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The Irish Software Association named e-learning company Riverdeep Group "Company of the Year" in its annual awards ceremony over the weekend.
Openet Telecom won the "Young Company of the Year" award at the ceremony that was attended by almost 500 people. The "Technical Innovation Award" went to Headway Software and NewWorld Commerce won the "Marketing Innovation Award."
Speaking at the ceremony, Billy Huggard, chairman of the Irish Software Association, offered some good news for the industry. He claimed that in a survey to be published later this month, 75 percent of the organisation's members believe revenues will increase over the next 12 months.
"We need to be careful about overdoing the doom and gloom," he said. "The winners and companies nominated for this year's awards demonstrate the strength and resilience of the Irish software industry. There are some 30,000 people now employed in the industry in Ireland and the majority of firms are confident about prospects going forward."
Tanaiste Mary Harney, who presented the awards, said that despite the downturn, recent developments should be kept in perspective. "The long-term future of the ICT sector, both internationally and in Ireland remains optimistic," she said. "I have no doubt that the ICT industry will remain a dynamic player in the world economy, and that it will continue to play a major role in the Irish economy in the future." Harney said she believed that Ireland was well positioned to weather the storm that the industry is suffering.
Riverdeep Group plc is one of the largest publishers of K-12 (kindergarten to 12 years old) interactive learning products in the world. It beat out another major Irish e-learning company SmartForce for the award as well as banking software company Eontec, CRM provider Fineos and enterprise compliance management software company Qumas.
Openet Telecom, the ISA's "Young Company of the Year", won over some stiff competition from other new Irish companies including Web services company Cape Clear, CRM company eWare, m-commerce software provider Macalla and location-based services software company Mapflow.
Headway Software, the "Technical Innovation" winner, defeated some notable companies including Automsoft, Eontec, Network 365 and Openet Telecom. In addition, NewWorld Commerce won out over Fineos, Globogift, Qumas and Vordel.
The ISA has an executive council of 24 companies that act as the short-listing committee for the awards. The council draws up the short-list from all the nominated companies in the four categories. The committee then interviews the short-listed companies and decides the winners. The ISA Awards are sponsored by Davy Stockbrokers, Enterprise Ireland and Logica.
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