Dannie Jefferies

Dannie is passionate about business improvement through the use of digital technology.

"Electronic commerce is shaping the future of business. We don’t know what technological advancements are right around the corner, but Waikato’s Master of Digital Business means you can be right on the edge of development, not waiting for it to happen but creating it," she says.

"The MDigiBus degree has been very rewarding. It has given me the confidence I needed around digital strategy and problem solving. The recognition and support I've received from the lecturers has just been phenomenal."

Dannie says she was excited when Waikato first offered a Bachelor of Electronic Commerce, as she wanted to start a career in IT, "but my children were very young at the time so I decided to wait until they were older".

After 28 years of juggling children, work, and starting her own web design business, Dannie finally realised her ambition to complete her bachelor's degree in electronic commerce in 2015.

She then decided to keep studying for her Master of Digital Business, researching the role of organisational gamificiation in motivating, rewarding and engaging employees, and subsequently went on to complete a PhD in Digital Business.

"I am fascinated with how technology can be leveraged for competitive advantage," says Dannie, who is now employed as a teaching fellow in digital business at the University of Waikato.

"My research takes a kaupapa Māori approach to explore how gamification can be used to support positive health behaviour change. I am proud to be of Ngāti Apa descent and enjoy learning about my own heritage and whakapapa as I travel along my PhD journey."

"My advice to future MDigiBus students is to always be flexible and open to new opportunities.”