The nation’s peak industry body for the technology sector, the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), has announced the Victorian iAwards winners for 2018. 

Entrants competed in five core award categories comprising Business Services, Community Services, Consumer Markets, Industrial & Primary Services, and Public Sector & Government, and were judged by an independent panel of 90 judges from across industry, government and academia selected by the AIIA. 

Startup of the year winner Language Your Way is a Melbourne based education technology startup working to make English language tutoring fun and immersive for students in China. The company uses an adaptive learning platform, as well as other support services such as game-based learning, online tutoring and study tours to Australia.

Innovation of the year was won by M-innovation’s Artificial Intelligence package “Asset Genie”, in conjunction with Victoria’s most populous municipality, the City of Casey. Asset Genie helps Casey, one of Melbourne so-called Smart Cities, to forecast the performance of the asset management and capital works function on its 400,000 assets. Millions of dollars in savings and performance improvements have already been found across the municipality.

The Business Service Markets category was won by SalesPreso, a Melbourne-based sales enablement platform for enterprise B2B organisations. SalesPreso is the only platform globally to integrate data sources and enterprise business systems to automatically pull together customised sales presentations instantly. 

SalesPreso co-founder Joel Thomson said, “We’re thrilled to have won the iAward for Business Services Markets. This is a category that recognises digital B2B solutions that drive and deliver businesses with high levels of productivity and competitiveness, and that’s exactly what SalesPreso does.”

iAwards celebrating 25 years

The Hon. Frank McGuire, MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Innovation, said the iAwards have been shining a light on our best and brightest technology developers for a quarter of a century. “Congratulations to all the award recipients tonight, you are making a difference to Victoria’s economy and our lives and we are proud you will be representing us at the National iAwards.”

AIIA CEO Rob Fitzpatrick said the 2018 finalists added to the iAwards’ legacy of recognising the important work being done in Australian innovation.

"AIIA would like to congratulate the winners and merit recipients of the 2018 Victoria iAwards. Each year the awards publicly recognise the exceptional achievements of those at the forefront of Australian innovation, and the projects shaping our modern economy. We're proud to provide a platform for, and encouragement to people prepared to bring an idea to life, enabled by technology. Whether they're in start-ups, the public sector, community services, academia, or private enterprise, small and large, the work of the finalists is an inspiration to us all," he said.

The 2018 iAwards are supported by Major National iAwards Partner Victorian Government, National Program Sponsors Informed Solutions and auDA, Major PitchFest Sponsors CSIRO’s Data 61.

Winners and merit recipients across all categories will go on to represent Victoria and compete at the National iAwards. 

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