The Australian arm of ICT solutions giant NEC, has been selected as the winner of the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment’s Investment Award, which recognises NEC’s significant investments in Australian innovation over the past decade.
The award was also in recognition of NEC’s further contributions of nearly half a century to Australia’s ICT industry.
The Investment Award, a part of the Australian Export Awards, recognises the achievements that leading Australian companies have made to improve Australia’s global competitiveness.
Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism, and Investment, Steven Ciobo, presented the award to NEC’s Chief Operating Officer, Mike Barber this week in a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra.
{loadposition peter}Mike Barber, Chief Operating Officer at NEC Australia, said: “Today, innovation is the key to knowledge and we’ve demonstrated that open collaboration with our partners and customers is an empowering force that can improve the way we do business and how we serve our customers and the community.”
Barber said NEC had invested more than $200 million in Australia over the past 15 years, including its Melbourne-based R&D facilities, the $4.8 million NEC Global Security Intel Centre in Adelaide, and a $40 million investment in New South Wales’ Illawarra region at the University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus.
“At a time when the value of international trade is being questioned, we’re living proof it has a positive impact,” said Barber.
“The mutual support from Australia and Japan allows us to create value through sharing knowledge in a way that delivers benefits to everyone through innovation that boosts value and drives down costs.”
A statement from NEC says that NEC Australia won the Investment Award on the merits of its “lasting contributions to Australia and the fact it introduced innovate business practices and technologies”.
“It also stood out as a company with strong corporate governance and as a company that helps Australia become part of a global supply chain in a high-value market.”
Barber also noted that since opening its doors in Australia in 1969, NEC Australia’s headcount has grown from a modest five to more than 1800 today, and the company has also transformed from a telephony company to a fully-fledged IT services firm that provides critical support from the remote regions in the Northern Territory to Melbourne.