The privately funded think-tank says New Zealand has generated strong economic growth over the past 15 years and the challenge now is to sustain this growth or even to raise it further.

It is a demanding challenge; New Zealand's per capita income ranks 21st out of 30 OECD countries and remains over a quarter lower than Australia's.

NZI chief executive David Skilling says there is a "pronounced link" between productivity growth and countries that were early adopters of ICT.

"The development of IT is an important part of raising productivity," he says.

Two thirds of the economic growth in New Zealand during the past 15 years has been due to growth in hours worked, and only one third has been due to labor productivity growth. Because hours worked will grow at a much slower rate over the next 15 years, this is not a sustainable growth strategy, says an OECD report on productivity. It concludes that increased exporting and international investment by local firms are crucial to achieving faster productivity growth.