The Irish Software Association (ISA) celebrated its 30th Anniversary last night at its glitzy annual awards ceremony sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and William Fry. The association honoured the most successful Irish software companies of the last year at the ceremony attended by over 400 people.

The winners of each category were:

Company of the Year: Changing Worlds
New Company of the Year: Muzu TV
Sales Achievement: Singularity
Technical Innovation: Openet
Collaboration: Qumas

Software Skillnet also presented a student medal to Conor Gaffney of Trinity College, Dublin for the most commercially viable piece of research

Director of the ISA, Shane Dempsey said;

“The companies celebrated tonight demonstrates the ability of Irish companies to achieve global success. Indigenous software companies will increasingly play a greater role in creating value for the Irish economy. Over the last thirty years, the ISA has facilitated software companies in achieving their global ambitions. We now believe that the serial entrepreneurs, those people who have built a number of businesses, are the key to real economic growth in the sector. In the coming year we will be working closely to harness their experience to grow companies of international scale”

Myra Garrett, Managing Partner of William Fry, sponsors of the Awards said of the sector:

“William Fry is actively involved in and committed to Ireland's IT sector and we are delighted to be involved in the ISA awards again this year. Each year the calibre and quality of entrants is excellent, demonstrating our positioning as Europe’s premier location for software development. Ireland has developed a thriving indigenous software development industry and I have no doubt that this will continue in spite of the economic downturn.”

The ISA also honoured Peter MacManamon with the prestigious Software Person of the Year Award. Peter has been a champion for software SMEs lobbying extensively for the removal of restrictive procurement practices in the public sector, increases in the Business Expansion and Seed Capital schemes and changes to the education system to address the uptake of honours maths.

Students Adam Keilthy, Conor Scully, from Sutton Park Secondary school were celebrated for their research project that makes websites colour-blind accessible. The students have won the technology category in the Irish BT Young Scientist Competition and first in the overall Northern Irish BT Young Scientist competition. The boys will now go on to the overall UK BT YS competition.

The 18 Chairmen who ran the ISA over the last 30 years were also honoured at the ceremony.

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