The Dunedin City Council economic development unit is investigating whether there is an opportunity to create a designated technology precinct between the Octagon and Jetty St.
Economic development unit business development adviser Graham Strong said a technology precinct would add to the strong ICT cluster activities being undertaken by technology companies.
There were about 180 ICT companies in Dunedin, according to latest research by Berl Group.
"A lot of those companies are between the Octagon and Jetty St, so we need to know is there something we can do to promote that," Mr Strong said.
A University of Otago student had been working with the unit to investigate the concept, Mr Strong said.
Results were not expected before the end of the year and they could go either way.
Either the industry was "fired up" about it or the matter was in the too-hard basket.
The ICT cluster had been operating for about two years but the real action had started in the middle of last year when work was undertaken identifying projects to help the cluster progress.
The unit focused on companies that made things, or developed things such as software.
Those companies were invited to send their chief executive officers to join the CEO forum and about 50 of those attended the cluster meetings, he said.
There was a general ICT cluster which anyone could attend.
Both clusters were identifying issues that affected the industry.
One of those issues was staffing and retaining talented graduates from the university.
The cluster applied to the industry project fund for help and last year received a grant of $44,000 to help set up an intern programme.
Eighteen companies joined the programme and agreed that $4000 was fair remuneration for a summer intern.
Each company could have up to three interns and they would receive a subsidy of $2300 for each intern.
The programme would be officially launched in June or July, when most students were considering summer work.
"It gives employers a chance to sort out quality employees and it gives the students a bit of a feel for working in the real world.
"It's also a chance for companies to have someone take up the work they need done."
Last week, the ICT cluster received another $19,000 grant to bring in an overseas specialist in "life cycle management".
The concept was "lean manufacturing" for information technology, Mr Strong said.
"The key thing for ICT companies when they undertake a project is to commit time, money and resources.
"Not every business is involved in every project but those that are must commit those three things."
