THE SECOND annual ITLG/Irish TimesInnovation award will be presented at Stanford University in Silicon Valley on April 14th next. The award recognises the technology company, that in the view of judges from the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ILTG) and The Irish Times, is most likely to succeed on the global stage.

Last year's winner of the inaugural award was Changing Worlds, the personalisation software company which was acquired by Nasdaq- quoted Amdocs later in 2008 for [euro]46.2 million.

This year a second award for renewable energy will be presented. It will recognise the company from the green energy sector that has the most innovative technology that is likely to break into the mainstream.

This year's shortlist of seven firms is drawn up from those who applied to pitch to financiers at the ITLG's Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland event which was held in Trinity College last November.

Twelve firms participated in a Dragons' Den-style event where they pitched to representatives of US venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Intel Capital and Venrock, as well as investment banks Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.

Founded in October 2007, the ITLG is an independent group of senior technology executives in Silicon Valley who are either Irish or Irish-American. Members include John Hartnett, CEO of G24i, John Gilmore, CEO of Sling Media, Conrad Burke, CEO of Innovalight, Rory McInerney, vice-president, Intel, and Barry O'Sullivan, Senior Vice President at Cisco.

LINCOR SOLUTIONS LTD (lincor.com)

Founded: 2003

HQ: Dublin

Chief executive: Richard Cooke

Investors: Private

Customers: Santry Sports Surgery Clinic, University College London Hospitals, Holy Name Hospital, New Jersey; Geoffroy St Hilaire Hospital, Paris, France

Summary: A provider of integrated bedside point-of-care computing solutions which are used by medical staff in hospitals for access to clinical information systems, and by patients for digital entertainment and education services

LINCOR SOLUTIONS, the healthcare technology provider, is no stranger to awards, having scooped the Deloitte Fast 50 award last year for being the fastest growing Irish technology firm in the previous five years. Lincor achieved an aggregate growth rate in revenues of 3,145 per cent in that period compared to an average for all companies who entered the competition of 460 per cent.

Lincor was founded in 2003, making it a "five-year overnight success", jokes Richard Cooke. It has developed a touchscreen system designed for the patient point-of-care - usually bed-side - that is easy to use and provides a set of services such as internet protocol television (IPTV), movies on demand, internet access and telephone. Staff, using a secure smart card, can use the same terminal to access patient information systems.

"There is a growing demand from hospitals to move to electronic patient records," explains Cooke. "But how do they access them when they are with the patient?"

One option is to give each doctor and nurse a wireless tablet PC or a "computer on wheels" that they push on their rounds. Lincor solves the problem by providing access to the workstation beside the patient.