Thames business wins national award

Thames business wins national award

A key focus for our Council is economic development and how an area like the Coromandel can attract investment, new businesses and create the right climate for job creation.

An example of a successful local company working in the IT sector is Thames-based Guru Digital Media, which won the web and digital project of the year at the Association of Local Government Information Management (ALGIM) awards, for the development of Northland Regional Council's pest and weeds website.

"We want to congratulate Guru for their success at the ALGIM awards," says our Mayor Sandra Goudie.

"It's just fantastic to see the calibre of local Coromandel businesses like Guru thriving and doing so well on the national stage," says Mayor Sandra.

Guru is a full-service digital production house based in Thames, consisting of nine permanent staff and four contractors. They help organisations grow, develop their online presence and make business processes more efficient through digital solutions.

Guru is a passionate full-service digital production house based in Thames, consisting of ninepermanent staff and four contractors. They help organisations grow, develop their online presence and make business processes more efficient through digital solutions.

The annual ALGIM awards recognise and celebrate best practice within local government information and communication technology. They aim to encourage local authorities to be innovative and to exercise technological leadership through services to its community. The awards also promote the image of local government Information and Communications Technology (ICT) throughout the wider community.

"We’ve quietly grown into one of New Zealand’s most innovative agencies on the strength of repeat business and referrals," says Sean Cuttriss, Guru Digital Media Business Director.

"I intend to keep working and growing the business from Thames, where we have been based for almost 15 years" he says.

"The truth is without the team of very clever people around me, we wouldn't be half as successful. I went to school here, raised my family here and have been most impressed with the 'new look' council under Rob Williams (TCDC Chief Executive) and look forward to partnering with them on a much more regular basis in the future," says Mr Cuttriss.

Northland Regional Council's pest and weeds site is already looking at moving into phases 2 and 3, which will include automated data in the future including the ability to upload images and even video to quickly and easily identify pests and weeds.

By using AI (artificial intelligence) in the future, the platform will be able to store data, educate and have the ability to identify thousands of pests and weeds. It will also automatically detect your location and give you the biggest threats in your immediate vicinity. It will then offer eradication or control techniques and even work in with Google Maps to direct you to the nearest stockist of traps or poisons and eventually give you a video on the appropriate control method.

"We are currently talking with other regional councils about this becoming a stand-alone site used as a national resource, which is very exciting," says Mr Cuttriss.

"Partnering with Guru has enabled us to restyle our website, deliver our rivers and rainfall information in real time, create promotional videos and enhance web functionality for our customers and staff in a cost effective and timely manner. We rely on our partnership with Guru to deliver a great outcome," says Carol Cottam, Information Services and Technology Manager, Northland Regional Council.

You can check out the pest and weed website here.

Guru were also named runner-up for the social media or app development of the year award for their notification application which was built to be able to notify the public of hazards and emergencies via digital streams, including web and social media channels. It posts automatically to your specified channels, freeing government organisations and their teams up for the important work like responding to comments and updating website information as it comes to hand when disaster strikes.

For more information about Guru and to receive a proposal and estimate with no obligation check out their website.

"We'd love to hear from you, let's get together, grab a coffee and throw some ideas around," says Mr Cuttriss.

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