Sir Ian Taylor may be a pioneer in technology and animation but it is from the past he draws his strength and innovation.

A keynote speaker for February’s East Coast Farming Expo, the lad from Raupunga brings a fresh perspective to the effect of COVID on our blue planet, and how to set Aotearoa back on track for a sustainable future.

Now Dunedin based, he owns Animation Research whose team has created the magic that allowed people from all over the world enjoy ground-breaking commercials. More importantly, he created platforms that allow everyone to enjoy a bird’s eye real-time 3D view of the America’s Cup, among other sports. ARL are lauded as one of the world’s leading sports graphics companies. 

He constantly pushes the Government on important matters, like MIQ, their response to COVID and the future of New Zealand.  

“We met the challenge of Covid that shut down all of our overseas events by designing a remote studio platform that means we now do all of our sports coverage globally – from our studios here in Dunedin – reducing our carbon footprint from air travel by almost 90%. We approached the pandemic as an opportunity, not a challenge, and it has changed the way we do business globally.”

But as high-flying as it all is, this is a man with his feet firmly on the ground.

“Ko ngā tahu ā ō tapuwae inanhi, hei tauira mō āpōpō”,” he says. “The footsteps laid down by our ancestors centuries ago create the paving stones on which we stand today.”

Sir Ian is proud of his Ngāti Kahungunu whakapapa and while internationally lauded for his work in technology and animation is quick to share the credit and says he’s no businessman and wouldn’t know what an entrepreneur is. But the tale of the tape tells a different story.

He’s connected across so many platforms, but one he is most proud of is Mātauranga, an initiative that encourages tamariki to learn from the past to navigate the future.

He’s given up talking to old people and instead is having conversations with youngsters. “Innovation is in our DNA,” says Sir Ian. “The greatest human migration of all time was undertaken 4000 years ago by our Polynesian tupuna.”

For him, the lightbulb moment came when he heard a presentation from Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith, a principal investigator for National Geographic’s genographic project.

From Africa to Aotearoa tells how a small band of humans left Africa 60,000 years ago, spread across the entire globe and finally journeyed to Aotearoa – the longest and most dangerous mission of all.

“The voyage across the Pacific was arguably the most spectacular untold story of history. That was my tupuna and I had never heard it before. I realised the two cultures coming together is what has made us what we are.”

He struggled to raise the $1million to produce the Mātauranga platform that would be a free tool for schools across Aotearoa to use, build their own regional stories and share with others. That was until Christchurch businessman Dennis Chapman gave him $500,000. “It wouldn’t have happened without him,” says Sir Ian.

“Schools are now coming on board to create lesson plans and tell their own stories as well. In Hokianga, for example, they tell their story of Kupe for other schools to follow.”

New Zealand’s real history needs to be told, and shared, and Sir Ian has no trouble having robust discussion with those who opt for blinkers. Parents say they have never seen their children so engaged. “My faith is fully in our tamariki who will change things in one generation,” he says. “The whole celestial navigation thing is firmly in our DNA. When the sun and stars aren’t there, lie in the hull of the waka and feel where Papatūānuku is taking you.”

Sir Ian worries that not enough people are listening to Papatūānuku. “Look what happened during COVID – Papatūānuku is speaking to us but we aren’t listening. She showed us what happens when you take cars off the road, planes out of the air, talk to your neighbours . . . and that as we face the next big challenge of climate change that we need to be working together.”

And this is where farmers have a big part to play. “Farmers listen – they are the closest to Papatūānuku in many ways. We are a very clever technology focused country, so we need to encourage farmers to use technology to do the job better. So many of them are doing amazing stuff but we are driving wedges between farmers with cows and townies . . . and yet we go to the supermarket and buy three plastic bottles of milk and take all the meat from the chiller.”

Sir Ian said instead of regulating and forcing farmers to do things, how about delving into how New Zealand could be like it once was as the farming nation of the world. “We should be leading the way. It doesn’t solve the global problem but for New Zealand the future of farming lies in high value products from a sustainable practice.”

Sir Ian, who is at the Expo thanks to the ongoing support of Pāmu, will be the keynote speaker on Thursday (February 24). Pāmu head of communications Simon King says the company is proud to be involved with bringing Sir Ian to the Expo.

“Sir Ian is an extraordinary Kiwi with a great story to tell,” says Simon. “We are really are really proud to be helping bring Sir Ian to the Expo so that farmers can hear his take on innovation and the environment – both areas that Pāmu is also passionate about. As a large farmer, we can often try things, and innovate and pass on our learnings to the wider farming sector. We share Sir Ian’s desire to see innovative thinking solve some of the issues that farmers face.”

WHAT: East Coast Farming Expo

WHEN: February 23-24, 2022

WHERE: Wairoa A&P Showgrounds

MORE INFO: www.eastcoastexpo.co.nz

ends