LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 30, 2026--
Toshiba America Business Solutions' QR-enabled eTAG ® (Encompass Tag & Assessment Generator) invention, which simplifies the often-tedious asset tag process, wins the prestigious Gold Merit Award for best Business Technology.
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Merit Awards acknowledge the efforts put forth by organizations and the markets they serve. The Gold Merit Award Business Technology winner recognizes the company developing an innovation that contributes to the continuing growth of global markets.
"Toshiba's eTAG software helps organizations' IT teams operate better by more effectively tracking and managing their print fleets," says Merit Awards Executive Director Marie Zander. "We celebrate such innovative spirit and are delighted to present Toshiba with our 2026 Gold Merit Award for best Business Technology."
Self-Service Support
eTAG, the industry's first and currently only mobile, remote, self-service printer registration technology, works by intelligently cataloging every printer's make, model, and location within an organization's fleet, while facilitating remote and QR-generated supply and service requests.
Toshiba's patented technology delivers asset tag labels directly to printers to quickly manage organizations' fleets online without the need for costly and time-consuming on-site visits. Though recently introduced, eTAG is already enabled on thousands of devices at hundreds of Toshiba client locations.
"Team Toshiba is immensely honored to receive the 2026 Gold Merit Award for best Business Technology," states Toshiba America Business Solutions Vice President of Managed Print Services Scott Robinson. "eTAG is now activating our client print fleets online in a matter of days, which previously took weeks. The net result is a significant time and cost savings for our clients."
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About Merit Awards
Created in 2022, the Merit Awards are designed to recognize the efforts put forth by global industries and the markets they serve. The Merit Awards will acknowledge companies that have contributed to the continued growth of the market worldwide. Currently, there are seven award programs that are open to all organizations operating within each of the categories. The Merit Awards' judges include respected journalists, executives, consultants, entrepreneurs, educators and the Merit Awards staff. Each submission is carefully read, reviewed, and judged based on the content and/or materials provided. Each category will have a gold, silver, and bronze level recipient.
About Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc.
Toshiba America Business Solutions is a leading innovator of solutions, empowering people to perform efficiently and effectively in their work environment. Serving professionals across the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America, Toshiba delivers secure and sustainable systems, services, and subscriptions to better print, manage, and display information. Toshiba continuously focuses on its clients and communities, is committed to sustainability, and is recognized as a Wall Street Journal Top 100 Sustainable Company. To learn more, please visit business.toshiba.com. Follow Toshiba on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and YouTube.
Toshiba America Business Solutions' QR-enabled eTAG® (Encompass Tag & Assessment Generator) invention, which simplifies the often-tedious asset tag process, wins the prestigious Gold Merit Award for best Business Technology.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Feliks' journey resembles a Hollywood movie script, with kidnappers, smugglers and clandestine border crossings.
The year-old eastern imperial eagle from Serbia, started flying in August and later set off on his first migratory flight toward the Middle East, only to be captured by poachers, sold illegally and retrieved in a daring cross-border mission.
While Feliks returned home safely last week, his ordeal highlighted both the widespread practice of profit-driven, illegal animal trade and an unfaltering struggle by animal protection groups to counter it.
“It’s getting worse year after year, season after season, day after day,” said Michel Sawan, the head of the Lebanese Association for Migratory Birds, who played a key role in Feliks's rescue. "We can actually barely believe ... the mission was done successfully."
The eastern imperial eagle is an imposing bird of prey with a wingspan of up to 2 meters (6 feet). The protected species in Serbia was down to a single breeding pair back in 2017 but has recovered thanks to the tireless work of the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia, or BPSSS.
The precious offspring of a new generation of eagles, Feliks was ringed and got a “small backpack” with a transmitter before setting off last August, Uros Stojiljkovic from the BPSSS said.
“Everything seemed normal,” Stojiljkovic added. “We didn't dream all this would happen."
Feliks first circled close to home before heading southeast across North Macedonia, Greece and Turkey. His tracking signal was lost in late October in Syria.
“We hoped this was because there was a problem with the transmitter or something,” Stojiljkovic said.
Weeks passed by before the news came from Sawan: Feliks was put up for sale after he was captured by poachers who catch migratory birds by placing water in the desert, or shoot at them, capture them with nets or even chase them with motorcycles.
“When Felix was caught at first, it was posted on many WhatsApp groups for selling wild birds illegally trapped in Syria,” Sawan said. “I started my phone calls with people I know in Syria and we were able to reach out for Feliks.”
Paying money to smugglers was out of the question but Sawan wasn't ready to give up.
Feliks was sold to a buyer in Lebanon and resold back into Syria before Sawan managed to retrieve him through a network of associates. Getting Feliks over the border into Lebanon was then impeded by fighting in the region and bad weather, he said.
Eventually, a group of refugees carried Feliks in a potato sack over the Nahr al-Kabir river on the northern border between Syria and Lebanon. “It was crazy,” Sawan said.
Now safely in Sawan's bird sanctuary in Beirut, Feliks still needed to get back home, a task that became virtually impossible after the start of the war in Iran in February.
After three failed attempts, the Serbian army came to the rescue through its troops serving in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Finally, on June 22, Feliks arrived back in Serbia aboard a military transport plane.
Feliks is now in a zoo in northern Serbia where he must be quarantined for 21 days. Experts from the BPSSS say the eagle will get a new transmitter before he is released again.
Over the past decade, the BPSSS has worked hard to plant trees and set up bird platforms across the flat agricultural plain of northern Serbia. Back in 2017, volunteers organized a 24-hour watch of the remaining nesting pair to make sure they were safe. A European Union-backed project later helped beef up the population to the current 29 breeding couples.
Dangers are still many, from accidental poisoning to electrical cables, Stojiljkovic said.
“Feliks went full circle and came back to where he had set off,” Stojiljkovic said. “Let's hope he won't be bored here.”
Feliks, an Eastern imperial eagle which flew from Serbia across North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, where he fell victim to traffickers looks out from a cage at Palic Zoo after returning in Serbia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
A worker inside the cage at Palic Zoo looks among trees for Feliks, an Eastern imperial eagle which flew from Serbia across North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, where he fell victim to traffickers after returning in Serbia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Feliks, an Eastern imperial eagle which flew from Serbia across North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, where he fell victim to traffickers, looks out from a cage at Palic Zoo after returning in Serbia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Feliks, an Eastern imperial eagle which flew from Serbia across North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, where he fell victim to traffickers looks out from a cage at Palic Zoo after returning in Serbia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
