The formation of such an alliance is an important sign of 'the maturation of the industry', Peat said. 'I think in the next three to four months we will see the key players in the fold.'

There has been 'collectively a great movement' towards the goal of industry support for ICTNZ since the beginning of the year, Dawson said.

'We have always been strong supporters of the idea,' said Karen Pettett, head of the HealthIT Alliance. However, for an official update, she directed Computerworld to Gavin Wright, the cluster's representative at the ICTNZ table. He was not immediately available for comment.

The least committed of the major ICT bodies is InternetNZ. 'We're not officially committed, but we're talking to [ICTNZ's organizers],' said president Colin Jackson.

'We don't have a formal view. You can assume we'd be friendly to it and maybe eventually more than friends, but who knows?'