The Belfast Telegraph IT Awards 2019
Innovation, customer satisfaction, success.
If IT is making exciting things happen in your organisation, enter the inaugural Belfast Telegraph IT Awards today.
IT is the fastest growing sector in Northern Ireland. The inaugural Belfast Telegraph IT Awards, proudly supported by Carson McDowell, seek to recognise and celebrate the significant contribution that IT businesses, IT departments and IT professionals make to their organisations, their clients, the sector and the local economy, culminating in our awards ceremony at the MAC on Friday 8 November. You can buy tickets now by clicking here.
Entries in each category will be judged against three key criteria:
- Innovation
- Measurable Success
- Customer Satisfaction
Entry Requirements
- Entry overview (100 words maximum) which can be used for PR purposes.
- A maximum of 750 words on how you/your organisation / the project or service meet the criteria of the category entered and with particular reference to innovation, measurable success and customer satisfaction.
- A summary statement of up to 150 words why you should win.
Categories
• Best ‘Not for Profit’ Sector IT Project of the Year
The judges are looking for the most outstanding project delivered by a ‘not for profit’ organisation. This award is open to charities, NGO’s and government departments. Any kind of project is eligible as long as IT is core to its success.
• Best Use of Cloud Services
This award will be presented to a public or private sector entrant for the best IT project which uses services to applications based on IaaS, PaaS or SaaS. The data processing and interfaces must be driven from a cloud platform for consumption by smart devices.
• Cybersecurity Project of the Year
This award recognises an organisation which has delivered an innovative project in the area of cyber security. It rewards a project which demonstrates the highest level of excellence for the team’s organisation or clients showing best practice and ongoing improvement.
• Digital Project of the Year
Awarded to a public or private sector entrant for the most outstanding digital media user experience project to remodel market reach, client relations and brand recognition as well as projects where the rationale is the distribution or management of content itself. User experience achievements will be a key focus.
• Mobile App of the Year
The judges are looking for an app which demonstrates exceptional design, high impact and originality. User experience and functionality are also important. Eligible mobile apps run on mobile phones, tables or W8 or other touchscreen devices with built-in 3G or 4G capability.
• IT Professional of the Year
Awarded to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in leadership, innovation and quality in the use and promotion of IT in their place of work. They will have delivered tangible benefit to their organisation, meeting key objectives for budget, timescales and service.
• Young IT Professional of the Year
This award is open to an individual working in IT who has not reached his/her 30th birthday by 31st August 2019. The judges are looking for someone who has demonstrated commitment and initiative in their IT role, who has made a significant contribution to their project team or company and stands out as a high performer in the application and management of IT.
• Best Place to Work in IT
This award recognises the organisations that provides the best employment and career opportunities for IT professionals. Their winner will be a company whose IT employees see it as a great place to work; that grows and retains its IT talent; that offers reward and recognition for personal achievement and that truly stands out from the crowd.
• IT Project Team of the Year
The judges are looking for an outstanding project team that has implemented an end-user project that has been exceptionally well managed. The successful entrant will show how well the project has been run, what lessons have been learnt, how customer expectations have been surpassed, any innovations introduced and measurable outcomes.
• IT Team of the Year
The judges are looking for a company or public body that demonstrates how the development or implementation of its IT strategy has helped to meet objectives, achieve greater competitiveness or improve public services during the last year. The winning organisation will show how IT is fundamental to achieving business goals.
• Small IT Team of the Year
This award seeks to recognise a small IT team (of 10 or less) which has shown an innovative approach to contributing IT solutions either in-house or as a supplier. Customer satisfaction and tangible results should be demonstrated.
• Small Supplier of the Year
This winner (under 20 employees) will demonstrate excellence in the provision of IT systems. The successful entrant will be a supplier of hardware, software and/or IT services that has achieved significant business success in the past 12 months and can demonstrate high levels of customer satisfaction and business benefits from the users of its products and services.
• IT Woman of the Year
This award celebrates a woman who has excelled in an IT role and who could be regarded as a role model contributing to a more inclusive sector. The winner will be a talented high achiever who has made a significant impact in the technology industry.
Terms & Conditions
By entering this competition, you are agreeing to these terms and conditions and consent to your personal data being managed in accordance with our Privacy Statement.
IT Awards Entry Terms and Conditions
1. The Belfast Telegraph IT Awards are a business to business initiative, intended to provide opportunities for sole traders and organisations within the industry to submit their professional achievements for consideration by our judging panel, in a bid to be shortlisted for one or more of our award categories.
2. Entries will be accepted across 13 categories with an overall winner, selected by our judging panel, receiving the title of “IT company of the year”.
3. The awards are open to all businesses with the following restriction: Entries will be confined to organisations based in Northern Ireland or with a significant operating base here. Sponsors cannot enter the category they are sponsoring.
4. Entries must be made using the official online entry form and should only include the information described.
5. Word limits should be adhered to. Entries will be trimmed at the point they exceed the word limit.
6. The competition winning entry will be selected by our panel of judges. The decision is final and no correspondence or communication will be entered into. No personal data will be shared with the judging panel. In order to make their decision they will have access only to the entry submitted for their consideration.
7. The judging panel may rely on published information and facts that are in the public domain when considering entries. Shortlisted companies may be asked to provide verification of claims made.
8. Organisations may enter as many award categories as they wish and may submit multiple entries in each.
9. Entries should relate to business activity falling within the period August 2018 to August 2019.
10. Entries must be received no later than 12 noon on Thursday 26 September 2019.
11. The shortlist will be announced during the week commencing 30 September 2019 in the Belfast Telegraph and on BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. Those who are shortlisted for a category award will be contacted by email and/or telephone.
12. Please note that the personal data of those successfully shortlisted will be shared with our Events and PR Partner(s) in order for them to communicate important information regarding the event and the presentation requirements on the evening.
13. Awards will be presented the awards ceremony on Friday 8 November 2019.
14. Personal data collected from this competition will be held securely for 3 months in order to shortlist entries and communicate with these parties. INM NI will delete this data when winners have been chosen and notified. The exception to this will be the data of category winners who will have their personal data held for a period of 14 months in order to facilitate promotion of the subsequent year’s event.
General Terms and Conditions
1. The promoters are Independent News and Media NI, 33 Clarendon Road, Belfast, BT1 3BG (“INM NI”).
2. If you subscribe to an email newsletter, please note you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email newsletter.
3. By entering, all eligible entrants agree to abide by each and all these terms and conditions. The entry form will be part of the overall terms and conditions.
4. Misrepresentative or fraudulent entries will invalidate an entry. Where a competition involves a voting process: offering or receiving any incentive for voting is not permitted and will invalidate the vote, and may disqualify the recipient of the vote. INM NI reserves the right, with or without cause, to exclude entrants and withhold prizes for violating any of these terms and conditions. INM NI reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions. Any amendments will be published on the website.
5. Promotion is open to residents of Northern Ireland who are over 18 years of age. INM NI reserves the right to request written proof of age from the winner.
6. Employees and agents of INM NI or any company connected with the promotion or any of INM NI’s associated companies are not eligible to take part in the applicable competition, nor are their immediate family members. For these purposes an "immediate family member" includes a spouse, partner, child, step child, grandchild, brother, step brother, sister, step sister, parent, step parent or legal guardian.
7. Use of a false email, name or address by an entrant will disqualify them from receiving any prize.
8. In the case of conflict between these rules and such specific directions/terms and conditions, these rules shall prevail. By participating in this competition, you are deemed to accept these rules and the specific directions/terms and conditions.
9. No responsibility is accepted for entries damaged, lost or mislaid and proof of posting will not be accepted as proof of delivery. No entries will be accepted by agents, in bulk or from third parties.
10. Any additional costs and expenses incurred by entrants are to be the responsibility of entrants. Unless otherwise stated, all taxes, insurances, fees and surcharges are to be the sole responsibility of entrants.
11. The determination and decision of INM NI on all matters shall be final and no competition correspondence will be entered into. INM NI reserve the right in their reasonable discretion: (a) to disqualify any claimant, competitor or nominee whose conduct is contrary to the spirit of the rules or the intention of the promotion and to declare as void any or all of their claims or entries based on such conduct; (b) to declare as void any claims or entries resulting from any printing, production and/or distribution errors (including but not limited to any error(s) in the magazine, this website, and/or other printed materials, or where there has been error(s) in any aspect of the preparation for or conduct of the promotion materially affecting the result of the promotion or the number of claimants or the value of claims; (c) to add to or to waive any rules on reasonable notice; and/or (d) to cancel the promotion or any part of it at any stage in the event of circumstances beyond INM NI’s reasonable control.
12. The promotion may also be declared void should a printing or production error in connection with the competition appear in the newspaper or on this website.
13. Entrants acknowledge and accept that publicity may be given to competition winners and winners’ names and images may be published on the Belfast Telegraph website, social media channels and other website(s) relating to the promotion. Winners must co-operate fully for publicity purposes if so required.
14. All entrants agree not to engage in any interviews or make any statements in connection with or arising from the competition without the written consent of INM NI.
15. INM NI reserves the right to publish entries (including parts of entries) other than the winning entry and publication does not necessarily mean the entrant has won a prize.
16. All competition entrants can opt-in to marketing materials or newsletters by ticking the appropriate box(es) on the entry form. Your data will not be used for any marketing purposes without your consent.
17. INM NI will not be liable for technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind or lost or unavailable network connections that may limit or prohibit an eligible entrant’s ability to participate in the competition. Other than death or personal injury arising from the acts or omissions of INM or its employees, INM will not be liable for any loss or damage arising out of the winner’s (or their guest’s) enjoyment of the prize.
18. INM NI reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend a competition and/or vary competition rules at any time without prior notice.