SilverStripe's silver lining for Wellington

It is no surprise to hear that SilverStripe are both "proud and excited" to announce their selection to build the Common Web Platform for the New Zealand public sector.

But it seems the Department of Internal Affairs have made Wellington equally as "proud and excited", with city Mayor Celia Wade-Brown adding her congratulations to the company.

"It's critical for Wellington's economy that we see more successes like this, with local companies fulfilling significant national contracts," Wade-Brown says.

"Promotion of these businesses success is a strong part of Wellington’s Digital Strategy."

Quoting Sir Tim Berners-Lee, no introduction needed, Wade-Brown agrees "open markers work better on open platforms."

And Wellington is certainly open for business, hoping to create 10,000 jobs in the city as part of the Government's Economic Development strategy.

"Wellington is the IT and digital capital of New Zealand and it’s great to see the Government showing confidence in our companies," says Jo Coughlan, Economy Portfolio leader.

"We are able to compete with the best in the world.

"Whilst we have a world class public service, SilverStripe's success is example of another world class businesses operating from Wellington."

As tedious official spiel goes, that ticks all the boxes, but the repetition of world, three times for those not counting, highlights an expanding thought process in the capital.

Working alongside SilverStripe will be Wellington-based Revera, helping the company through their government IaaS tools, and casting an even bigger tech spotlight on the city.

Carrying the weight of an expectant Mayor and city, SilverStripe will build a Platform as a Service version of SilverStripe CMS, targeted specifically at the needs of the New Zealand public sector.

"As well as being a great validation of our product, we see this as an opportunity to help push the envelope in the way that the public sector can make use of the web," says SilverStripe's blog.

Can Wellington use such boosts to further development it's growing IT industry? Tell us your thoughts below