The names of the winners will, however, remain a closely guarded secret until August 31 when the achievements of South Africa's leading innovators are celebrated at a gala dinner.
The adjudicators were impressed by the quality and diversity of the entries received this year. The depth and range of entries point towards a wealth of innovation in South Africa, and the volume of high-quality entries indicates that the awards continue to grow in prestige, say the judges.
Entries encompassed a range of innovations - from the creation of new business processes, technologies, products, methodologies and organisational structures, through to new approaches to business, marketing and service delivery. They also covered entries from public and private sector organisations of all sizes operating in various sectors and fields, including high technology, engineering, innovative goods and services for women, social development, health, education and environmental affairs.
"The calibre of the entries we received was extremely high. The entrants clearly invested a lot of time and effort in their submissions , which indicates that they're taking the awards very seriously," says public sector judge, Standard Bank's Stewart Lumka.
Public sector departments and organisations still seem to be somewhat modest about their achievements, although it was pleasing to see a growth in the number of entries covering lower-profile projects, says Salim Latib of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), also a judge of the public sector awards.
"Most of the entries last year covered high-profile and high-budget projects such as the Blue IQ project in Gauteng. This year, we have seen far more entries that cover smaller and less well-known initiatives, often representing a pocket of innovation in a government department or organisation," he adds.
Says Dr Elsbeth Dixon of the Da Vinci Research Institute, one of the adjudicators of the private sector awards: "This year we've seen a marked rise in the variety and quality of entries for the private sector awards. It's no longer only IT companies that are sending entries in - we are seeing growing recognition of the importance of innovation across a broad spectrum of South African society."
This marks the second year that the Da Vinci Research Institute has overseen the adjudication of the Innovation & Sustainability Awards. Most categories of the awards balance an equal emphasis on innovation and sustainability. There is one category however that is slightly different and that is "Most outstanding new innovation", introduced last year to recognize and encourage promising new innovations that did not yet have the funding and momentum behind them to meet the sustainability criteria.
A new category introduced for the first time this year - "Most outstanding innovation for women" - recognising the achievements of organisations that have crafted innovative products and services designed to improve quality of life for South African women.
"The T-Systems Age of Innovation & Sustainability Awards were launched four years ago by Axius Publishing to recognise and reward innovation and sustainability in business. Over the years, we have seen significant growth in the scope, ambition and range of entries we have received," says Sheenagh Levy of Axius Publishing and an adjudicator of both the public and private sector awards.
"It is clear that there is an enormous amount of innovation taking place in South Africa, but much of it goes unrecognised and struggles to find the funding it needs to sustain itself. We hope the Innovation & Sustainability awards will help to attract attention to worthy initiatives so that South Africa can harness the power of the innovation taking place here."
The awards are supported and endorsed by the Journal for Convergence (published by Axius Publishing), The Financial Mail and The Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management. The lead sponsors of the initiative are the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CSPI), Standard Bank and T-Systems.
Adjudicators for the private sector awards were: Dr Shaidah Asmall (Department of Science & Technology); Koffi Kouakou (Timbuktu Ventures); Rasigan Maharaj (University of Tshwane); Kabela Mokala (University of Tshwane); Ela Romanowska (Independent Consultant); Glenda White (Centre for Public Service Innovation); Dr Roy Marcus (Da Vinci Holdings); Dr Elsbeth Dixon (Da Vinci Research Institute) and Sheenagh Levy (Axius Publishing).
The judging panel for the public sector awards was:
Dr Mohammed Jeenah (Innovation Networks); Kgotla Bantsi (DPSA); Stewart Lumka (Standard Bank); Dr Mckay Motshabi (SITA); Sheenagh Levy (Axius Publishing); Dr Boni Mehlomakala (Department of Science & Technology); Salim Latib (DPSA); and Dr Bok Marais (National Advisory Council on Innovation).
Idea Engineers for T-Systems
