NEC New Zealand has named Takashi Tada, presently general manager of corporate strategy at NEC Australia, as its new managing director. He takes over from Tetsuro Akagi, CEO of NEC Asia Pacific, who has been concurrently MD of NEC New Zealand since June following the departure of Leonard Dench as a result of ill health.
Tada has almost 20 years of experience with NEC’s global business, where he has held several senior roles with management and strategic planning responsibilities in the company’s IT and telecommunications businesses.
From 2004 to 2008 he worked at NEC Solutions Asia Pacific (now renamed NEC Asia Pacific) in Singapore and took on a leadership role in regional business expansion. He has been general manager of corporate strategy at NEC Australia since April 2015, where he is responsible for developing new businesses and leading strategic initiatives in the local market.
Akagi suggested he would have similar responsibilities in his new role, saying: "Given our new business models being devised and refined [in New Zealand], I am confident that Mr Tada will drive our innovation journey while strengthening our relationships with customers and partners.”
The company has made no specific recent announcements of “new business models”. However in June it announced a collaboration with 2degrees on smart cities and in May with Tait Wireless on mission critical wireless.
When Dench was appointed in March 2014, NEC said: “Renewed investment in New Zealand with the recent opening of the Technology Innovation Centre in Wellington and an evolving nationwide collaboration programme brings a fresh start-up ‘can do’ approach to new innovative solutions for our customers.”
Dench said he would lead NEC to “deliver on our promise of empowering people through innovation by developing total solutions to meet the needs of our local and global markets … by combining the strengths and enthusiasm of our team here in New Zealand, leveraging the wider NEC group technologies and skills, and collaborating with businesses, communities, and individuals that want to and can push the boundaries.”