Kiwi companies make strong showing in Internet awards

Five New Zealand businesses have received awards for online excellence at the annual Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIAs), announced in Melbourne on 30 August, with two organisations winning their respective categories.

New Zealand companies made a clean sweep of the new Tech Startup category with Auckland based Latipay taking out the main prize, and Christchurch's Linewize being highly commended.

Massey University's Design + Democracy project won the Information Award for its work on online voter engagement, and the Virtual Learning Network Primary School and Attitude Live were both highly commended in the Diversity and Digital Skills category.

The awards are organised jointly by InternetNZ and auDA, the organisation that manages the .au top level Internet domain. They recognise the achievements of organisations, businesses and individuals that excel in delivering online content that is accessible, innovative, informative and secure. Winners receive a cash prize of $A2500 ($NZ2600).

InternetNZ CEO, Jordan Carter, said the quality of New Zealand finalists indicated that New Zealand's tech sector was in good hands. “We have a lot of positive ideas coming out of New Zealand, and it is great to see that the New Zealand winners represented a number of communities nationwide.”

Awards were made in six categories: Diversity & Digital Skills, Information, Innovation, Security, Tech Startup and The Leonie Dunbar Memorial Award for Community Websites. A full list of winners is available here.