Entries open for 20th NZ Hi-Tech Awards

Entries open for 20th NZ Hi-Tech Awards

Tuesday 3rd December 2013, Auckland, New Zealand – Entries are now open for the 2014 NZ Hi-Tech Awards. The 2014 Awards are notable in that they not only mark the 20th anniversary of the Awards but also the return of the Gala Dinner to Christchurch.

The Hi-Tech Awards recognise the achievers of the NZ Hi-Tech industry right from pre-commercialisation, start-up and emerging through to the coveted company of the year which was won in 2013 by Xero. In addition the product space is recognised with categories covering software, services, hardware and mobile. New Zealand’s place globally is also acknowledged through the contribution of companies headquartered overseas as well as those going global and exporting. Individually the awards single-out up and coming talent in the young achiever award.

The aim of the Hi-Tech Trust is to acknowledge and recognise excellence within the New Zealand Hi-Tech industry which is the third largest export earner in the country, generating over $7 billion in annual revenue - a sector that is growing at twice the rate of the economy as a whole. The goal of the Hi-Tech Awards is to support the growth of this key industry.

Entries are securely reviewed by our high profile panels of local and international judges.

2013 multiple award recipients Vend and Xero are home grown success stories that are now taking on the world - rethinking the way things are done and improving usability for their end-users.

NZ Hi-Tech Trust Chair, Wayne Norrie, “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 experience of entering the awards”

The new entry system for 2014 has been developed in conjunction with New Zealand company Ubiquity utilising their 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 are able to lodge their entries to the awards online, at www.hitech.org.nzwhere entrants can also access a number of resources to help them with their entry.

The criteria for all categories have been reviewed for 2014. The most notable change is to the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise Best Contribution to the NZ Hi-Tech Sector by an Internationally Headquartered Company category which 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. All companies will be measured on performance for the calendar year to 31 December 2013.

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

A full list of categories and entry criteria can be found at www.hitech.org.nz.

Key dates

• 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.

About the NZ Hi-Tech Trust

Established in 2009, The New Zealand Hi-Tech Trust is a not-for-profit, voluntary organisation. It is responsible for running the NZ Hi-Tech Awards programme, including the Tait Radio Communications Flying Kiwi Awards and for conducting other programmes of work for the benefit of the industry. www.hitech.org.nz

The current Trustees are:

• Wayne Norrie (Chair)
• John Fokerd (Treasurer/Secretary)
• Neville Jordan
• Bennett Medary
• Al Monro
• Ross Peat
• Andrew Plimmer
• Owen Scott
• Ross Peat

ENDS

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