• Web Awards celebrates and showcases excellence in web design and development across the UAE
• Zed’s Managing Director, Robert Mitchell, explains why the UAE is on course to become a global leader in web innovation
• Zed Communications also takes eight Gold, six Silver and six Bronze Awards across a wide range of categories at UAE Web Awards 2009

Dubai, 9 December 2009 – Zed Communications, the Dubai based integrated communications company, galloped away from the UAE Web Awards with a clutch of awards including eight Gold, six Silver, six Bronze Awards and the much-coveted ‘Web Agency of the Year Award.’

Zed’s work for the Executive Affairs Authority in Abu Dhabi was awarded with a Special Strategic Award for Governmental Work in what was a glittering award ceremony at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel on Saturday night. The event, organized by the Pan Arab Web Awards Academy, in association with AYNA, Microsoft, BSA and MSN, is widely regarded as the premier United Arab Emirates platform to showcase, share and inspire excellence in website design and software development.

Commenting on Zed’s runaway success, Managing Director Robert Mitchell, said: “We are proud to be Web Agency of the Year. Online is an integral part of our business in building clients’ brands. We are always looking at ways to turn websites from lagging assets to driving assets. In the past, websites used to be just a record of who a company was, like an online brochure. At Zed, we make the web an active asset to drive growth in our customers’ brands and increase return on investment. That means developing holistic online strategies that go way beyond traditional websites.”

The Awards, now in their fifth year, provide the perfect opportunity to network and gain market recognition in what is an increasingly powerful digital medium. Each web award entry is judged by a team of experts across key criteria such as design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, functionality, navigation and ease of use.

This year Zed Communications ran away with eight Gold Awards in eight categories: Health; Financial; Services; Art and Design; Education; Industries; Corporate; and Governmental. Six Silver Awards were won in: Sports; Hotels, NGOs; Transportation; Web Companies and Advertising, while six Bronze Awards were received for Banks; Fashion; Directories; Financial Services; NGOs and Services.

Mitchell underscored the value and growing importance of web in the United Arab Emirates: “The UAE is now part of an elite group of countries with world-class levels of web penetration. The UAE’s place in the world’s top-thirty for broadband connectivity sets it on the same level as traditionally tech-savvy markets like the United States, Japan and Sweden. Furthermore, the UAE is a young country, with half the population aged under twenty.”

He added: “We are seeing many people leapfrogging the PC age, straight to mobile broadband. Mobile devices are now the key for information, entertainment and communication. Over the next few years you’ll see many groundbreaking developments in web technology, right here in the UAE — driven by local companies like Zed. “