Otago Innovation Ltd and its track record
We write in response to the letter to the editor from Joe Spingoli (ODT, 2.5.23).
In that letter, comparisons were made with University of Otago commercialisation revenue (via Otago Innovation Ltd) and commercialisation revenues from Auckland University.
Firstly, we want to establish that comparing the two institutions or any of the New Zealand university commercialisation offices is not "comparing apples with apples".
The functions and structures of each organisation are very different.
Therefore such a comparison is misleading.
A recent annual Australasian Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR) report, compared individual New Zealand institutions for the first time.
In this, there are significant differences in commercial and research revenues from the various commercialisation offices.
In providing data for this report, Otago Innovation did not include relevant components of the University of Otago's $80 million in commercial and consulting revenues (UO annual report 2021).
This sits outside of Otago Innovation’s structure.
Had this been included, Mr Spingoli’s comparison may have been more appropriate.
We can assure Mr Spingoli and others, that Otago Innovation is making excellent progress on the commercialisation of a number of innovations.
One such example is the ENGAGE programme licensing to Methodist Mission Southern.
We welcome discussion and debate and new thinking around innovation and commercialisation and value input from the wider community.
Pseudo banter?
Is Mr Eckhoff's envy (Opinion, 3.5.2023) of the international recognition of the exceptional excellence of Jacinda Ardern's leadership style allied to the disgracefully tasteless jape in Mr Stephen Jack's pseudo-banter? His claimed flippancy wasn't harmlessly general — didn't he use the pronoun "I" ? Nor was it cleverly satirical. In what civilised context does that kind of underlying boorish misogyny make someone a "fit and proper" representative of electors?
Dog control
Most animal lovers posit that dogs are our best friends but this does not apply to sheep or other canines who maul sheep and lambs (ODT 2.5.23). Farmer Bill Malcolm is understandably livid because the owner of two dogs who were both unsupervised and running free has escaped prosecution. Moreover, Bill, was told that the time limit for lodging the prosecution had ceased. This left farmer Bill to exclaim that although he had been dealing with the Waitaki District Council he thought them to be muppets. Euthanising the dogs is not an excuse for the non-prosecution. Some district councils argue that staff shortages result in them failing to prosecute dog owners — who should have not only been prosecuted under the relevant section of the Dog Control Act but convicted. This is no excuse.
Hospital solution
I have a solution to the new Dunedin hospital. Get the army in to build a field hospital which can be put up quickly. Then give consultants the remaining money they are getting anyway through all the changes.
Wars, propaganda and freedom of the press
With Anzac Day having just passed, and World Press Freedom Day having taken place on Tuesday, it is worth examining the connection between war and press freedom.
Wars are mainly fought between tribes, countries and nations, to protect and further the ideological, sectarian, economic and resource interests of their ruling classes, and/or to distract their people from the suffering imposed on them by those elites. To do this it is essential to install in the population feelings of fear and anger directed at external enemies, and the consequent willingness to go to war.
This is done using the propaganda of disinformation, misinformation, lies, omissions, half-truths, insinuations, implications and other handmaidens of collective amnesia and delusion resulting in a mass hypnosis. Millions then to go to war and are prepared to kill and be killed, supposedly all in the name of glory and self-sacrifice.
Truth is the first casualty in the build-up for war, and media, including social media, are the means by which this hypnosis is effected. Adolf Hitler put it well: "Propaganda must not serve the truth, especially as it might bring out something favorable for the opponent."
Currently, hundreds of journalists and whistleblowing citizens worldwide, are annually blacklisted, sacked, prosecuted, persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and murdered for revealing the truth, because this threatens the power and wealth of the few. When truthful information, uncorrupted by falseness, vanity or censorship, is widely available and broadcast, the reasons for war are replaced by the reasons for dialogue, diplomacy, reason and justice, from which peace inevitably follows.
That is why press freedom is so important.
Dame Edna, light-hearted but razor sharp
Not being as attuned to the niceties of Aussie accents and characters as the redoubtable Jim Sullivan, I learned much from his disquisition and appreciation of Barry Humphries on these matters in the ODT (2.04.23). Unlike our reliable, beloved Kiwi commentator, I found that the persona not so much approved of by Jim Sullivan, Dame Edna, was a wonderful interviewer, able to skewer people, institutions and ingrained attitudes with a light-hearted humour which benefited all of us – the body politic.
I agree with the observations noted by Kitty Underwood (Letters, 1.5.23) in regards to Wastebusters in Alexandra closing down. Hopefully it could provide options for students, volunteers and the unemployed to lend a hand to keep the country beautiful and not to mention to protect birds and animal life. School Strike 4 Climate Change and Extinction Rebellion could also lead the way. Every piece of rubbish recycled is a good outcome.
Why on earth would there be a monetary profit incentive to close this valuable social enterprise down when the service obviously provides work experience and also a chance to help foster community spirit and very likely friendships to people who are struggling to cope with some of life's challenges?
This enterprise should be safeguarded and as littering under the 1979 Litter Act means a $400 fine this is clearly a step to guide people on the wrong path.
I hope that this social enterprise can be redeemed before the end of June, as what is the objective to have the site re-established even in a similar position as a reuse shop?
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
