:Otago Daily Times;

:Sep 2, 2005;

:BUSINESS;

:18

Point Wizard conjures magic

By Simon Hartley

Dunedin-based software company Point Wizard, which last week won a Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand’s (TUANZ) award, has been chosen as a finalist in The Asian Wall Street Journal’s annual Asian Innovation Awards later this month.

Point Wizard, a client of the Upstart business incubation unit in Dunedin, has developed software for ranking individuals according to the user’s preferences, including applications for diagnosing or prioritising patients for health treatment.

Following the win with TUANZ, Point Wizard co-director Franz Ombler said recently in a statement, the Cardiac Society had finished using Point Wizard to produce a new cardiac waiting list and other organisations, dealing with fertility, cataracts and orthopaedics, were looking at the software.

“Point Wizard isn’t just about the health sector. It’s the simplest and most accurate way to prioritise and make consistent decisions, which can be useful anywhere,” Mr Ombler said.

The Asian awards are for individuals or companies whose ideas improve the quality of life or enhance productivity.

Point Wizard’s software is a finalist in the section judged on the basis of business performance and commercial viability.

The finalists will be featured in the September 21 issue of the magazine the winners will be announced by September 28.

Upstart chief executive Norman Evans said Point Wizard “exemplified Kiwi ingenuity”.

“The timing is perfect for Point Wizard as they make their presence felt both in New Zealand and offshore.”

Original in ODT archives...