Published on the 06/12/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
The 2014 Awards not only mark the 20th anniversary of the Awards but also the return of the Gala Dinner to Christchurch and a new home-grown online entry system…
The NZ Hi-Tech Awards recognise the whole gamut of achievements in the local hi-tech industry, including companies and products of all sizes and stages of commercialisation. This year it is celebrating Kiwi made technology in another way too, with the launch of its new online entry system.
NZ Hi-Tech Trust Chair, Wayne Norrie, said: “The Kiwi ability to look at existing technology and completely rethink it – coming up with new approaches that work even better is the key to the hi-tech industry’s success to date.
“As advocates of the Hi-Tech industry our aim is to continuously improve how we run the Awards programme and so for this year we are launching a new online entry system which we hope will improve the experience of entering the awards.”
The new entry system for 2014 has been developed in conjunction with New Zealand company Ubiquity using its online marketing platform Engage.
“We’re really pleased that after searching the world for our new system, the answer lay on our own backdoor.”
Entrants can find the full description of categories and entry criteria, plus a number of resources to help with their entry online at www.hitech.org.nz. Applications can also be lodged online.
All companies will be measured on performance for the calendar year to 31 December 2013. Entries for the 2014 Awards will close at 5pm on 3rd March 2014. Finalists will be announced at simultaneous events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch on 26th March 2014. Winners will be announced at the Gala Dinner in Christchurch on 16 May 2014.
The criteria for all the categories have been reviewed for 2014 with the most notable change being to the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise Best Contribution to the NZ Hi-Tech Sector by an Internationally Headquartered Company category. This has been opened up to include criteria which will be more suited to both multinationals and those companies that grew out of New Zealand and have now gone global.
The 12 categories for the 2014 NZ Hi-Tech Awards are:
- PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year 2014
- Cisco Hi-Tech Emerging Company 2014
- New Zealand Venture Investment Fund Hi-Tech Startup Company 2014
- Callaghan Innovation Hi-Tech Pre-Commercialisation Company 2014
- Duncan Cotterill Most Innovative Hi-Tech Software Product 2014
- New Zealand Trade & Enterprise Best Contribution to the NZ Hi-Tech Sector by an Internationally Headquartered Company 2014
- UK Trade & Investment Most Innovative Mobile Technology 2014
- Most Innovative Hi-Tech Services Product 2014
- IBM Hi-Tech Exporter of the Year (under $5m) 2014
- NZMEA Hi-Tech Exporter of the Year (over $5m) 2014
- Endace Most Innovative Hi-Tech Hardware Product 2014
- Fronde Hi-Tech Young Achiever 2014
