2015 Digital Accelerator Awards Finalists Announced

Global Awards Program Sponsored by Apigee Recognizes Individual Innovators and Companies Driving the Digital Economy

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 17, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apigee®, (NASDAQ:APIC), developer of an intelligent API platform for digital business, today announced the finalists in the 2015 Digital Accelerator Awards, a global awards program recognizing innovative individuals and organizations accelerating and transforming businesses with APIs.

"We believe that digital has the potential to be the basis of competition and that APIs unlock the potential of digital business," said Chet Kapoor, Apigee's CEO. "We salute the 2015 Digital Accelerator Awards finalists from all around the world and across many industries for creating first-class API programs, working to build and re-build their businesses around digital and fundamentally enhancing the value they bring to customers, partners and employees."

The 2015 Digital Accelerator Awards include a range of categories, from individuals taking digital innovation to new levels, to businesses that are transforming with data and digital technologies. The category winners and the winner of the overall "Top Digital Accelerator" award will be revealed at the "I love APIs" conference, Oct. 12-14 in San Jose, Calif. Following are the finalists in each category.

Top Digital Visionary

This category recognizes a business leader who had a positive change on his/her organization by leading enterprise innovation and transforming digital assets into new value for customers, partners and/or employees using APIs and data. The finalists are:

• Geraldine Calpin: senior vice president & global head of digital, Hilton Worldwide
• Chris Hewertson: chief technology officer, glh Hotels
• Matias Klein: vice president of strategic growth & innovation, McKesson Health Solutions
• Charlotte Yarkoni: president, Telstra

Top Digital Pioneer

This category recognizes a key strategic leader who is pioneering digital programs to break new ground in his/her respective industry, setting a new bar for using digital.

• John Calagaz: chief technology officer, CentraLite Systems
• Stewart Collis: chief technology officer; and Jeof Oyster, senior product manager, aWhere, Inc. (Joint finalists)
• Brad Jaehn: vice president of global digital experience, McDonald's Corporation
• Brad Maglinger: chief marketing officer, AOL/MapQuest
• Frederico Trajano: chief operations officer, Magazine Luiza

Top API Innovator

This category recognizes a technology leader who has driven the implementation of his/her company's API program by building an effective team and executing on the company's digital strategy. The finalists are:

• Steven Engelhardt: head of software architecture, Morningstar, Inc.
• Frank Fitzlaff: head of API program, Swisscom AG
• Paul Friedman: vice president -business technology leadership, Humana Inc.
• Chris Hood: director of web technologies, digital marketing, Fox Broadcasting Company
• Edgar Kalns: head of products and engineering, 24[7]
• Stephen Kinch: senior product manager, mobile and API, 7-Eleven

Top API Evangelist

This category recognizes a technology trailblazer who has been creating and managing world-class APIs enabling innovation and driving digital acceleration. The finalists are:

• Saori Fotenos: senior director of API platform, Thomson Reuters
• Jason Kobus: director fintech integration/ API banking, Silicon Valley Bank
• Kay Lummitsch: technology evangelist for APIs, Swisscom AG
• Matthew Newton: enterprise architect, glh Hotels
• Drew Schweinfurth: developer evangelist, Walgreens

Best API Program

This category recognizes an organization with an outstanding API program that exemplifies innovation in strategy, design, developer experience and support. The organization with the winning API program will have a well-defined plan and business model, a simple, flexible design, and it will have created business value. The finalists are:

• Cox Automotive
• Hilton Worldwide
• Telstra
• Tradier Inc.
• Thomson Reuters
• Vodafone

Best Data Analytics for Digital Business

This category recognizes an organization that has driven the use of data analytics in their digital programs to provide new visibility and insight into their digital ecosystems, customers and/or business. The finalists are:

• Fox Broadcasting Company
• Morningstar, Inc.

Top API for the IoT

The award recognizes an organization demonstrating ground-breaking innovation in creating a new experience or reinventing an existing experience by digitally enabling "things" such as wearables and other everyday devices. A successful IoT entry will use APIs to enable things to use data in new ways to enhance the way people live, work and play. The finalists are:

• CentraLite Systems
• Everbridge
• Honeywell

Best Developer Experience

This category recognizes an organization with an outstanding developer program. The winning program will excel at enabling developer success, providing the right incentives to attract developers and encourage adoption; offering support and tools; and inviting interaction and feedback. The finalists are:

• AOL/MapQuest
• First Data

Digital Business Excellence- Retail, Finance, Telecom, Healthcare

Winners in this category will be organizations in one of four industry verticals that demonstrate success towards digital transformation. The winners' stories will show how a well-implemented digital strategy powered by data and delivered by APIs may increase business agility, improve time-to-market and enhance customer interactions. The finalists are:

• 7- Eleven
• L.L.Bean
• Magazine Luiza
• Silicon Valley Bank
• Tradier Inc.
• Humana Inc.
• McKesson Health Solutions
• Walgreens
• NTT Communications Corp.
• Swisscom AG
• Telstra
• Vodafone

About Apigee

Apigee (NASDAQ:APIC) provides an intelligent API platform for digital business. Many of the world's largest organizations select Apigee to enable their digital business, including 23 of the Fortune 100, six of the top 10 Global 2000 retail companies, and five of the top 10 global telecommunications companies. Apigee customers include global enterprises such as Walgreens, Burberry, Morningstar, eBay, and First Data. Apigee is headquartered in San Jose, California and has over 400 employees worldwide.

Connect with Apigee

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/apigee

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