A suite of educational software for high school students and a remote operations communication platform for the resources sector are among the Western Australian winners at national technology awards ceremony, the iAwards.
Joondalup-based software developer SEQTA took out the 2013 award for the education category with their eponymous educational suite for schools, following on from their win in the 2012 WA Information Technology & Telecommunication Awards for Best Product. The SEQTA Suite, in use at dozens of schools already, aims to consolidate all student information into one user-friendly interface.
Also lauded for their work was the Perth office of international networking services firm ITC Global, who received a merit award for the Integrated Remote Operations Satellite Service they created for BHP Billiton Iron Ore.
Outside of the private sector, the Floreat branch of the CSIRO's e-Health Research Centre took home merit awards for two projects: the Ocular Biomarker Suite for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, and the Automated Disease Grading System for eye disease. A merit award was also bestowed on the Aurora fire spread simulator developed jointly by Landgate, the University of Western Australia and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.
Other major category winners last night included NSW-based digital services provider Avoka for their Avoka Transact online sales system, Victorian company Podzy's secure on-premises Dropbox-style storage platform, and a third award for the CSIRO, this time for their Brisbane lab's creation of the Zebedee mobile laser mapping system.
WA students dominated the Undergraduate Tertiary category, claiming both the overall prize, for Edith Cowan University students' Parkinson iTest patient-clinician communication tool, and the merit award, which went to the Curtin University students behind the Project Zero Harm safety incident reporting application.
iAwards chairman Russell Yardley emphasised that the ICT sector's potential for improving productivity could have a tangible impact on areas as broad as health, education and the environment. He noted that the next iAwards would include a new prize for the Young Australian Innovator of the Year. "[We] are striving ... to further motivate young people to aspire to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," he said.
Private-sector national winners now have the opportunity to compete with businesses from the entire Asia Pacific region at the 2013 Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards, held in Hong Kong this November.
The iAwards also honoured individuals for their longstanding contributions to the ICT industry, with the induction of Robert Elz and Rod Tucker into the Pearcey Foundation's Hall of Fame and the presentation of the annual Pearcey Medal to Dr Alex Zelinsky.
The iAwards is the premier technology award program in Australia and aims to recognise the contributions that the ICT industry makes across all sectors of the economy.