Above: Judges: Lana Briggs of KPMG; Lisa Higgins of Science Foundation Ireland; David Keeley of Enterprise Ireland; Michael McAleer of The Irish Times; and Eric Donald of Teagasc. Others are Gearóid Mooney of Enterprise Ireland and Ciaran Heavey of UCD.
A company from Kildare which works in the horseracing industry has been shortlisted for the final of the Irish Times Innovation Awards 2018.
Curragh-based firm Equine Medirecord is among the 15 finalists from established companies, innovators and start-ups which have been nominated.
The aim of the awards, which are now in their ninth year, is to showcase and reward excellence in innovation across a range of products and services.
There are five categories in total and Equine Medirecord is one of three finalists in the IT and Fintech category. All five category winners will also be in with a chance to win the overall ‘Innovation of the Year Award’.
The prize for the overall winner is a unique communications package worth in excess of €150,000 as well as a scholarship for three courses at UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School.
The winners will be announced at a high-profile awards ceremony at the RDS in Dublin on November 20th.
Equine Medirecord has developed a series of IT platforms that allows the easy recording of medicines administered to racehorses and other bloodstock. This record-keeping is mandated under regulations and the company’s easy-to-use platform has been approved by the regulator, offering an alternative to the cumbersome paper trail that existed to date.
The company is up against Dublin based Aid: Tech which uses blockchain technology to distribute international aid and Priviti from Galway which systemises and manages consent for data sharing, especially for financial institutions.
Michael McAleer, innovation editor at The Irish Times, said the standard of finalists was extremely high. “Once again the calibre of the entries has been of the highest order and this has made the task of selecting fifteen finalists extremely challenging. Each of our innovators has a really interesting story to tell and we are looking forward to meeting them and hearing about their business plans in greater detail. The final judging panel will definitely have their work cut out to pick a winner for each category, as well as an overall winner of ‘Innovation of the Year’.
Along with the national and international recognition the winners receive, and the impact it has on attracting potential investors, each category winner will receive a communications package worth €10,000 from The Irish Times.
In addition to the €150,000 communications package, the overall winner will also receive a scholarship for all three Executive Development courses from UCD Smurfit Business School commencing in 2019.
The Irish Times Innovation Awards 2018 is supported by the newspaper in partnership with Science Foundation Ireland, KPMG, Enterprise Ireland and UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
For more information go to: http://www.irishtimes.com/innovationawards
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