A glance at the list of Oxfordshire people who are this year up for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award reveals, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the area specialises in electronic wizardry on the one hand, and the business of making the world a fairer place on the other.

The four contenders for the prize, sponsored by accountants Ernst and Young, are: Robert Hale and Usha Kar, of the not-for-profit Oxford-based charitable company Africa Now; Patrick Newton, of Didcot firm Helveta, which provides software for improving sustainable forest management worldwide; and Stephen Munford, of expanding Abingdon high-tech company Sophos, now one of the world's largest players in the fight against computer viruses and other electronic nasties.

Africa Now was founded back in 1981. It employs six people in Oxford and 35 worldwide, with Usha Kar in charge here and Robert Hale in Nairobi.

Ms Kar, who joined Africa Now in 2006, having previously worked for Oxfam and Refugee Centres for Bosnians and Vietnamese people, said: "At Africa Now we are now more than ever focused on linking small producers to markets."

Africa Now is a charity which also runs a company - ploughing all profits back into itself - which in turn is in the business of carrying out ethical audits for large western companies doing business in Africa. It also organises micro-loans for small producers to help them help themselves out of poverty.

It has established an Ethical Business Services unit which aims to improve conditions for producers and workers, and ensure a growing market share for African products.

Ms Kar added that Oxfordshire was indeed becoming something of a centre for social enterprise. She said: "Many of us have been through Oxfam, which, of course, is celebrating its 60th birthday this year."

As an illustration of Oxford's growing importance in the sector, she pointed out that Africa Now will at the end of this month move to the Old Music Hall on Cowley Road, developed by the Ethical Property Company and soon to become home to 28 charities. Already there is a cafe on the ground floor where charity workers can "network".

The Old Music Hall is the head office of the Ethical Property Company, owner of 14 centres across the country. Each centre was set up with the objective of bringing charities, co-operatives, community and campaign groups together under one roof, where they can share skills and ideas - and benefit from reasonable rents and flexible tenancy terms.

It now has 1,300 shareholders, some investing as little as £300. Over the past five years they have received a three per cent dividend and seen the value of their shares rise, too.

Another contender for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Patrick Newton, was one of the founders in 2004 of Helveta, a firm which is demonstrably doing something to tackle global warming.

He said: "I worked in software in many industry sectors. But after working closely with the Tropical Forest Trust, I thought I could see a way of using technology to tackle deforestation, and hence global warming."

Helveta, which employs 20 people and is now looking to recruit more, maps trees in tropical forests - and tracks the wood when they are felled - using satellite technology, as well as hand-held devices on the ground.

He added: "Originally, the problem was finding customers who both wanted to fix the problem and, secondly, could afford to do so. But now the game has completely changed. Forest Law Enforcement and Government (Fleg) regulations in G8 countries, Fleg regulations in Europe, and the Lacey Act in the USA, mean that buyers in developed countries can be in trouble for importing tropical wood without being able to demonstrate its provenance.

"And in the future we expect to be able to track the wood from particular trees using DNA."

The company uses similar high technology to track food from plant to plate.

The contender from Sophos, Stephen Munford, is also in the high-tech sector. Sophos was one of the first companies to enter the business of tackling computer viruses back in 1985 when joint founders Peter Lammer and Jan Hruska set the business up in Dr Hruska's house in Kidlington.

Canadian Mr Munford, who is chief executive, has increased the firm's payroll at its Abingdon headquarters by 20 per cent in the last 12 months to 550, of whom 70 per cent are local. And the firm is looking for 60 more. Worldwide, the company employs 1,200 people.

He joined Sophos in 2003 from anti-spam firm ActiveState - which Sophos took over - and became chief executive in 2006.

A fellow Canadian and colleague, press officer Carole Theriault, explained that innovation and enterprise were irrrepressible in Mr Munford. Even when he was at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, he started his own very profitable window-cleaning business, employing more than 100 people.

She added: "For the six-month period ending September 31, 2007, Sophos was worth globally an estimated 100 million US dollars (£51m), with the UK contributing 30 per cent to this.

The list of Oxfordshire contenders certainly proves that the county is in the forefront of the electronic revolution, applying high-tech knowledge to old and new problems.

Kevin Harkin of Ernst and Young said: "Oxfordshire has a thriving and dynamic business community."

Regional winners will be announced at a London ceremony on June 19, before going on to compete in the national final.