Kia ora
As we head into winter and reach the halfway point of the year, it’s a good moment to take stock of what’s shifting across the IoT landscape, and what’s coming up for our community.
Earlier this year we rolled out the refreshed IoT Forum New Zealand brand as part of the wider Tech New Zealand ecosystem update. We’re now settling into that next chapter, showing up more consistently across the national tech ecosystem and making it easier for members to connect and collaborate. One of the key steps is the IoT Forum New Zealand Member Hub: a member-only space to connect with the community and access events, resources, and updates in one place.
Techweek26 (18–24 May) brought a lot of activity across the country, with plenty of interesting events and discussions spanning both AI and IoT. It was a timely reminder that connected technology is still a major lever for real-world impact, especially as AI becomes increasingly embedded in how we monitor, optimise and automate.
At our recent Executive Council strategy day we agreed on a clear direction for 2026: less “talking about IoT,” more delivery. You can expect a stronger focus on practical, member-relevant outcomes, more real-world use cases and lessons learned (especially as IoT and AI converge), and clearer context on the standards and regulatory changes shaping connected products and services globally.
If you’ve got a use case to share, or a topic you’d like to see the Forum explore, please get in touch. We’re shaping our programme around what members actually need.
IoT News
- Spark NZ & Ericsson deploy private 5G at Port NelsonOne of NZ’s largest recent Industrial IoT deployments: coverage across ~30,000m² and three warehouses, enabling forklift tracking, real-time pallet scanning, push-to-talk safety comms, and a roadmap for AI vision and automation.
- Teletrac Navman research: NZ fleet equipment sits idle 50% of the time due to data blind spotsResearch highlights the real-world data integration gap: 74% cite data accessibility as the top barrier to utilisation, and 75% still rely on manual logs.
- Hunter Water expands NB-IoT smart metering pilot with Itron (2,000 Intelis wSource meters, NSW)2,000 NB‑IoT ultrasonic smart water meters deploying from Q3 2026, enabling near-real-time leak detection and consumption monitoring via Itron’s Temetra cloud platform.
- Emerson & SiMa.ai deliver Physical AI intelligence to the industrial edgeSiMa.ai’s embedded MLSoC integrated into Emerson’s rugged industrial PCs enables real-time decision-making for safety, quality, and predictive maintenance, without relying on cloud connectivity.
- Spark launches Starlink satellite-to-mobile service — IoT connectivity breakthrough for NZSatellite-to-mobile coverage without special hardware. For IoT, this expands options for remote monitoring, rural sensors, and resilience/backup connectivity.
- Amazon agrees to acquire Globalstar in ~$11.6B deal to boost Amazon Leo D2D satellite IoTA major hyperscale move into satellite connectivity: spectrum + LEO assets that could reshape how satellite IoT is packaged, procured, and scaled globally.
Member News
IoT Forum member UniServices is sharing how research-backed digital innovation can lift manufacturing productivity, and what it takes to turn strong R&D into real-world impact. Read more.
Read full news here: Strategy day update + key IoT news