FutureFive New Zealand - Consumer technology news & reviews from the future

Opinion Stories

Kiwi Stories

Opinion stories

Sovereignty by design: Building New Zealand's digital resilience
Disaster Recovery

Sovereignty by design: Building New Zealand's digital resilience

A mix of local and global systems could shield New Zealand services from cyberattacks and natural hazards while preserving control over critical data.

By Lewis Mills • 6 min read • Yesterday
Palmerston North City Council's average daily fuel bill rises by $820
Inflation

Palmerston North City Council's average daily fuel bill rises by $820

Rising pump prices are forcing the council to trim roading work, after fuel spending climbed by $200,000 in eight months.

By Rebecca Hogan • 3 min read • 3 days ago
House buyers 'in the driver's seat' - QV
Real estate

House buyers 'in the driver's seat' - QV

Home sellers face weaker demand as QV says buyers have the upper hand and the average New Zealand house value has slipped to $892,580.

By Susan Edmunds • 3 min read • 3 days ago

Global Stories

Opinion stories

Rethinking what happens at card expiry
Customer Experience

Rethinking what happens at card expiry

Banks are testing secure ways to collect expired payment cards and turn the recovered plastic into new products, benches and pellets.

By Karen Coe • 5 min read • Yesterday
Data Governance in the AI Era: Why One-Off Projects Fail
Data Analytics

Data Governance in the AI Era: Why One-Off Projects Fail

AI pilots are stalling because weak data quality and unclear ownership keep organisations from turning governance spend into measurable gains.

By Bobby Joseph • 8 min read • Yesterday
AI agents in IT service management and cloud operations
Risk & Compliance

AI agents in IT service management and cloud operations

Teams can save time on tickets, incident summaries and cloud cost checks, but production changes still need named human approval.

By Krunal Panchal • 5 min read • 2 days ago
Everyone gets one Halloween a year. Finance teams get twelve
Accounts payable

Everyone gets one Halloween a year. Finance teams get twelve

Late-arriving receipts, approvals and invoices force finance teams into repeated month-end firefights, wasting time that should be spent on judgement.

By Tanu Kaushik • 4 min read • 2 days ago
7 Steps to Implement Digital Identity Verification Successfully
Customer Experience

7 Steps to Implement Digital Identity Verification Successfully

Poorly designed checks can block genuine customers or let fraudsters through, so leaders need a risk-based verification flow that preserves conversion.

By Shivani Pimpili • 5 min read • 3 days ago
Australia needs more skilled workers. It also needs to stop wasting their time
Construction

Australia needs more skilled workers. It also needs to stop wasting their time

Technicians are losing up to two hours a day to admin, squeezing capacity and worsening delays as labour shortages bite across essential industries.

By Andrew Wiltshire • 5 min read • 3 days ago
Designing for data sovereignty: Building architectures that keep control where it belongs
Software-as-a-Service

Designing for data sovereignty: Building architectures that keep control where it belongs

As AI pipelines spread data across jurisdictions, rigid architectures are turning compliance into a costly risk for enterprises.

By Craig Gravina • 5 min read • 3 days ago
Private 5G in Australia and New Zealand: a guide for industrial organisations
Manufacturing

Private 5G in Australia and New Zealand: a guide for industrial organisations

Industrial firms can use private 5G to cut downtime, improve safety and support automation where Wi-Fi and public mobile networks fall short.

By John Boladian • 5 min read • 3 days ago
AI in Retail is Only as Good as its Data Foundation
Customer Relationship Management

AI in Retail is Only as Good as its Data Foundation

Retailers risk losing customer loyalty to AI agents unless they clean and enrich data, as BCG says GenAI browser traffic to US sites is up 4,700%.

By Greg Brown • 4 min read • 4 days ago
AI isn't the problem, Australia's natural resources industry needs business orchestration
Digital Transformation

AI isn't the problem, Australia's natural resources industry needs business orchestration

Fragmented systems could blunt AI gains in Australian resources, leaving maintenance, finance and supply chains harder to coordinate safely.

By Justin Grose • 4 min read • 4 days ago
Is your office pushing you into 'survival mode'?
Hybrid & Remote Work

Is your office pushing you into 'survival mode'?

Poorly designed offices can raise stress and sap concentration, with noise, glare and poor lighting pushing some staff into survival mode.

By Anna Chisholm Rob Kelly and Lisa Leong • 4 min read • 4 days ago
Plan the play, not just the placement
AFL

Plan the play, not just the placement

Marketers are shifting spend beyond the broadcast as fan attention now builds across commutes, pubs and stadium approaches before kick-off.

By Ben Baker • 4 min read • 4 days ago

Stories from Other Regions

Opinion stories

APAC's stablecoin future won't be defined by a single token
Payment Technologies

APAC's stablecoin future won't be defined by a single token

Asia-Pacific businesses are likely to use several stablecoins in one payment flow, as cross-border transactions still face slow settlement and fragmentation.

By Vincent Chok • 4 min read • 4 days ago
Why your whole business needs to be investor-ready right now
Data Protection

Why your whole business needs to be investor-ready right now

Founders who wait to tidy up records risk costly delays when investors probe contracts, IP assignments and board minutes in due diligence.

By Rob Steele • 7 min read • Last week