25 June 2020 at 9:00 am
Future Focus Programme seeds innovation
ENZ has reallocated $1.2 million of funding to the international education industry to help sectors plan and position themselves for the post-COVID world.
The Future Focus Programme is a new initiative which will provide $200,000 per sector in funding to help peak bodies seed innovation projects.
The school, university, private training establishment (PTE), polytechnic (ITP), English language, and education products and services sectors are all being supported through this programme.
The funding is to be used by peak bodies to develop an innovation plan for their sector, and to initiate innovation projects. Innovation projects are to focus in the areas of product development, online delivery, new business models and the development of innovation capability.
Through this support, ENZ wishes to encourage sectors to adopt new ways of working to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 or similarly unprecedented events.
“The Future Focus Programme is a tangible way in which ENZ can help support sectors to shape their future in the ‘new normal’ post COVID-19,” ENZ General Manager – Partnerships & Marketing, Paul Irwin, says.
“The programme is additional to our normal activities and is designed with a clear focus on innovation – part of Goal 2 of the New Zealand International Education Strategy. With all the uncertainty we are currently facing, this programme is an opportunity to take stock of what COVID-19 means for how international education can operate in the future and develop new products, services, behaviours and models to help us be more resilient to change.”
“We’re pleased to be working alongside peak bodies to help shape their future focus plans and we look forward to seeing the launch of a number of innovative projects.”
ENZ is working alongside peak bodies as they develop their innovation plans and identify prospective innovation projects. These plans and projects will be agreed over the coming weeks.
Delivery timeframes will vary according to the peak body and the scale and nature of the projects they initiate, but projects are expected to be implemented over the coming 12 to 18 months.
