High profile star of BBC TV’s Dragon’s Den, James Caan, will join Pascal Finette, head of the start-up programme at Singularity University; Linda Jenkinson, chair of San Francisco-based LesConcierges; Rohit Shukla, CEO of the Larta Institute; Savannah Peterson, director of innovation at Speck Design, and 2014 Flying Kiwi recipient Catherine Mohr as international judges for the 2016 NZ Hi-Tech Awards.
These international personalities will join the local judges Claudia Batten, Michael Boustridge, Katherine Corich, Pat Kenealy, Richard Keyse and Nick Lambert for the May event.
Wayne Norrie, chairman of the Hi-Tech Trust, says this is the best line-up of international judges ever assembled to evaluate the competition’s entries.
“Any business awards, domestic or international, would be lucky to have such a line-up of global stars,” he says.
“We are delighted to have James, Pascal, Linda, Rohit, Savannah, and Catherine join our existing panel of international judges. These world class business leaders are busy people and it’s very encouraging that they are giving their own time to judge the Hi-Tech Awards. Their interest in New Zealand, our tech sector and the Awards is just amazing and a great reflection of the achievements of our tech companies on the global stage,” says Norrie.
Norrie says the fact that the Hi-Tech Awards can attract judges of this calibre is testimony to the increasing recognition of the NZ Hi-Tech Awards here and overseas.
“As an industry we truly play on the global stage and contribute significantly to the New Zealand economy. The Hi-Tech Awards present a great opportunity for New Zealand technology companies to gain recognition for their achievements and to get their company in front of a truly world class group of business leaders,” says Norrie.
The international judges will be joined by a world class line up of over 40 NZ based local judges in judging the 13 categories.
Entry to the 2016 Hi-Tech Awards close at 5:00 pm on Monday 7th March and should be submitted online at www.hitech.org.nz.
Finalists will be announced on 30th March with winners being announced at the Gala Dinner on Friday 20th May in Auckland. For more information on entering the Awards either email [email protected].
