SA`s most innovative companies come under the spotlight at the inaugural Age of Innovation Awards gala event at the Wanderers ballroom on 20 September.
"The award is unique in that it measures companies` innovation rather than financial performance," says Michael Herman, editor of the Journal for Convergence. Connexity Publishing and networking company Novell are co-sponsors of the event.
"In developing economies particularly, companies need to be innovative and this award recognises achievements of this kind. About 70 companies have made it to round two of the selection process. The Grand Prix winner stands to receive prizes worth more than R100 000," says Herman.
"We`re looking for four categories of innovation arising from the application of new materials and components; the introduction of new processes; the opening of new markets; and the introduction of new organisational forms," he says.
Participating companies need to show how their innovations have added value to their businesses and its stakeholders by, for example, reducing the complexity of business or creating new markets.
"Globalisation is a key theme for most South African companies and many have been working hard to compete here and abroad against often bigger and more liquid companies. In most instances achieving parity will not be enough and tomorrow`s local business heroes will be those that use the power of innovation to create the `new game` in their industries," Herman says. The Journal for Convergence is a quarterly publication that highlights thought leadership in business. "The Age of Innovation Award is a natural extension of the journal, which seeks to raise to a higher level of abstraction the debates about achieving global competitiveness and opening new markets," he says.
Herman says the Age of Innovation Awards is an opportunity to profile and celebrate local companies that are behind the value innovation that will enable SA to perform on the global business stage and to grow its economy.
"We are proud to have Novell South Africa as our inaugural sponsor. Novell is a company with a history of value innovation and of developing creative solutions to deal with the escalating complexity of today`s information systems," Herman says. "Without their support and vision we would have had to abandon the Age of Innovation concept and our local exemplars would in all likelihood have gone unnoticed and uncelebrated."
Finalists and the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony, which takes place at the Wanderers ballroom on 20 September. Some of SA`s top companies will be represented.
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