PRESS RELEASE: 25 FEBRUARY 2008
Allied Technologies (Altech) were dominant in the Technology Top 100 Awards at a prestigious awards evening held on Thursday 21st February 2008 at the University of Johannesburg. The event was hosted by the Da Vinci Institute for the Management of Technology and Innovation under the auspices of the Department of Science and Technology, with Altech winning three Excellence awards.
Altech Netstar walked away with the highest accolade of the evening, namely the '2007 Minister’s Award for Overall Excellence', awarded in recognition of the wide range of excellence across many company disciplines needed to keep this company at the forefront of its market.
The Technology Top 100 Awards, which are recognised as the premier business excellence awards in South Africa, are regarded by the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Mosibudi Mangena, as a celebration of excellence of truly South African innovation.
More than 200 entrants participated in this year’s stringent submission and adjudication process.
In addition to Altech Netstar’s premier honour, two other categories were won by the group:
Altech Limited won in the category for the 'Award for Excellence in the Management of Technology, Innovation and People'. This was in recognition of the synthesizing and harmonising of the triple challenge of technology relevance, sustainable innovation, and its commitment to skills development, through the recently launched Altech Academy.
Altech Netstar was also honoured again by winning in the category 'Award for Excellence in the Management of Innovation', making them the only dual winner of the night.
Altech Namitech, Altech UEC and Altech Netstar were also named as finalists in other award categories.
Altech CEO, Craig Venter, who is no stranger to the TT100 accolades having previously received the '2006 Minister’s Award for Overall Excellence' on behalf of the listed company commented, 'We are extremely proud of Altech Netstar’s incredible achievement as well as the rest of the Altech group companies who were finalists at South Africa’s premier platform for the country’s most talented and significant contributors to the country’s economy through technology.' Venter added, 'Altech remains committed to the development of technology both in South Africa and globally, and will continue to nurture the talent of its people as well as developing skills in the ICT sector'.
Steve Sidley, Altech’s Chief Technology Officer, added 'the wide recognition given by the TT100 adjudication panel across a number of our group companies is testament to not only Altech’s technological prowess, but extends further into our management of systems, people and processes. We are extremely proud of the people who make this happen'.
Altech Netstar’s newly appointed Managing Director, Joel Stransky says 'It was a huge honour to be selected for the most prestigious award – the Minister’s Award for Overall Excellence and we are incredibly proud! The whole Altech Netstar Family has put in a lot of effort and hard work, and it is wonderful for the company to be recognised and rewarded with accolades such as this. Stolen vehicle tracking and recovery and the fleet management industry are fiercely competitive and Altech Netstar will continually strive to remain leaders in the industry and to deliver the world class standard of service our clients deserve.'
Venter concluded, 'Altech would like to congratulate all the finalists and winners of this year’s Technology Top 100 Awards. I would also like to urge the industry to remain focused on making South Africa a major player in the development of technology and innovation. We want to extend our sincere gratitude to the organisers for a superb event and to the Department of Science and Technology for their recognition of the industry’s efforts. A final vote of sincere thanks is extended to<