Sponsors are a huge part of Hackagong. Without the generous contributions from our sponsors, we wouldn’t be running this awesome Hackathon! This is Sponsor Watch, where we take a quick look at one of our sponsors.

Company: WiseTech Global
Company Website: www.wisetechglobal.com
Location: Our head office is in Sydney (Alexandria) NSW. We also have major offices in the USA, UK & China.
Number of Employees: Globally 350 with 250 located at our Sydney Head Office. More than two thirds of our staff are employed in a technical capacity; software developers, products managers, engineers etc

What does your company do?

WiseTech Global is an innovative, multi-award winning global developer of cloud-based software solutions for the international and domestic logistics industries.

Our leading product, CargoWise One, provides the most sophisticated and comprehensive end-to-end logistics solution in the world and forms an integral link in the global supply chain

How did your company first get started? What’s the origin story?

WiseTech Global was founded in 1994 in Sydney, Australia, with a mission to lead the international logistics industry in technology innovation.

The company now operates from offices worldwide with regional headquarters in the US, UK, China, and Australia.

Why did you sponsor Hackagong 2014?

We are passionate about supporting Australian business and the Hackagong event echo’s our core values in recognising and encouraging young minds, future business leaders and Australian start-ups.

Has your company ever held internal hackathons?

Although many of our staff have participated in hackathons we have not held internal events along this line.

What is the most awesome thing or project your company has done?

Our company mission is to change the world by creating breakthrough products that empower those that own, enable and operate the supply chains of the world. We strive to create products that are renowned for their productivity, functional depth, data integration, regulatory compliance, global capability and value.

We are currently working on a number of new product innovations in both hardware and software aimed directly at major problems in Global Logistics

What’s an internal/industry problem your company would like to solve?

We invent things our customers did not know they needed and cannot live without. We want to create products that are amazing, that are different, delightfully better, substantial, fulfilling and long lasting.

We’ve all realized that breakthroughs that make the impossible possible often seem like crazy, stupid, impossible or insane at first, so we know there’s no such thing as a stupid idea. We must allow every idea to be heard, to mature and combine with other ideas and improvements so we can create and refine astounding technology that does amazing things.

What are you most looking forward to at Hackagong 2014?

Being inspired by the enthusiasm of up and coming developers as well as the creativity and entrepreneurship of the next generation of business leaders.

Are you currently hiring and if so, what type of person are you looking for?

Always! We’re constantly on the lookout for talented and motivated people. The WiseTech Global team is made up by some of the smartest people in the industry and we truly recognize that our employees are at the very core of our growing success.

We are currently adding 10 team members per month (globally).

Skills currently required in software development, systems engineering & product management. However, our recruitment model is unique and we are always interested to connect with anyone who feels they have something to offer and gain from working in an innovative & high-tech environment.

What trending technology are you most excited for over the next 5 years?

One of the things we pride ourselves on is being at the forefront of technology. We look ahead at what is coming and we think of innovative ways of leveraging that technology to solve real world business problems for our customers.

One such technology is the prominence of ‘intelligent systems’. That is having the ability to increase productivity of people and processes by putting ‘smart-devices’ into trucks, into shipping containers, in people’s pockets, on people’s and on people’s wrists. Giving people information at the time they need it with ease. We envisage a world where accessing a desktop PC is less common – and accessing a connected device is much more prominent

Hackagong gives a huge thanks to WiseTech Global for being our Major Sponsor for 2014. Additionally, we thank our other sponsors for their generous contribution for this years event.