QlikTech, recently named by IDC as the world's fastest growing business intelligence (BI) vendor, has been selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Technology Pioneer for 2008.
The final selection of 39 Technology Pioneer companies from 273 nominees was made by a panel of the world's leading technology experts, including venture capitalists, technology companies, academics and media.
Previous Technology Pioneers have included Google, Corel Corporation, Encore Software, Mozilla Corporation and Napster.
Technology Pioneers are companies that develop and apply highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health and information technology.
To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader - and its technology must be proven.
QlikTech is leading the next generation of business analysis solutions with QlikView 8, its flagship product. QlikView uses in-memory association technology for fast analysis of billions of pieces of data on affordable hardware. Associative analysis is designed for the way people think, allowing people to make relevant and actionable connections from seemingly disparate information. "We are honoured to be recognised by the WEF as a Technology Pioneer, and in a class with other world innovators," said QlikTech Chairman Mans Hultman. "Simplicity is a key to innovation. Eliminating complexity - in the products you deliver, in business relationships with customers and partners, and in company structure - allows innovation to foster."
"This year the WEF received a record number of applications from companies around the world," said WEF Managing Director Peter Torreele. "From a highly competitive field, we are extremely pleased to have a community that is using innovation and technology to dramatically affect the way society and business operate, and doing so in a markedly collaborative manner. We are excited to welcome the Technology Pioneers class of 2008 to the larger community of the World Economic Forum and we are looking forward to the fruits that their collaboration will bring."
In addition to QlikTech's next-generation business intelligence solutions, products and services provided by the 2008 Technology Pioneers include identity management on the Internet, understanding of individuals' genetic information, robotic radiosurgery, pollution control materials, low-cost remote diagnosis solutions, virtual interface technologies and wiki-based projects. Twenty-three of the 39 are US-based companies. Three come from Israel and the United Kingdom boasts three, two each from Sweden and Switzerland and one each from Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands and Russia.
All the Technology Pioneers 2008 have been invited to participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting that will be held in Davos, Switzerland, from 23-27 January 2008. They will also attend the Annual Meeting of the New Champions that will be held in Tianjin, China from 25-27 September 2008.
Technology Pioneers are nominated in three main categories: Energy/Environment, Biotechnology/Health and Information Technology. The selection criteria include:
Innovation: The company's technology must be truly innovative. A new version or repackaging of an already well-accepted technological solution does not qualify as an innovation. The company should invest significantly in R&D.
Potential impact: The company's technology must have the potential to have a substantial long-term impact on business and society in the future.
Growth and sustainability: The company should have all the signs of being a long-term market leader and should have well-formulated plans for future development and growth.
Proof of concept: The company must have a product on the market or have proven practical applications of the technology. Companies in "stealth" mode and companies with untested ideas or models will not qualify.
Leadership: The company must have visionary leadership that plays a critical role in driving the company towards reaching its goals.
Status: The company must not currently be a Member of the World Economic Forum. This criterion applies to the parent company - thus wholly-owned subsidiaries of large firms are not eligible.
The entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies can be found here: http://www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2008.
Share
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (www.weforum.org)
QlikView South Africa
QlikView South Africa is the South African representative and distributor for QlikTech, the Swedish developer of QlikView business intelligence and data analytics software. QlikView is an industry-changing application that is dramatically easier to deploy and use than traditional (OLAP based) business intelligence technology. It provides instant, in-memory manipulation of massive datasets on low cost hardware, allowing affordable and widespread deployment of highly sophisticated analytic applications. QlikView South Africa also provides consulting and implementation services to simplify business analysis and to connect more people at all levels in an organisation to the information they need.
Editorial contacts