Zonar Systems has been named a 2011 Edison Awards recipient in the Innovative Services for Health, Wellness, and Safety category for its ZPass school bus-tracking solution. Originally established in 1987 by the American Marketing Assn., the Edison Best New Product Awards program is now administered by its own independent organization that seeks to honor the most innovative products and business leaders in America.
Nominees for the Best New Product Awards, divided into 12 categories, were judged by about 2,000 members of the not-for-profit Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), comprised of top marketing professionals and academics.
In a comprehensive peer review process, the nominees were judged on marketplace innovation, marketplace success, technological innovation, market structure innovation, societal impact and design innovation.
ZPass uses a combination of passive radio frequency identification, GPS tracking, wireless communications and Ground Traffic Control (Zonar’s web-based fleet management portal) to help school districts ensure the safety of bus-riding students by providing real-time information on when and where students enter and exit their buses.
“This year’s Awards recognized a broad array of innovations including far-reaching products, services and technologies that impact daily life,” said Edison Awards steering committee chair Sarah Miller Caldicott, a great-grandniece of Thomas Edison. “The Awards applauded the forward-thinking innovations for which Thomas Edison remains internationally admired. It’s exciting to see companies like Zonar continuing his legacy of challenging conventional thinking.”
“We are both proud and honored to be the only telematics company recognized with this prestigious award,” said Chris Oliver, vp of marketing for Zonar Systems. “Challenging ourselves to continually provide innovative, customer-focused solutions has been and will always be our focus at Zonar.”
