be excluded, following submissions by the New Zealand Open Source Society and others outlining the dangers of software patents to the tech industry.

All hell broke loose, and an intensive lobbying effort commenced, led by the pro-patent fraternity. Certain large multinationals invested heavily in the outcome, concerned that a removal of software patents in New Zealand would cascade to other countries. In some respects it pitted the multinationals against the New Zealand industry, with a poll at the time finding 81% of IT professionals supported the removal of software patents.

However, in the end, following consultation with the Select Committee, Simon Power (the Commerce Minister at the time) reaffirmed that the proposals wouldn’t be modified. The blog post NZCS CEO Paul Matthews wrote announcing this to the world was massively welcomed by the tech industry globally. It was duly ‘slashdotted’, retweeted extensively and seen by over a million people, with tens of thousands of tweets and messages of congratulation to New Zealand.

Fast-forward to the 2011 election, and Simon Power stood down and Craig Foss became Commerce Minister. With a new minister, lobbying efforts to revert the Bill began again in earnest, this time primarily led by patent lawyers. The new minister changed his tune and reversed the changes.

So NZCS took a different approach.

The Parliament at the time was made up of 121 seats, with 61 needed for a majority to pass a new law. National held 59 seats and were supported in coalition by ACT (one vote) and United Future (one), and sometimes the Māori Party (three) instead. The Patents Amendment Bill was a huge revamp and update of the Patents Act of 1953, and generally had widespread support across Parliament.

NZCS was in close contact with all parties about the issue, and Clare Curran from Labour was able to secure support from her party to vote against the new Patents Bill, unless the software patent issue was resolved to our industry’s satisfaction. The Greens, New Zealand First and the Māori Party also confirmed they’d vote with the industry on it, despite also generally supporting the Bill as a whole.

However, the National government still had the numbers to pass the Bill with the support of ACT and United Future. ACT didn’t want to know; they confirmed that they would be supporting National no matter what. But United Future’s Peter Dunne took a different approach. He spent considerable time getting to grips with the issue, finally confirming that United Future would also vote against the Bill unless the issue was resolved — and with that, the government no longer had the numbers to pass the entire Bill unless they came to the party on banning software patents.

The government found themselves on the wrong side of the bulk of the local IT industry, and in the position of not being able to advance a major piece of legislation because of one small section. And so, the negotiations began.

Much of the negotiations over the following weeks and months happened behind closed doors, but NZCS was in the position to negotiate directly with the government on the software patent exclusion, supported pro-bono by several lawyers closely linked to NZCS. The organisation held our ground, liaising with the NZOSS, InternetNZ, NZRise and others, until a solution was found.

The resulting section of the Patents Act bans software from patentability. Lawyers like to argue and there is still debate about what this actually means, but basically software itself, such as Amazon’s 1-click, isn’t patentable in New Zealand.

The local tech industry had won.

2015–20

ITPNZ (as it was now) had a strong focus on reforming tech-related education over this period, starting with the digital technologies curriculum in schools, but also taking a leading role overseeing the rewriting of all sub-degree qualifications recognised in New Zealand and implementing degree accreditation on behalf of industry.

The new NCEA achievement standards at senior secondary level, implemented as a result of the earlier work, were put in place in 2011–13, however, the work to roll this out through the rest of the school system had stalled. ITPNZ advocated strongly to the minister and Ministry of Education and eventually won a review.

This review, with heavy participation from ITPNZ, led to what is now known as the Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko curriculum changes, the most significant changes to the school curriculum since it was introduced a decade earlier. These introduced digital tech formally into the curriculum at all levels, including compulsory provision in all schools from years 1–10.

ITPNZ also launched an initiative called Tahi Rua Toru Tech to help introduce and support digital technologies in schools, funded by both industry and the Ministry of Education. This saw small groups of school students finding a problem in their local school or community and using digital technologies to solve it, with an industry mentor and lots of resources. Thousands of students participate in Tahi Rua Toru Tech every year, culminating in regional and national finals and an awards event where the top student teams in the country are celebrated and recog­nised.

At the tertiary side, ITPNZ worked with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to review all sub-degree qualifications in New Zealand, with ITPNZ assembling and leading the governance group for the review. This resulted in scrapping all 224 existing qualifications and, following extensive industry consultation, developing twelve new qualifications that mapped directly to industry needs. These are now taught in most polytechnics and many private training establishments across New Zealand.

ITPNZ also implemented formal industry accreditation of tech-related Bachelors degrees, linked to the Seoul Accord — an international cross-recognition agreement between countries. Many universities and polytechnics underwent the accreditation process and later ITPNZ signed an MOU with Engineering New Zealand and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for joint accreditation processes.

Tauranga tech entrepreneur Mike Dennehy was president for most of this period, taking over from Ian Taylor in 2016 and serving a full four-year term until 2020. Mike helped broaden the organisation’s focus around professional practice and collaboration.

In 2016, ITPNZ combined with eleven other tech bodies to produce a large collaborative conference called ITx, focused on Innovation, Technology and Education. This conference was conceived and run by ITPNZ and became the largest independent tech conference in New Zealand, running every second year with a smaller regional conference in the other years. ITx was a huge success and also saw the introduction of the New Zealand Excellence in IT Awards. While the industry already had the well-established HiTech Awards, these focused mainly on celebrating the success of tech companies, whereas the Excellence Awards focused on individuals and teams in the tech sector. These awards were well supported and have helped recognise dozens of tech professionals across the country.

In 2017, ITPNZ was gifted the te reo Māori (indigenous New Zealand) name Te Pou Hangarau Ngaio, which recognised the journey the organisation was taking to becoming more inclusive. This name reflected ITPNZ’s role in the tech community:

Te Pou: the centre pole, the central post of a building such as a marae, i.e. the main support

Hangarau: the generally accepted word for technology

Ngaio: experts or professionals

So Te Pou Hangarau Ngaio essentially means the central pole or structure supporting technology professionals.

In 2018, ITPNZ also began providing qualifications assessments for immi­gra­tion purposes, to offer pathways into New Zealand for those with the skills needed but without a degree that directly mapped to a New Zealand tech-related degree. This included a formal assessment of all learning, and if it met the general expectations of a tech degree, certifying this for Immigration New Zealand.

The organisation’s skills focus continued in 2020, taking ownership of the skills work stream of the Digital Technologies Industry Transformation Plan — creating a blueprint for changes to the skills and education system in New Zealand to enable rapid growth of the tech sector. This work continues into 2021 and on to the release of the plan.

After 60 years, ITPNZ is a strong, growing and contemporary organisation with a broad range of projects and initiatives for and on behalf of the tech community and thousands of members across New Zealand. While recognising its heritage and history, ITPNZ continues to lead professional development and good practice in IT into the 2020s and beyond, changing as the industry changes and meeting the needs of professionals.

Where to from here?

There is still plenty of work to be done. 2020 saw major government reforms in areas such as education, along with a massive increase in cybersecurity breaches and incidents, and huge challenges as a result of COVID-19.

The tech industry has a huge role to play in New Zealand’s economic future and it’s essential that organisations like ITPNZ continue to support and grow the industry, while providing independent advice to government and others as they navigate digital technology.

60 years? We’re only getting started.

Chapter 1

The clandestine computer on The Terrace

Brian E Carpenter

It is generally considered that the first stored-program electronic computer in New Zealand was an IBM 650 installed in late 1960 by the New Zealand Treasury and inaugurated in March 1961. However, there is good reason to believe that, in fact, the first such machine was an ICT 1201, installed slightly earlier for the Department of Education (not a Ministry at that time) and that this machine was already processing the fortnightly teachers’ payroll by August or September 1960. Unlike the Treasury IBM machine, this computer received no publicity and was quietly installed in ICT’s New Zealand headquarters in Shell House (now Transpower House), at 96 The Terrace, Wellington. Later (probably in 1962), it may have been moved to a Department of Education building. Its next stop, in 1963, was at the Motor Specialties headquarters building on Anzac Avenue in Auckland. In 1966 it was donated to finish its working life at the Auckland Technical Institute (now Auckland University of Technology). There is no clear paper trail for this history, especially for the machine’s date of arrival in New Zealand, but the available evidence is laid out in the article, ‘The First Computer in New Zealand’ (Carpenter 2020). For the sources of most of the following story, please see the references in that article.

Why was this computer such a secret? To understand this, we have to put ourselves back into the minds of Wellington’s civil servants in the late 1950s, or indeed considerably earlier. It was in 1920 that data processing by machine became a reality in the New Zealand government, when Malcolm Fraser, the Government Statistician, returned from the British Empire Statistical Conference in London with a strong recommendation that the 1921 census data should be processed using Powers punched card equipment. By contrast, for the same purpose, Australia had chosen Hollerith equipment, as Fraser discovered during a stop in Melbourne near the beginning of his voyage to London. He was delayed by a dockers’ strike in Cape Town, so he was able to have discussions with his South African colleagues, who were also committed to Hollerith. On his way home from London, he spent some time on the East Coast of the USA investigating the usage of Powers and Hollerith equipment for statistical analysis, and his report to the government includes a detailed analysis leading to a final recommendation in favour of Powers. Not only did he slightly favour this equipment technically, but also he was concerned that Hollerith equipment could only be leased, not purchased, in New Zealand. As a result of his report, Powers punched card equipment quickly entered into government service.

As an aside, the 1916 New Zealand census was therefore the last one whose results were compiled manually. The census report1 notes condescendingly that:

1 Fraser, Malcolm, ‘Report on the results of a census of the population of the Dominion of New Zealand taken for the night of the 15th October, 1916,’ www3.stats.govt.nz/historic_publications/1916-census/ [retrieved 20 March 2021]

A feature of the compilation of the ‘Results of the 1916 Census’ was the employment of female clerks for the bulk of the work, a departure which was necessitated by war conditions, and which was found to work well enough in practice.

A noticeable feature of the punched card era that started in 1921 was that the people who operated the noisy, demanding machinery were almost all women, supervised by men. By 1946, the starting weekly salary for a 16-year-old Powers-Samas or Hollerith machine operator was £2/1/6 ($4.15).

To clarify the terminology, note that ‘Hollerith’ in the 1920s referred to the card format standardised by the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) in the USA, renamed in 1924 as IBM. The corresponding equipment was supplied in Britain and the Dominions by British Tabulating Machinery Ltd (BTM), which had operated since 1908 under an exclusive but restrictive contract with IBM and its predecessors. ‘Powers’ referred to the format and equipment standardised by the Powers company in the USA, later absorbed into Remington Rand. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the British company known as ‘Powers-Samas’ exclusively supplied such equipment in New Zealand.

As well as the Government Statistician, the New Zealand Railway Department also started using punched card equipment for accounting and statistical purposes in the early 1920s and business usage of punched cards must have begun soon afterwards. The British Powers-Samas company established itself locally, eventually having offices and technicians in all the main centres. Somewhat surprisingly, its main rival in the British market, BTM, colloquially known as ‘Hollerith’ in Australasia, established itself in Australia but not in New Zealand. For this and other reasons, government data processing became more and more dependent on Powers-Samas equipment. By the end of World War II, most government and private users of punched cards were Powers-Samas customers. There was some usage of Hollerith equipment, for example by the Reserve Bank but this was still supported from Australia throughout the 1950s.

This seems very odd in hindsight, because from the earliest days of electronic computers, the card format that dominated was the 80-column format developed by IBM and known in the UK and Australasia as ‘Hollerith’. As noted above, this format and the machines that processed it were supplied and supported only by BTM, even if they had no office in New Zealand. However, in the period from 1920 until the late 1950s, choosing the Powers-Samas equipment was a perfectly rational decision. In government, it was enforced by Treasury, which was fully committed to Power-Samas and had to approve all major expenditure by other departments. Reading between the lines in the archives, it is clear that Hollerith purchases were discouraged by wielding the most powerful tools at Treasury’s disposal: budget approvals and import licences. This situation changed quite suddenly in early 1959, as we shall see.

For most of the 1950s, the distinction that we now consider essential between an electronic calculator and a stored-program computer was not so clear. Both BTM and Powers-Samas sold electronic calculators with small magnetic drum memories, namely the BTM 555 and the Powers-Samas Programme Controlled Computer (PCC). In both cases the ‘programme’ was external, set on switches in the case of the PCC or a plug board in the case of the 555. For the British market, an important feature of these machines was their ability to calculate in pounds, shillings and pence, which of course gave them an advantage in New Zealand too. Records of the sales of these devices in New Zealand are not available but components of a BTM 555 are to be seen in Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, Dunedin. However, despite their speed advantage over electro-mechanical card processing equipment, their programming remained a clumsy manual process, so they were hardly more flexible than a plug-board controlled mechanical card sorter.

By the late 1950s, the advantages of internally stored programs were clear and the modern computing era began. In the UK, Powers-Samas was completely unprepared for the computer era. Their rival BTM had been freed from its restrictive agreement with IBM in 1949. BTM introduced their electronic calculator several years before Powers-Samas and marketed its stored-program electronic computer, the HEC4, also known as the BTM 1201, from late 1956. Almost inevitably, given the rapid rise of IBM as a direct competitor after 1949, Powers-Samas was merged into BTM to form International Computers and Tabulators Ltd (ICT) in March 1959, and the HEC4 was rebranded for the second time as the ICT 1201. With Powers-Samas merged into its Hollerith rival, the New Zealand Treasury necessarily abandoned its policy of preferring Powers-Samas equipment and looked to IBM instead.

The two contenders

What were these two computers, the Department of Education’s ICT 1201 and the Treasury’s IBM 650? Both were very much first-generation computers, based on thermionic valve (vacuum tube) electronics, with a magnetic drum as their main memory. Both were therefore room-sized and ran hot. There were panel switches but of course no screen or keyboard. Input was from a card reader, and output was either freshly punched cards or upper-case printing. They could therefore readily be integrated into an existing punched card operation but only if the card formats were compatible. Both the IBM and the ICT used Hollerith 80-column cards incompatible with existing Powers-Samas machinery. This effectively left all government departments with no choice but to progressively abandon Powers-Samas cards and equipment as the computer age began.

Figure 1: A HEC4 (ICT 1201) computer.

BTM publicity photo

Figure 2: Treasury’s IBM 650.

National Library

Both computers were hard to program by modern standards. To a first approximation, all programs for the ICT 1201 (Figure 1) were written in machine code on specialised coding sheets; even a fully fledged assembly language was not available. Coding was particularly tricky because the design required ‘optimum programming’, whereby the flow of code was matched to the rotation speed of the drum memory. In contrast, the IBM 650 (Figure 2) had a Symbolic Optimal Assembly Program (SOAP), among other software. Although IBM did develop Report Program Generator (RPG) in 1959, allowing convenient mapping of punched card operations into computer code, it was for the IBM 1401, not the 650. ICT had nothing of that kind for the 1201. In any case, the drum memories were tiny by today’s standards (as little as 4 kilobytes in the case of the ICT 1201), so extreme economy of programming was required. However, the 650 was an extremely successful business and scientific computer by 1960, built in the US as fast as one per day, so programming it for Treasury’s needs would have been fairly straightforward. This could probably not be said of Education’s ICT 1201.

Competition for government business

In New Zealand, the Powers-Samas registered office in the Pharmacy Building at 59 Cambridge Terrace (Figure 3), Wellington, rebranded itself as ICT at the end of June 1959. The move to Shell House, much closer to all government departments, followed soon after. ICT later evolved into ICL and moved to 126 The Terrace, until acquired by Fujitsu, now at 141 The Terrace. Thus, in early 1959 all Powers-Samas employees woke up one morning as ICT employees, which must have been a strange experience since they had been trained to think of Hollerith as the enemy. Now IBM was the enemy. As early as 1957 the New Zealand Treasury had signed a contract to lease an IBM 650, but when ICT started operations in Wellington this machine had not been delivered. The race between IBM and ICT was on.

Treasury documents in the National Archive (Archives New Zealand, n.d.) show that within a few years of the first IBM delivery in late 1960 government data processing equipment was dominated by IBM imports, in stark contrast to its domination by Powers-Samas since the 1920s. The file of requests for computer import licences between 1965 and 1975 contains a long sequence of letters of application from IBM in almost the same words except for the name of IBM’s customer in each case. (A notable exception was the import of Burroughs B6700 machines for five universities, negotiated in 1971.) From having no presence in the NZ market, IBM went from zero to hero within a few years. This was a delayed but direct result of the termination of their agreement with BTM in late 1949, which at the same time as freeing BTM to develop their own computers, released IBM to compete with them for business in Commonwealth countries. However, it was not until 1957 that IBM Australia secured that crucial first contract to lease an IBM 650 to the NZ Treasury.

Although many factors were at play, including various government require­ments for statistical analysis and the DSIR’s need for much more calculation power than mechanical or electro-mechanical machines could provide, the main concern of both Treasury and the Department of Education by the mid-1950s was the mundane business of payrolls. Treasury had to calculate salaries and print cheques for 20,000 public servants every fortnight, and that number was steadily increasing. Education had to pay some 13,000 teachers around the country, and due to the post-war baby boom, this number was rapidly growing. This was not handled by Treasury, although of course the money came from them. On the contrary, New Zealand then had twelve local education boards, each managing the payroll for its area. Teachers were paid monthly, but their union (known today as NZEI Te Riu Roa) was pressing urgently for fortnightly payments. It was common ground between Education and Treasury that this required centralisation of the work in Wellington, and that Education would need some kind of modern machinery to achieve this. As early as August 1954, Treasury agreed that Education could spend a modest amount of money on Powers-Samas punched card equipment for this purpose, preferring this offer to one from Hollerith since the latter had no local support office.

Figure 3: ICT New Zealand's first registered office, Cambridge Terrace, Wellington.

BE Carpenter

Figure 4: ICT moved to Shell House on The Terrace.

National Libraryr

The Treasury files are largely silent on this question from then on, unless a skilled archivist can discover more. But as noted above, in 1957 Treasury effectively deserted Powers-Samas by committing to an IBM 650. And in the end, whatever had happened about the 1954 proposal for