Twenty of the tech industry’s best and brightest have been announced today as finalists in the highly coveted CeBIT.AU Business Awards, which recognise the diverse cross section of the business technology community.

Highlights of the finalists’ work include digital solutions to empower the elderly to remain social and independent, technology enabling companies that tap into the power of the cloud without the help of a costly expert, and an online resource offering energy saving reports for multi-tenant residential buildings.

Harvey Stockbridge, Managing Director, Hannover Fairs Australia – owner of CeBIT Australia said that these finalists are not just pioneers in their sectors, but true innovators whose ideas are making waves in Australia and on a global scale.

“There’s certainly stiff competition in these awards; our finalists obviously started with bright ideas, but have since transformed them into major business operations and some are already servicing multi-national clients like BHP Billiton, eBay and Xerox, whilst others are providing vital solutions to support local services like the NSW Police,” said Mr Stockbridge.

Finalist in the Top Business Solution category is WalkMe, a cloud based platform that guides users through a website or software step by step, accelerating onboarding and speeding up processes. The technology has been proven to reduce costs of support via call centres, whilst improving customer service outcomes and overall user-performance.

Wattblock, a finalist in the category of Community Support, offers online energy saving reports for multi-tenant residential buildings reducing the need to hire expensive energy auditors. The technology has been designed to mobilise 300,000 residential buildings in Australia to reduce energy waste and carbon emissions; if all proactively improved their energy efficiency, Wattblock could crowdsource the achievement of the national carbon emission reduction target.

“We are honoured to recognise this caliber of technology entrepreneurs at our event, all who are leading the way for our industry,” added Mr Stockbridge.

The CeBIT.AU Business Awards are a highlight of Asia-Pacific’s most significant business technology event, CeBIT Australia, held 5 – 7 May 2015 at Sydney Olympic Park. The 20 finalists will go head-to-head to win their chosen category at the CeBIT Gala Dinner and Awards Night on 6 May 2015.

Winners of each of the four categories – Top Business Solution, Community Support, Service Distinction and Innovation – all qualify for the major award, The CeBIT Excellence Award which will be announced on the evening.