HiQ wins the Swedish Higher Education Authority (UKÄ) procurement of a web agency for digital communication services. "It's great that HiQ wins UKÄ's procurement. This shows HiQ's breadth and expertise in various segments and that we are a strong partner as a web agency in government operations. Fantastic team effort from the team who worked on this," says Sven Ivar Mørch, CEO of HiQ.

UKÄ is an independent government agency in the higher education area, located in Stockholm. It is responsible for quality assurance, efficiency review, follow-up, supervision and developing management in the higher education sector. The vision is for the organization to contribute to strengthening Sweden as a knowledge society.

UKÄ needs a strategic and innovative partner who works proactively with the development of their digital communication and who can deliver digital services with the highest quality and accessibility in close collaboration. They want a modern and creative web agency with good experience in working with government operations and that puts UKÄ’s needs first. The website and digital services must comply with the law on accessibility to digital public service.

The procurement includes production, management and development of UKÄ’s existing website with associated technical solutions as well as digital communication for the web and other digital communication. The procurement also includes the analysis and accessibility services used on the website (eg Google Analytics, Solr and Readspeaker). The assignment also pertains to overall advice, support and guidance as well as the possible development of new digital services.

“We are building the Nordic region’s best web agency and I would like to extend a warm welcome to UKÄ. Web, innovation and digital services for the public sector with high demands on accessibility are areas we at HiQ are incredibly strong in, and that is growing,” says Linda Woxneborn, Head of Design, Innovation & Communication at HiQ.

The framework agreement applies from the time of signing the agreement and for two years with the possibility for UKÄ to extend the framework agreement by one + one year, for a maximum of up to four years.

Just as the winner in Gotland Runt 2021 sails over the finish line, it’s official that HiQ Sailing Team retains its track record of 27 hours, 4 minutes and 9 seconds, at an average speed of 13.01 knots from the competition in 2019. "Awesome! Sailing has always been a big part of HiQ's culture, so it feels especially fun that we can keep the record from 2019," says Sven Ivar Mørch, CEO of HiQ.

Gotland Runt is the sailing competition that is arranged every year by the Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS) starting from Stockholm, through the archipelago and around Gotland, with a finish line at Sandhamn. It was first initiated in 1937 and is now the world’s largest annual ocean race.

Two years ago, in 2019, the HiQ Sailing Team entered the competition with the VO65 HiQ IV and the legendary skipper Bouwe Bekking, and the success was a fact. Not only did they win the competition, but they also set a new speed record for monohull boats. 27 hours, 4 minutes and 9 seconds after start, they sailed over the finish line and HiQ has since held the track record for both monohull and multihull boats. For the past 11 years, HiQ has also held the track record for multihull boats with the trimaran HiQ III with an average speed of 14.38 knots, and thus the fastest ever in the Gotland Runt competition.

HiQ now retains the track record for monohull boats of 27 hours, 4 minutes and 9 seconds, at an average speed of 13.01 knots from the competition in 2019.

“We worked hard for a long time with all the preparations as well as strategy and tactics before the competition in 2019, so it feels super fun that we can maintain our record even when this year’s competition is over!” says Erik Ridman, CMO at HiQ and crew member on the record sailing 2019.

Read more about the record: https://www.ksss.se/nyheter/nyheter/2019/rekordslakt-pa-af-offshore-race/

Visma Connect, the reporting technology market leader, and HiQ’s integration platform Frends will deliver Frends to Visma Connect’s rapidly growing integration services client base to the Dutch market. "It’s great to see Frends expand to even more countries. The demand for integration platforms is increasing and it shows at the speed in which Frends is growing," says Sven Ivar Mørch, CEO of HiQ.

The demand for integration services is growing rapidly. Most applications today are delivered as Software as a Service (SaaS). SaaS software companies and their clients are looking for user-friendly and powerful integrations to maximize efficiency, provide new services and harness data value. At the same time, there are many companies that still use on-premises systems that could benefit from connectivity. A platform like Frends can be seamlessly used for both situations. Visma Connect, the reporting technology market leader, and HiQ’s integration platform Frends will deliver the platform to Visma Connect’s rapidly growing integration services client base.

“Low-Code integrations seem to amaze even the experienced integrators with flexibility and extendibility. Final touch is the pricing of Frends, which is, first of all, public and reasonable. Visma Connect has demonstrated the Frends expertise to several customers already,” says Juha Moisio, VP, Global sales at HiQ’s Frends.

The Frends integration platform empowers organizations to develop, manage and secure all API integrations and process automation within one powerful platform. Frends provides a lean, low-code and visual interface to build, deploy, manage and monitor all API integrations. Visma Connect’s integration specialists offer full-service support and can set up integration processes in Frends. Depending on the customer’s needs, they can also maintain and develop additional integrations. Visma Connect offers integration services to a wide range of companies and governments. These services range from consultancy, a dedicated team that helps you manage large roll outs, and full lifecycle management for APIs and integrations.

“Data sharing is one of the pillars of the digital society. Frends offers an intuitive, low-code and very powerful enterprise application integration platform that allows for secure and efficient API integrations. Exactly what you need for effective data transfer,” says Kim Andersen, MD at Visma Connect.

As a result of the demand for the Frends platform, it is now entering the Dutch market with Visma Connect. Visma will resell Frends as an offering to their clients, to help them launch integrations faster to market. Together with the client base of Visma they will help a lot of companies with their integration, on Frends’ quest to take over yet another country in Europe.

About Visma Connect:

In the digital age, data is the most important asset. Today, we share more and more data with each other, for all kinds of purposes. But how can we do this in a safe, fast and verifiable way? 

Visma Connect is the leader in enabling secure, qualified and trusted data exchange. Just as energy companies built the infrastructure that made the industrial revolution possible, Visma Connect is the utility provider of the digital society. 

https://vismaconnect.nl/en/

HiQ with its design team from Great Apes wins gold in the European Design Awards with Lux Nemus, an interactive projection experience and a part of Metsä Group’s visitor center, Pro Nemus. "Incredible that Great Apes wins this award! Fantastic work from the team and great that we get noticed on a European arena," says Sven Ivar Mørch, CEO of HiQ.

HiQ with its design team from Great Apes wins gold in the European Design Awards with Lux Nemus. The project, which consists of a collection of custom-built walls featuring Metsä’s wood, fibre and other innovative products, is an interactive projection experience that is part of the visitor center Pro Nemus by Metsä Group. The product collages have got projections that allow visitors to interact with the walls via a touch screen. Visitors can highlight individual products, explore and learn more about them through unique light projections. The core of the installation is to showcase how Metsä Group uses each part of a tree as efficiently as possible for the purpose that creates the most value.

“We are happy to receive one more gold in the European Design Awards together with Metsä Group. It feels extra special as there is so much competition in the awards,” says Niko Sipilä, Creative Director at Great Apes. 

The European Design Awards, or ED Awards, have been recognizing talented designers since 2007. It differs from other design competitions as the jury is composed of journalists and critics – and not the creators themselves. The jury consists of a variety of design magazines from across Europe.

HiQ’s Great Apes is one of the most internationally acclaimed digital agencies in Finland, with previous golds in the European Design Awards, including one for the concept and prototype for the digital driving license for Finnish Transport Safety Agency, Trafi, and the previous project Nemus Futurm with Metsä Group. Great Apes also has a track record of recognition in leading competitions like the Webby Awards, Red Dot Design Awards and Eurobest, as well as Nordic awards like the Grand One and Grafia’s “Best of the year”.

Read more:

https://europeandesign.org/submissions/lux-nemus/