NZ agency named double finalist in Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Awards
New Zealand-based digital agency NV Interactive has picked up double recognition in this year's Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year Awards. The agency has been named as a finalist in two categories for its work in developing a cloud-based platform for arts festivals and a mobile emergency response system for the New Zealand Fire Service. As the only New Zealand company recognised at the global level this year, the recognition distinguishes NV from almost 3,000 entrants across 115 countries worldwide.
There are 34 categories awarded. "We're absolutely delighted to be globally recognised by Microsoft for our work and proud to be representing New Zealand on the world stage," says NV managing director Matt Pickering. "It's a real validation of the perfect marriage of form and function delivered by our user-centric design approach." NV was named a finalist in the Cloud for Global Good and Public Sector: Public Safety and National Security categories. The twin accolades mean NV has now won three global partner awards and become a finalist in three.
It was a double award winner at the global level in 2012 and has previously won a number of regional and New Zealand awards. Its recognition in the Cloud for Global Good award was for "making millions happy" with its bespoke and easily customisable platform for arts festivals, used by the World Buskers Festival in Christchurch and the New Zealand Fringe Festival in Wellington, among others. World Buskers Festival director Melissa Haberfield says, "the 2017 festival again broke all records for ticket sales.
"A key reason for this was the engaging and intuitive website delivered by NV that made ticket sales seamless." NV's work with Intergen to develop a fully integrated mobile emergency response system for the New Zealand Fire Service was recognised in the Public Sector award. The system - currently in pilot phase - includes a tablet app for first responder fire crews to get live critical scene information, travel routes and data from other crew, wherever they are.
NV technical director Gus Pickering says the partnership with Microsoft has allowed his team to craft digital experiences that make lives better. "These awards are all the more satisfying because they demonstrate our commitment to using technology for social good.
"One award was for helping make more people love the arts, and the other was for helping firefighters save more lives." NV says the recognition validates the agency's design-led thinking and the projects are perfect examples of digital transformation in a cloud-first, mobile-first world. NV has been a Microsoft Partner for 15 years.
