With more redundancies at Callaghan Innovation as its disestablishment looms and the public service union taking a legal case to stop Health NZ shedding tech workers, we seem to willing to jettison highly skilled workers even as we pursue a growth agenda.

The government has released its framework for use of AI in the public sector, a plan on a page that includes the usual responsible AI buzzwords but is light on detail and has a few important omissions.

As New Zealand (among others) has discovered in the past decade, influencing the behaviour of these companies is easier said than done. It has repeatedly found itself struggling to effectively manage big tech’s impact on its society and economy.

A long overdue plan for the science sector was released this week with plans for a new research institution to focus on AI, quantum and synthetic biology. But Callaghan Innovation will disappear in the biggest innovation shake-up in 30 years.

Are government job listings genuine opportunities, or just a performance for the sake of process? And more importantly, what can be done to fix the growing cracks in the public sector workforce and its impact on the broader economy?

While federal efforts on issues like Section 230 reform and children’s online protection may advance, federal-level AI regulation and data privacy laws could potentially slow down due to the administration’s deregulatory stance.