SpartaSoft, a Manchester-based software provider based in The University of Manchester business incubator, is shortlisted in two award categories of the UK’s 2009 National Business Awards sponsored by Orange. The nominations recognise SpartaSoft’s innovative solutions for the educational sector and for those on very low incomes. The awards are particularly appropriate given current UK financial and economic conditions.
SpartaSoft is up against fierce competition in two award categories – ‘Business Innovation of the Year’ and the ‘Best Use of Technology in Business’. “The fact that competition comes from multi-national plcs such as Marks & Spencer and Yorkshire Water is a testament to the supportive business environment created by the University of Manchester Incubator Company” said Zulf Choudhary, managing director of SpartaSoft.
The Best Use of Technology in Business nomination is for the use of technologies to reduce social exclusion in the financial sector, following social inclusion and financial awareness agendas set out by the Brown government and the FSA. SpartaSoft’s software allows young people and students to learn about finance, making them more financially aware and able to make life choices. It does so by making the games and plans relevant and exiting to them.
The Innovation of the Year Award nomination is for developing a collaborative platform for digital content providers using interactive approaches to financial learning for all age groups. SpartaSoft’s innovative open platform for educational games developers makes it simpler and faster for digital content providers to roll out products and services to the educational market.
Both awards put SpartaSoft on the map in the region for creating innovative collaborative systems. ‘This project’, says Zulf Choudhary, ‘intends to fill the gap that exists in the market – the lack of a multimedia platform that allows content providers of financial education to directly collaborate with learners. According to the FSA and research by NEM, the lack of such a platform has resulted in a lower level of engagement by students and the stifled distribution of content due to lack of incentives for content providers to supply the market with creative and innovative learning content.’
Tony Walker UMIC’s high-tech incubation manager says: “Sparta continues to add significant awards to its current stock. This reflects its achievements in constant innovation and development building depth in its business model. It has a significant input in terms of postgraduate level staff and an academic team working with it on projects. It is great to see these partnerships of note now yielding results for them in commercial terms”. Shortlisted northwest finalists will be announced on 9 July at Manchester’s Hilton Deansgate, with national winners announced at the NBA awards ceremony on 10 November in London.
