New Zealand IT Professional of the Year

In partnership with IT Professionals NZ

This is the supreme award recognising an individual who has achieved truly exceptional results in any aspect of IT in New Zealand, or a New Zealander who has achieved exceptional results internationally.

Winner:

Simon Ferrari

General Manager, Datacom Systems Ltd

Not content with his day to day job as a senior manager at Datacom, Simon Ferrari is an evangelist for IT as a career, doing much of this work in his spare time.

Young IT Professional of the Year

In partnership with TUANZ/Flint

This award recognises an outstanding emerging leader who, within the first six years of their IT career, is already achieving excellent results in any aspect of IT.

Winner:

Sam Jarman

Mobile Developer, BNZ

Sam has clear talents as a developer, but it is his participation in and support of the wider tech community that is particularly impressive. Seeing people so early in their careers already giving back and mentoring future generations of technology leaders is what sets Sam apart from his developer peers.

IT Project Excellence Award

In partnership with Project Management Institute of NZ

This award is for a team or individual who has achieved outstanding results in anything related to IT project management or delivery. This could be in any methodology (eg Agile, DevOps, etc) and could be a project manager, consultant, CIO, member of a delivery team or anyone else involved with project management or delivery at any level. The project(s) may be related to anything to do with IT, software or technology.

Winner:

Kevin Robinson & the healthAlliance Stabilisation Programme Team  

Kevin Robinson is GM Strategic Engagement & Enterprise Stabilisation, healthAlliance

Implementing a vast IT upgrade across the four Northern DHB's and providing continuity in healthcare to 1.8 million New Zealanders posed enormous challenges for Kevin's team.  In this broad based project, 330 HealthAlliance staff worked in partnership with their DHB partners to integrate legacy data, multiple platforms and rapidly changing healthcare technologies with a clear vision and great practice.  

Excellence in Software

In partnership with the NZ Rise

This award is for a team or individual who has achieved outstanding results in software innovation, development, design, marketing, testing, or any other aspect of the software process in any environment.

Winner:

Kristen Burne and the NZ Police Family Harm Application Team

Kristen is Senior Project Manager for the NZ Police ICT delivery team

Seeing technology deployed to help solve New Zealand's shamefully high levels of domestic violence is an inspiring use of technology. This project saw Police gain access to unprecedented levels of information quickly and efficiently, helping those who keep us safe in our communities.

Excellence in Digital Health

In partnership with Health Informatics NZ

This award is for a team or individual who has achieved outstanding results with innovative technology in the health sector. This might include health software, devices, technology or any other aspect of health IT.

Winner:

Aliesha Staples

Managing Director, Staples VR

As a pioneer of VR technology, Staples VR managing director Aliesha Staples clearly demonstrates leadership, innovation, and passion. While it's obvious she brings huge value to the health and VR industry through her work and projects, what makes her stand out is her proven desire to help the community and the difference she is making to children in hospitals around the world.

Excellence in IT Education

In partnership with CITRENZ

This award is for a team or individual who has achieved outstanding results in relation to IT or related education at any level. This might be in relation to school or tertiary education for example, and includes the teaching of IT and digital technologies as well as the use of technology to improve educational outcomes.

Winner:

Digital Technologies Teachers Aotearoa 

As the interface between the tech sector and teachers in the classroom, this team of volunteer teachers has navigated through a period of huge change in the tech education landscape, built linkages with industry and engaged with the Education sector to support both the development and implementation of the Digital Technologies curriculum in New Zealand.

Excellence in Govtech

In partnership with GOVIS

This award is for a team or individual who has achieved outstanding results through technology innovation in any aspect of central or local government IT. This could include anything related to Government, including open data and open government projects.

Winner:

Mike Taitoko and the Takiwā team

Mike is CEO and Founder of Takiwā

The Takiwā team are helping to transform the lives of iwi, the health sector and educators through data visualisation. Information gathered from a wide range of public sources is presented so non data specialists can use it for planning, submissions to government and in "making the case" to stakeholders.

Excellence in Technical Communication

In partnership with TechCommNZ

This award is for a team or individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the technical communication profession, such as demonstrating excellence in the workplace through new initiatives, improvements, mentoring etc, participating in and contributing to events and activities, or raising public awareness.

Winner:

Steve Moss

Director, TechWrite Services

Steve is not only a highly skilled and experienced technical communicator, but he has also shown a strong commitment to the technical communication industry over the past 20 years. As well as serving as a President of the Technical Communicators Association, he has contributed significantly as a mentor and supporter in New Zealand and Australia.