'New Zealand wants you': the problem with tech at the edge of the world

“新西兰要你了”：世界边缘的科技难题

At the end of 2017, an unusual job advertisement appeared in New Zealand. Responsibilities included planning for future workforce needs, responding to “emerging and disruptive technologies” and improving digital access. The salary was $400,000.

在 2017 年底，一则不同寻常的招聘广告在新西兰发布。职责包括：未来劳动力需求规划、改善“新兴且仍显混乱的技术领域”以及提高网络普及程度。年薪为 40 万美元。

The advert wasn’t placed by a Silicon Valley tech giant, but the government seeking the nation’s first ever “chief technology officer”.

这份招聘广告并不是由硅谷科技巨头发布的，而是新西兰政府，想找到国家第一位“首席科技官”。

The creation of the CTO role and a new “global impact visa” specifically to lure entrepreneurs, investors and tech start-ups are key parts of that push.

创建首席科技官的角色和全新的“全球影响力”签证，专门用来吸引企业家、投资人和科技创业公司，这正是此举的关键部分。

“If you want to make a positive global impact,” pleads a video for the government’s global impact visa. “New Zealand wants you.”

“如果你想为全球带来积极的影响力，”政府的全球影响力签证视频里这样提到。“那么新西兰就要你了。”

Despite the bold talk – including the slogan “this is the place of the possible” – investment still lags astronomically far behind the two biggest earners of agriculture and tourism.

先不谈豪言壮语，这其中包括“此地凡事皆有可能”这样的口号。和带来最高收入的农业与旅游业相比，技术方面的投资依然严重落后。

However, that might be about to change. Green MP Gareth Hughes recently told the Spinoff: “There is a limit to how many tourists we can cram into Fiordland with the infrastructure. There is a limit to how many cows we can have in our paddocks, and we are seeing that in the state of our waterways. There is no limit to the export of software, services and intellectual property in creative industries.”

不过，这也许到了做出改变的时候。近日，绿党议员加里斯·休斯这样和本地媒体 Spinoff 说道：“借助现有的基础设施，我们可以把多少游客塞进峡湾是有限的。围场里能容纳多少头牛也是有限的，我们现在水资源的状况也证实了这一点。但是能输出多少软件、服务平台和创意产业的知识财产，是无限的。”

—————  文章来源 / 卫报

重点词汇

workforce/ˈwɜːrkfɔːrs/

n. 劳动力，全体从业人员

emerging/iˈmɜːrdʒɪŋ/

adj. 新兴的，发展初期的

e.g.

emerge

disruptive/dɪsˈrʌptɪv/

adj. 引起混乱的，捣乱的

lure/lʊr/

v. 吸引，引诱

entrepreneur/ˌɑːntrəprəˈnɜːr/

n. 企业家

start-up/ˈstɑːrt ʌp/

n. 刚起步的公司（尤指互联网）；创业公司

plead/pliːd/

v. 解释，论证，提到

lag/læɡ/

v. 落后于，拖后

e.g.

My computer is lagging.

astronomically/ˌæstrəˈnɑːmɪkli/

adv. 极其巨大地

infrastructure/ˈɪnfrəstrʌktʃər/

n. 基础设施，基础结构

waterway/ˈwɑːtərweɪ/

n. 水路，航道

intellectual property

知识财产，知识产权