2013 entries open for iAwards: Entry tips from a former winner

Tech start-ups are being encouraged to enter the 2013 iAwards, which showcases innovative ICT solutions, with a previous entrant describing its award win as a “good talking point”.

The iAwards program recognises and celebrates the scope and value of ICT throughout Australia and the world.

Winners of the 2013 iAwards will have the opportunity to compete with businesses from across the Asia Pacific at the 2013 Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards in Hong Kong.

The call for entries for the 2013 iAwards is open until March 15. Harold Wolpert, whose business won a national iAward in 2012, has some advice for anyone considering entering.

“I would say to anyone that it’s important to focus on four key areas when you start the iAwards application process,” Wolpert says.

“Firstly, you need to make sure you have an excellent product or service and that it can really stand up to the test.

“Then, make sure you read the iAwards criteria and guidelines very carefully and answer everything that is asked.”

Wolpert says you then need to invest a good amount of time and effort in order to create a “solid” application.

“There’s little point entering if you are just going to throw something together for your entry,” he says.

“Then, if you do make it to the national stage and have to present to the panel, I’d encourage people to make sure that they are extremely well prepared.”

Wolpert’s company, Avalias, won the 2012 national iAward for eLearning.

Avalias has created a training simulation technology to bridge the gap between click-through eLearning content and collaborative virtual environments such as 3D simulators.

This technology, called Avalanche ST, can simulate phone, email, SMS, two-way radio and any number of software simulations so people can easily train for the things they do in their day-to-day job, using any of the tools they normally use.

It also allows multi-user, multi-location training scenarios where everyone involved in the training can interact with one another during the session.

“Completing our iAwards application made us think of new things and new angles when it came to looking at our product and how it fits into the market… and helped us to focus our attention on certain areas,” Wolpert says.

“We are finding that our iAwards win has become a very good talking point with both existing customers and potential customers alike. We have seen our revenue increase since the win.

“While we can’t directly attribute this to the iAwards win, we really do feel that it has had a positive effect on our business.

“We’ve also found that closing contracts has become a lot easier than it was before.”

Meanwhile, the winner of the oZAPP Awards has been announced. Soundbyte, which is led by ex-Googlers Alex North and Daniel Danilatos, beat four other finalists to take out the title.

The oZAPP Awards, an initiative of Curtin University, is a competition to identify Australia’s best mobile app concepts.

Soundbyte enables contextual data transfer using high-frequency sound. Transmissions can scale from hyper-local, peer-to-peer messages up to public address or even broadcast media.

The finalists were vying for a prize pool of more than $300,000 including a US$100,000 convertible note from Qualcomm Ventures, $70,000 cash and a trip to Silicon Valley.