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This page lists local IT companies which have an association with this department, either because they were founded by or graduates or students, or because they employ them.

The Computer Science department has been very influential in the local tech scene in Dunedin, which is now entering a period of large growth.

Becoming New Zealand's Gigatown has been instrumental in creating growth: Dunedin now has the fastest internet speeds in the Southern Hemisphere.

Dunedin is also the host for the New Zealand Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE), a government-backed hub designed to support a sustainable and equitable expansion of our video game development industry.

New Zealand Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE) website

Local companies started by our students, graduates or staff

  • ADInstruments — ADI creates tools for science research and education. This company was started 30 years ago by Michael Macknight, the current CEO, when he was a student at our department, as a 3rd year project. Now the company employs 70 people in Dunedin, and another 150 around the world, with staff numbers expected to rise.
  • Animation Research Limited — This company started in 1990, now has 35 employees in Dunedin, and another 15 elsewhere in the world. From their site: Animation Research Limited began in 1989 as a joint venture between Taylormade Productions, a Dunedin based television production company, and the Computer Science Department of the University of Otago. The joint venture set out to explore the commercial possibilities which might exist in harnessing a 3D ray-tracing renderer which had been developed by Geoff Wyvill, leader of the Department's Graphics and Vision group.
  • Education Perfect — A powerful tool for students' daily learning, revision, and assessment. Started by Computer Science student Craig Smith. Our department helped provide premises for this in its early days.
  • CloudCannon — Their system allows easy website creation and hosting. This was started by two of our graduates, George Philips and Mike Neumegen - the original idea arose from a student project. The company is currently based in Silicon Valley, but they have a team of three in Dunedin, all of whom are also our graduates. George Philips says "Computer Science gave us both a perfect start in our careers as developers. It taught us everything from basic programming to the theory of computing. Using this base knowledge we have been able to solve all the problems we have come up against."
  • 1000 Minds — Creates tools for decision-making, prioritization and discovering stakeholders' preferences via conjoint analysis. Franz Ombler, one of the company founders, is a PhD student in the Department.
  • Igtimi — Sells high-end, marine-capable live GPS equipment for competitive water sports. This company was started by Brent Russell and our graduate Kylie Robinson. Kylie says: "My Otago Computer Science degree gave me the programming skills needed to develop our first product and as the company grows, I also use these skills to run technical projects."
  • Timely — Has 27 staff in Dunedin – and its staff numbers are expected to rise. Quote from the ODT, 24/11/15: "An Otago Computer Science degree is known for being 'quite tough and quite well respected'. CEO Ryan Baker says he's 'pretty amazed' at the quality of Dunedin people". The co-founders of Timely, Ryan Baker and Andrew Schofield, were Otago Computer Science majors.
  • WIC — This Dunedin wireless internet provider was started by one-time lecturer in the Computer Science Department Dr Stuart Fleming.

Local companies employing our graduates

  • The Tarn Group
  • MixBit — From the Otago Daily Times, 24/11/15: "The quality of people coming out of Otago [University and Polytech] is on par with and sometimes better than the people coming out of the big universities in America".
  • Natural History New Zealand — From the ODT: "Dunedin is a 'brilliant' environment for tech start-ups."
  • Areograph Ltd
  • Tracmap — Until recently the CTO was an ex-lecturer of ours, Dr Nathan Rountree.
  • Thankyou payroll
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