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© NZ Innovation Council 2017
Agribusiness is the traditional cornerstone of the New Zealand economy in a rapidly changing world. We rely heavily on our natural environment and agricultural industries for employment, export revenue and GDP. Technology, consumer expectations and innovation are transforming the sector and creating new markets. This category is open to agribusinesses and agritech of all kinds. It includes software, products, services, and any innovation targeted towards the agricultural and environmental sectors. This award celebrates innovation in farming, fisheries, horticulture, forestry, applied agricultural research and the companies that service these sectors. Innovation in this category may also overlap and connect with innovation in food & beverage and health and science. The evaluators will be looking for entries that show uniqueness and world-firsts which demonstrate a combination of economic and environmental benefits.
This is one of the most diverse innovation categories – it encompasses all aspects of customer focused product design and engineering. Included are products, packaging, clothing all the way to infrastructure, engineering, energy, construction, architecture, marine industry and manufacturing. This diverse category celebrates the skills involved in product, manufacturing and infrastructure design and implementation. The evaluators will be looking for entries that focus on solving the needs of end-users, while creating value and opportunity.
The education sector is being transformed by global mega-trends such as online learning, open-source education, gamification, global collaboration, peer-to-peer evaluation and a whole bunch more. Examples of innovation in this sector include up-skilling our present and future workforce, creating education and development-based businesses that export services, and evolving and transforming our approaches at universities, technical institutes, and schools. This category is open to all education, training and development-based projects, services, or businesses, whether private, public, social enterprise or commercial. The evaluators will be looking for innovations with potential for impact and global originality.
This category celebrates organisations and individuals that demonstrate innovative ways of delivering professional, financial and public services. It is open to all types of technologies and services that are adding value to customers and end users across their industry. Entrants may include national and local government entities and agencies, banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, social enterprises, crowdfunding initiatives, consulting, coaching and training companies as well as educational and legal services.
Innovation in this category is driven by ambitious innovators who are scaling up their food, beverage, or hospitality businesses to meet customer demand in national and export markets. Innovation in this industry includes the creation of new food and drink products, brands or segments, innovative packaging, approaches to food safety, improved production techniques, and smart approaches to distribution. Major global trends in food and beverage include growing consumer expectation for health benefits, sustainability, and having a story of food creation that is reflected in authentic brand values and consumer stories. The evaluators look for examples of uniqueness and innovation, and the creation of new food categories or the transformation of existing product categories.
This category is open to healthcare professionals, private & public healthcare organisations, businesses, researchers and universities. We are looking for innovators whose products, services or research are focused on developing innovation to solve problems or make improvements in human health, animal health, bioscience, medical research, general science, and molecular research. Evaluators are looking for innovations that are based on new technology or new ways of applying technology, science development or commercialisation of products or services. We're also interested in new channels to market or new business models based on research in health and science. This innovation category may overlap with entries in Food & Beverage and well as Agribusiness & Environment.
Maori have always been natural innovators and are generally humble about achievements, leaving compliments and accolades to others. This award is about sharing success and achievements that should be celebrated. This award will provide inspiration to others to continue the Maori innovation journey. The evaluators will consider entrants’ contribution to Maori development with demonstrable positive economic, social, societal and environmental benefits.
This category celebrates organisations and individuals using unique means to bring a product, service or business to its target market. How do you tell your story and engage people’s hearts and minds to what you are selling or promoting – and engaging consumers and users in your world? This might include advertising or PR campaigns, packaging design, creative campaigns, social media, web design, events, application of gaming and different media as well as marketing initiatives across all industries. It might include the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) to provide marketing and media experiences, tools and solutions. Evaluators are looking for new approaches to understanding, targeting and engagement from end users, channels, suppliers, partners, or new markets. Be sure to give great background in how you interact with and speak with your prospects and customers/clients.
This vibrant and diverse category celebrates positive change for both business and the environment. It’s open to entries that lower carbon emissions, provide solutions to climate change, protect and improve waterways, enhance soil and improve air quality. As we move towards a low carbon economy every business and industry has the potential to be reinvented and transformed. Shift the world’s perspective with your disruptive design impacting food, air and water. We would love to hear about products and services that are improving our shared world of limits, constraints and shared resources. How are you enabling and encouraging smarter consumer choices? Do you have a unique contribution in the provision and uptake of renewable energy? Share your sustainability projects, sustainable production methods and environmental initiatives. The evaluators are also looking for product and service solutions that have considered packaging, recycling and a ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach to reusing resources and solutions that have plenty of consumer appeal.
This award celebrates excellence in performance improvement, process improvement, accelerator programs, innovation and idea programs. These programs bring new approaches to solving problems and creating value. They result in cost savings, better ways of doing things and improving the performance of our people, teams and systems. This type of innovation is a significant contributor to the growth our innovation industry in New Zealand. You will demonstrate that you have an organisation-wide culture of innovation and innovative thinking, which has or will lead to market-creating performance of your product or service, people and teams.
Technology is central to providing a connected customer experience - in every industry. This category is open to innovators that provide technology solutions including cloud services, software, apps, hardware, and communications. It might include Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications using access to data, to provide customer service, rich experiences and business solutions, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and gaming experiences and applications with industry changing potential. The evaluators in this category will be looking for customer offerings focused on solving problems and creating value through the application of technology across any industry. This is the largest NZ Innovation Awards category, so bring your entry to life with examples of customer use and impact.
FAQ - CONTACT - TERMS & CONDITIONS
© NZ Innovation Council 2017