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The Government will invest $28.6 million operating funding (including $11.8 million of contingencies) over the next four years in three Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Graduate Schools to help address significant high-level skills shortages in the rapidly growing ICT industry, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

Innovative Kiwi businesses investing in research and development (R&D) will benefit from two new tax measures as part of Budget 2014, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say.

As a result of Budget changes, loss-making start-up companies will be able to cash out all or part of their tax losses from R&D expenditure, while all businesses will be allowed tax deductibility for R&D “black hole” expenditure that is currently neither deductible nor able to be depreciated.

Budget 2014 provides $198.6 million of operating funding for new investment in tertiary education, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

“This investment will strengthen our higher education system, improve further the quality of our universities, and help maintain their international competitiveness,” he says.

The Government will fund three additional Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) from 2016, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

Budget 2014 boosts CoREs operating funding by $53 million over four years. Annual ongoing funding will increase to $49.8 million from 2016/17 to support three additional CoREs, bringing the total number able to be funded up to 10.

The Government will increase its investment in contestable science with $56.8 million of operating funding over three years starting from 2015/16 as it continues to grow its science and innovation expenditure as part of the Business Growth Agenda, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

“High-quality scientific research is critical to increasing innovation and economic growth, and therefore to improving the lives of New Zealanders,” he says.

Continuing high demand for the Apprenticeship Reboot means the Government has decided to spend up to $20 million in Budget 2014 for an extra 6,000 places as part of its Business Growth Agenda, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

The Apprenticeship Reboot was announced in January 2013 by Prime Minister John Key alongside an overhaul of the apprenticeship scheme to get more apprentices qualified, especially in construction trades.