SA innovators have two weeks to enter top innovation awards

For the first time this year, the T-Systems Age of Innovation & Sustainability Awards - which celebrates inventive thinking in business - has united with the Standard Bank CPSI Public Sector Innovation Awards which recognizes original projects and people in public service. Both awards will share centre stage at a gala event at the end of August 2004. 
 
Joint-winners of last year's T-Systems Age of Innovation & Sustainability Awards were Daimler Chrysler for the company's forward thinking Public/Private Partnership HIV/AIDS Workplace Project and Three Blind Mice (TBM) for their Satellite-linked IP Multi-casting. Other ingenious projects that won awards last year, included an Automatic Combustion Management System (Agram Energy), Submersible Pumps (Hazleton Pumps), an Access for Justice for Women and Children Initiative (Centre for Criminal Justice), a Partner Relationship Management Solution (Intico), the N-Tyre System (N-Tyre) and a Pension Biometric Integrated Solution (South African Post Office).
 
The private sector and NGOs can enter the T-Systems Age of Innovation & Sustainability Awards in any of the following award categories:
-- Excellence in innovation and sustainability: Social
-- Excellence in innovation and sustainability: Environmental
-- Excellence in innovation and sustainability: Economic: ICT
-- Excellence in innovation and sustainability: Economic: non-ICT activities
-- Most outstanding innovation for women
-- Most outstanding new innovation
 
Companies can get more information about the awards at http://www.axius.co.za .
 
Public sector entries will be overseen by the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI), an initiative of the Minister for Public Service and Administration aimed at encouraging innovative public services delivery.

Last year's public service winners included Natalspruit hospital senior physiotherapist, Naumi Mashalane, who scooped the 'Public Sector Innovator of the Year Award' for her asthma project. The winner in the category 'Enhancing delivery of services to citizens' was the KwaZulu-Natal based Centre for Criminal Justice. Their winning project focused on facilitating access to justice for women and children. Turner and Townsend Africa in partnership with National Treasury, were declared the winner in the category 'Improving efficiency of internal processes of public service delivery' for their project, which reviewed the framework for the implementation of capital investment infrastructure projects. The winner in the category 'Innovative partnerships in service delivery' was Blue IQ, a multi-billion rand initiative of the Gauteng provincial government aimed at growing Gauteng's economy.
 
Public Sector (Government, non-government, Section 21 companies and organs of civil society) as well as business and individuals who are working with the Public Sector who want to showcase their innovations can enter in any one of the following categories:
-- Public Sector Innovator of the Year
-- Innovative partnerships in service delivery
-- Innovative use of information technology for effective service delivery
-- Innovative service delivery institutions (e.g. schools, hospitals, clinics)
-- Innovative enhancements on internal systems within government
-- Innovative service delivery projects involving the South African government in partnership with other SADC governments
 
Detailed information on entry criteria is available on www.cpsi.co.za.