Dr. Simon McCallum has deep family roots in Southland dating back 150 years. He was born in Christchurch and lived in Mount Sommers, Dunedin, Greymouth, South Auckland, and Hawera before returning to Otago to study Computer Science at University.

His PhD is in AI, modelling how sleep and dreams help consolidate memory. He started lecturing in 1999, creating the first Game Development courses in New Zealand in 2004. The creation of that game course led, 15 years later, to the Center of Digital Excellence (CODE) project running in Dunedin and now expanding to the rest of the country. He currently teaches at Victoria University of Wellington, and NTNU in Norway (remotely).

Having worked with agricultural research it is clear that both farming and tourism have become high tech industries. I believe the future of Southland is embracing innovation and creating the highest quality products and most engaging tourist experiences in the world.