By Business & Finance 
Indigenous tech companies swept the board at the 7th annual it@Cork Leaders Awards Ceremony last night.
The awards, which took place in Cork’s County Hall last night, had winners across several different categories including Voxpro (High Growth), VMware (Sustained Excellence), and QUMAS (Research & Innovation). Trend Micro took home the award for leading IT Department, while Scoil Mhuire Lourdes was honoured with the Excellence in Education Award. Trustev continued to build momentum in being recognised as the winner of High Potential Start-up category.
“From SME and indigenous business to multi-national, the IT industry is critical to economic growth. Our vision to align a collaborative team and focused cluster strategy across industry, government, public sector and academia is unique in Ireland. The pedigree of our Leaders Awards nominees and winners, especially from the SME and indigenous sector, clearly demonstrates the value and relevance for Ireland inc,” said Denis Collins, chair of it@cork, European Tech Cluster.
“From schools to IT departments, start-ups and business leaders, our award recipients really showcase how the region is a thriving hub for innovation and technology and we will continue to cultivate and recognise this through the annual Leader Awards,” explained John Wall, vice chairman of it@cork and chairman of the it@cork Leaders Awards committee.
Enterprise Ireland CEO, Julie Sinnamon, opened the ceremony and discussed the impact technology companies have had on the Irish export economy to the audience of over 300 technology and business leaders. She said: “The potential within the ICT sector could see it out-perform all other indigenous sectors in growth terms over the next decade. The sector will make a sizeable contribution to job creation and overall national prosperity. All necessary factors are in place to ensure Cork companies – both new and established – can firmly grasp emerging opportunities. The work of it@Cork European Technology Cluster together with the spirit of collaboration and engagement that is so evident locally, means Cork is increasingly recognised as a leading location for innovative ICT activities in global terms.”
