Review of the New Zealand Product Accelerator: an assessment of its performance, value and optimum role in growing the value and commercial success of New Zealand’s manufacturing sector

The New Zealand Product Accelerator (the NZPA) is a publicly funded research network run out of the University of Auckland. The NZPA includes a core team at the University of Auckland that does upfront engagement work with businesses to help define their R&D needs, and expert researchers at eight institutions who receive a small amount of funding to provide on-call research capacity for the NZPA’s clients.

The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) commissioned Sapere Research Group and ThinkPlace New Zealand in June 2023 to conduct a review of the NZPA. The review aims to further understand the NZPA’s current role in New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem and identify what its optimal role could be in the future.

The team from Sapere were David Moore, Jeff Loan and Lockie Woon, working alongside staff from ThinkPlace: Peter Harrison, Cara Adler, Ben Harris-Finnigan, and Prof. Beth Webster.

The report attached is a public version of a report submitted to MBIE. It withholds the review team’s analysis of future state options and recommendations for expanding the NZPA to protect the confidentiality of advice.