The University of Auckland’s Identity Federation solution, CECIL Connect, was awarded the Supreme Innovation Award at the annual Tertiary ICT Innovation awards last night.

Held at the University of Auckland Business School as part of the 28th Tertiary ICT Conference, the awards aim to identify excellence in ICT in the tertiary education sector. This can either be in processes which improve efficiency or effectiveness of services, or new product development which satisfies stakeholder needs.

The awards were open to any conference delegates involved in the tertiary sector, whether at the individual, team or institution level. 

“We have been extremely pleased with the calibre and high quality of the submissions this year – it is great to see the New Zealand tertiary sector using ICT to explore new learning opportunities and improve productivity,” says Miles Fordyce, ITS Director – Strategy, University of Auckland and Chair of the Tertiary ICT Conference Committee.

Evan Blackman, Tertiary Sector Manager for Microsoft New Zealand, added, “This is an exciting event for Microsoft New Zealand. As a Platinum sponsor of the conference and host of the Innovation Awards, it is great for us to be able to award tertiary institutions for using technology to drive innovation.

“The tertiary sector is a bastion of intellect and innovation – from its lecturers and students, to its IT Managers and CIOs. We hope these awards will continue to encourage others in the sector to use technology to the best of its ability.”

The Infrastructure Award winners each received $5,000 of Microsoft Consulting Services, while the Application Award winner received $8,000 of travel to the EDUCAUSE Conference in California and Microsoft’s campus in Redmond for an “executive briefing”.