Gen-i won both the Healthcare and Rural awards at the prestigious event, while CEO Chris Quin was presented the TUANZ Chairman’s award for his leadership and open and honest communications during the XT crisis.
The TUANZ Innovation Awards are the biggest and most widely recognised in the telecommunications industry, with 400 people from around 60 different originations attending the ceremony.
Receiving three awards at such a big event is great result for Gen-i and Telecom, says Chris Quin.
“The size of these awards show just how this industry has grown and how much innovation is going on – you really have to stand out to be noticed.”
Scooping both the Healthcare and Rural awards underscores the great work Gen-i is doing in two very important sectors, says Quin.
“Innovation in these areas is really important to Telecom and Gen-i to enable us to develop and export our IP so that we can add to our network earnings.”
Gen-i won the Rural Innovation award for Re:Gen – a tool delivered in partnership with Harmonic for dairy farmers to monitor and manage the application of dairy effluent to help reduce the environmental impact of dairying.
Rural market manager David Walker says the award recognises the important work Gen-i is doing in the rural market. “It also reaffirms the way we want to work with rural clients.”
The Healthcare award was won for the mobile Telehealth trial Gen-i ran in partnership with the Auckland District Health Board and Alcatel-Lucent.
Corporate development manager Chris Bowman says while Telehealth is a simple in concept, it has huge potential benefits.
“It has been so rewarding to work on something that has the potential to benefit so many people. One of our patients made the comment that ‘this has changed my life’ and that comment alone made the effort worthwhile.”
The winning Gen-i teams led by Walker and Bowman demonstrated the qualities of persistence, empathy, humility and genuineness, says Chris Quin.
“I was really proud to see the people who did the work on stage with our partners and clients celebrating the innovation they were allowed to achieve in our business.”
In presenting the Chairman’s award to Chris Quin, TUANZ Chairman Pat O’Connell said Chris showed leadership, communicated and went the extra mile for both Telecom and its customers during the XT crisis.
“He stood up, took control, worked himself to the bone, and took responsibility.”
| TUANZ Rural Award |
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| With the TUANZ Rural Award are: Whangarei dairy farmers and Re:Gen users Sharon Smith and Ben Smith, Peter Andricksen (Gen-i), John Campbell (MC), RE:Gen CEO Bridgit Hawkins, Brian Shackleton (Gen-i), David Walker (Gen-i), Harmonic CEO Phil Shepherd and Gray Baldwin of Ballance Agri-Nutrients |
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| TUANZ Healthcare Award |
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TUANZ Chairman’s Award |
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| Ren Ventura from Alcatel-Lucent, Gayl Humphrey from Auckland District Health Board and Chris Bowman from Gen-i accept the Healthcare Award from TUANZ’s Katherine Hall. |
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TUANZ Chairman Pat O’Connell presents the Chairman’s Award to Chris Quin |