Polish Specialists Innovating New Zealand IT Industry

Polish New Zealand Business Association is pleased to announce the first IT conference presented by Polish professionals in New Zealand. Please join us for an IT networking event associated with complimentary drinks and snacks.

Presentations:

Voice applications and smart speakers – future of Human-Computer Interactions by Jarek Beksa

“Smart Speakers” are new on the market, especially in New Zealand. The Amazon Alexa was launched in New Zealand in 2018. They form part of the internet of things, the new generation of web technologies identified in response to the ability of multiple daily objects to connect to the internet. The popularity of these “Smart Speakers” have overwhelmed industry expectations, with predicted sales reaching a staggering 138 million in the US by 2019.

Amazon Alexa and Google Home are  a hands-free, virtual personal assistants that responds to voice commands and questions. Smart Speakers need to be connected to Internet and use a cloud-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) engine that processes and learns user’s speech and language patterns. This “teaches” the device how to respond to different enquiries, and over time the device becomes “smarter” in the sense that it can better detect what users are saying and what would be the appropriate response. Big advantage of Smart Speaker technology is their affordability and market availability.

About Jarek Beksa

Jarek Beksa has worn many hats in his career: programmer, researcher, academic lecturer, founder, designer, producer and sound engineer. Since 2009 he has designed and developed 35 applications, spanning from games and stories for kids to B2B applications. Jarek’s vision is sound – literally. He is passionate about accessibility, sound engineering, user experience, games and interactive storytelling. In years 2013 and 2014, he led the Gamification Lab’s applied research project focused on accessible user interfaces at Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany. In 2014, he was awarded The Vice Chancellor scholarship at Auckland University of Technology and moved to New Zealand for PhD studies on accessible audio games. He is a creator of award-winning Audio Game Hub and Blind Cricket simulator and the innovative Sonnar Library service on Amazon Alexa and Google Home platforms.

Digital Marketing Strategy – Methodology & Practical Tips by Chris Dzikiewicz

Digital marketing is not just using Google or Facebook. Let’s talk about what a digital wise business should know. We will explore the website measurement structure, the SEE – THINK – DO model by Avinash Kaushik and practical tips for business owners.

About Chris Dzikiewicz

He graduated from top European business schools and moved to New Zealand in 2010. He previously worked as the Digital Marketing Executive for a leading manufacturer and distributor of fireplaces in New Zealand & Australia (brands: Escea, Stoke, Spartherm).

He is now a business consultant and digital strategist for small and large businesses in the wider Pacific region (including retail, travel, software, financial services sectors). He combines strong analytical skills thanks to his finance background with a passion to drive sales via effective marketing. He has led international and multilingual marketing campaigns, which have involved managing staff and specialist agencies, and has been responsible for overseeing large marketing campaign budgets.

The real cost of R&D for small business – pros and cons of investing in the unknown by Ralf Klis

We all know that big companies hugely invest in R&D but what does it take for a small business to invest in research and development? 97% of New Zealand Businesses have less than 20 employees and in today’s fast pacing world the creativity and research of SMBs have never been so important.

We will go through the pros and cons of R&D for SMB, the importance of sharing knowledge and the costs. Finally, we’ll see the real cost of a real R&D project and its effect.

About Ralf Klis

Ralf Klis, IT architect, Certified Prince2 Practitioner, Certified ScrumMaster® with a MScs, Master’s in Computer Science and an expert in WordPress and a primary sponsor & organiser of regular WordPress meetups & conferences. Ralf’s clients have included many top-end brands such as ASB, Vodafone, Healthscope NZ, PlaceMakers and Ford. He’s the owner of FutureLab – a digital agency specialising in developing custom solutions for businesses in New Zealand and Australia.