IT pioneer enters Tait-sponsored Hi-Tech Hall of Fame

在国家awards ceremony in Christchurch last Thursday, the recipient of the 2010 Tait Radio Communications Flying Kiwi Award for hi-tech excellence was announced.

Tait is proud to congratulate Paul Hargreaves on receiving the 2010 Flying Kiwi Award, the premier industry award from the New Zealand Hi-Tech Trust.

Awarded annually since Sir Angus Tait won the inaugural award in 2003, the Flying Kiwi Award celebrates individuals who have made a sustained and outstanding contribution to New Zealand's hi-tech industries: software, electronics, telecommunications, biotechnology. Winners of the Flying Kiwi Award are automatically inducted into the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame.

Arjen Maarleveld, Global Operations Manager at Tait, presented the solid silver-coated Kiwi trophy to Paul and welcomed him to the Hall of Fame. Paul Hargreaves is a truly inspirational individual: as well as being co-founder of Datacom, an IT company with a turnover of over $600m and employer of 3,300 people, Paul is also CEO of NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) and chair of a number of trusts and charity groups. A cancer survivor, Paul even had a mountain in Antarctica named after him in 2008.

The Flying Kiwi Awards have been running as a separate event for three years now, with this being the second year Tait has sponsored. But Tait's association with the Hi Tech Trust spans nearly a decade, having sponsored award categories in the past.

"Tait as a company is committed to celebrating the pioneers and innovators of the industry," said Frank Owen, Managing Director of Tait Radio Communications.

"The Flying Kiwi Awards are all about ensuring that our unsung heroes are recognised," he says. "It is really important that we continue to tap into the knowledge and experience that the members of the Hi-Tech Hall of Fame are able to share with those who are just starting the journey.

"Tait is delighted to continue supporting this prestigious industry award into 2011."

The next event on the Hi-Tech Awards calendar is the Gala Dinner in Wellington, in May 2011.