Example of new direction

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 35

Example of new direction

LINC is a prime example of the new direction which the developers of the Canterbury Technology. Park believe New Zealand should be taking, so it is fitting that their buildings are the first to reach completion in the park. LINC, the logic information network compiler, is developed under contract to the Unisys Corporation by . the Unisys LINC Development Centre, a Christchurch-

based. , New Zealandowned company. It is now the basis for a $5O million complex with a staff of 85 and a vehicle fleet of 70 cars. Sold in some 40 countries world-wide, with a user base of about 3000, LINC is one of the principal marketing tools of the multi-national Unisys Corporation.; For the year ended December, 1987, the Unisys LINC Development Centre 1 exported $8.5

million worth of products and services. That is slightly less than twice the value of the total exports of the New Zealand wine industry for the year ended June, 1987. ■ | Of that $8.5 million, about 90 per cent came from developed product which went directly to the Unisys Corporation based in the United States. The remaining 10 per cent came from consultancy services related to tlie application of LINC f

The company's imports are negligible, just the expenses of staff members working overseas. All the costs of promoting LINC to overseas markets are taken up by the Unisys Corporation and its subsidiaries, so, the Development Centre spends essentially its entire budget in New Zealand.

The benefits to the regional and national economy have been substantial.