News and Events New Hawaiki Cable a "watershed" moment REANNZ celebrated its new Hawaiki with a launch hosted by the University of Otago. At the launch event, Otago University's Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise, Professor Richard Blaikie with REANNZ's CEO Nicole Ferguson, and Remi Galasso, CEO of Hawaiki Cable. REANNZ celebrated its new Hawaiki with a launch hosted by the University of Otago showcasing what this new capability means for New Zealand’s researchers, scientists and students.CEO Nicole Ferguson described the new Hawaiki Cable capacity as a watershed moment for New Zealand.“I’m delighted that REANNZ members are among the first to benefit from this high-speed connection on one of the newest and most advanced submarine cables in the world.“For the first time New Zealand has its own dedicated, high-speed connectivity to the US and Australia."“It means that New Zealand is now on the global research map - we’re no longer hidden behind Australia.”The capacity provides a stepping stone to over 2000 universities and research institutions in the US and a further 17,00 other locations around the world.The launch featured presentations by Dr Sandhya Ramrakha, Research Manager for the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, and Dave MacLaurin, IT Enterprise Architect, both from the University of Otago, on how they are using the new Hawaiki cable capability to create a world first for their own research.Otago is working in partnership with the respected Duke University, in the US, which is analysing MRI brain scans of the 1000-strong cohort in the renown Dunedin Study. Last month alone Duke carried out over 37 million data transfers as part of the project, which would not have previously been possible.Associate Professor Mik Black also talked about how it supports other strategic research platforms such as Genomics Aotearoa.REANNZ has a 25-year anchor tenancy on the Hawaiki Cable to which the government has contributed $15 million.The new capacity was lit and handed over to REANNZ in August. Since then the team have tested and accepted the capacity and transitioned REANNZ members onto the new service.Last month Hawaiki cable was named the best subsea project in 2018 in the annual Global Carrier Awards.
