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Professional Engineers Welcome Launch of Road Safety Strategy 2010 - Oct 5, 2000 The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) welcomed today's launch of the Road Transport Safety Strategy 2010. Its Chief Executive Andrew Cleland said "New Zealand's road toll is one of the worst in the Western World and needs to be drastically lowered". He added that, "while the reasons are complex, our under investment in roading has to be one of the significant reasons behind the low level of road safety". While recognising that many decisions had yet to be made he "hoped that politicians would back up their rhetoric with investing in our roading system to make it safer for all". IPENZ Deputy Chief Executive John Gardiner who has responsibility for Engineering Practice added "Getting the final strategy right is going to be a balance between engineering solutions and modification of driver behaviour". Whatever final strategy is chosen he concluded, "our roading and vehicle engineers continue to strive for innovative designs which are forgiving of driver mistakes but keep costs as minimal as practicable". For further information contact: Dr Andrew Cleland, Chief Executive IPENZ, John Gardiner, Deputy Chief Executive IPENZ, DELIVERY OF COMPUTING AS PART OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES IN SCHOOLS - Oct 12, 2000 The needs of young people for education in the broad area of "computing" are often misunderstood according to the Institution of Professional Engineers NZ's Chief executive, Andrew Cleland. "All our young people are going to need to be computer-literate, of that there is little doubt. We now live in a world of 4 R's - Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic and computeR literacy. We need to see the ability to use a computer in a sensible manner in that light. Within the next 5 years every student entering high school needs to have a basic level of computer literacy." However, many people are confusing this basic need for literacy with the specialist fields of computer science, and information and communications technology. We have a major issue to deal with in our education system in senior high school - computer science is a valid science in its own right - like physics or chemistry, and we need to recognise it as such. It is a specialist area where people learn higher level computer programming, information organisation, and computer system hardware skills. There is a high demand for people with this type of skills. Additionally, the last few years has seen the development of the discipline of software engineering - the systematic use of engineering in development of computer software - at IPENZ we now recognise this as true engineering says Virginia Burton, IPENZ's Manager Qualifications. The Technology curriculum in schools requires students to develop wide-based
technological literacy across seven technological areas, all seen as
important to New Zealand. One of these is the area of information and
communication technology. At the moment, we have the silly situation
where because of our inability to handle the computer literacy issues
and the computer science subject need adequately there is huge pressure
on "technology" to become distorted to somehow build in these needs.
Of course Technology uses computers in many ways, but is not a subject
about computing. We have to question whether the lobbying we hear for
building computing further within technology is in the good of our young
people, Andrew Cleland says. At the end of the day, we need to take
a nationally responsible view so that the curriculum as a whole creates
literate young people, equipped for life after school, computer-literate,
with chances to explore computer science if they so wish, but we also
need the excellent elements we are trying to create in technology to
be developed without compromise to other needs. Professional Engineers Welcomes Outcomes of Business-Government Forum - Oct 25, 2000 The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) welcomed the outcomes of yesterday's Business-Government Forum as a first small step in the right direction. Its Chief Executive Andrew Cleland said "while there is lots to be done in getting the policy settings right for the new economy, yesterdays Forum appears to have made progress". He added that, "whilst innovation is now the buzz word very few people understand what a commitment to being innovative really means. Businesses cannot go out and buy innovations or innovators like other forms of resources. Instead there needs to be a carefully designed programme educating young people in the skills of product and process development, and establishing technology transfer pathways. Developing a knowledge economy requires long term policies and the development of new and very different attitudes in the wider community". Government must continue to show its strong valuing of wealth-creating activities by long term involvement of the most senior Cabinet Ministers in setting policy for such activities. These people, through their standing, can ensure the development of new attitudes in the wider community - that being an innovator, whether using scientific, engineering or artistic creativity is something the whole country values. At the moment our best brains shy away from such entrepreneurial careers, which are of course risky, seeking the safety net of other professions that do not earn for the country. As a nation we have to change our attitude so parents advising their children encourage them to start their own businesses exploiting home-developed intellectual property, not seek a safe career employed by someone else. Whilst Dr Cleland applauded the announced changes to the research and development taxation treatment he added "this in itself is just a first step. Tax incentives do not create the supply of the right people with the right attitude to create and realise the new intellectual property on which future prosperity will be based". There is a grand irony that now, when the science, technology and engineering education system at tertiary level is almost on its knees through years of under-funding by international standards, that we finally turn to it to supply many of the innovators we so badly need. For further information contact: Dr Andrew Cleland, Chief Executive
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