Kitmap: Supporting A Thriving Science, Innovation And Technology Sector

Friday, 20 September 2024, 2:03 pm
Press Release: Callaghan Innovation

The Science, Innovation and Technology sector is working
together to improve collaboration and access to
infrastructure and expertise via a new online
platform.

Kitmap is an online directory and database
of scientific infrastructure and equipment owned by publicly
funded institutes and is the first of its kind for Aotearoa
New Zealand.

Kitmap was announced today by Minister
for Science, Innovation and Technology, Judith Collins. The
online platform is part of a wider project led by the
Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that
seeks to optimise the use of Aotearoa New Zealand’s
science and technology research infrastructure.

“We
are excited to be part of the delivery and management of a
tool that streamlines access to facilities that also helps
to enhance collaboration and efficiency,” says Callaghan
Innovation Chief Executive, Stefan Korn.

It includes
advanced facilities such as clean rooms, Good Manufacturing
Practice (GMP) certified testing, pilot and manufacturing
infrastructure, and specialised Nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) spectroscopy capabilities that are now more
accessible.

Kitmap currently catalogues 260 R&D
items of infrastructure, specialised equipment, much of
which are found nowhere else, or not easily accessible in
this country.

It provides easy access to equipment and
facilities owned by Crown Research Institutes (CRIs), the
National eScience Infrastructure (NeSI) and Callaghan
Innovation.

“Our colleagues at MBIE have done the
heavy lifting gathering the relevant information for this
tool. As an innovation agency and R&D provider, we are
very happy to host and promote Kitmap to support improved
collaboration, and optimised resource use across the public
sector and beyond.

“We engaged with MBIE late last
year to see what we could do to help. They welcomed our
input and their shared requirements for an online tool. We
assembled our own team to deliver a dynamic platform that
provides instant access to a comprehensive directory of
R&D infrastructure and
equipment.

“As scientific fields,
interdisciplinary research and private sector R&D areas
continue to evolve rapidly, it’s crucial that our public
science and technology resources are deployed to the areas
where they can deliver the greatest impact for New
Zealand.

“And as the fourth industrial
revolution gathers pace, Kitmap will offer valuable insights
and access to a broad spectrum of research facilities and
equipment, ensuring Kiwi innovators have the tools they need
to successfully develop products and inventions.

“In
the near future Kitmap will look to incorporate generative
AI functionality to suggest potential methods and machinery
required for rapid prototyping of new products or
innovations,” says Stefan Korn.

Kitmap
resource categories
include:

• Laboratories:
  Conventional research rooms/buildings
• Field
  sites: Physical spaces for non-laboratory research
  activities
• Livestock facilities:
  Spaces for rearing or researching livestock, including
  animals, fish, and insects
• Vessels:
  Ships or boats equipped for sea
  research
• Digital collections:
  Online databases and digital
  archives
• Computing: Physical
  computing hardware or virtual
  networks
• Workshops: Spaces with CNC
  machinery, tools and equipment for rapid
  prototyping
• Sample collections:
  Physical specimen
  collections
• Monitoring: Networks of
  monitoring equipment
• Pilot plants:
  Facilities for pre-commercial production technology
  trials

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