Awarded to an individual who is participating in an IT apprenticeship programme that involves part-time formal study to gain IT qualifications, together with paid work experience to enhance skill and understanding. The apprenticeship must be on-going in March 2024.

Awarded to an individual responsible for the definition of requirements and solutions for improving business processes and systems, reducing their costs, enhancing their sustainability, and quantifying potential business benefits. They may also conduct methodical investigation, analysis, review and documentation of business functions and processes.

Awarded to an individual responsible for the effective and successful inclusion and implementation of DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) within the business. Demonstrable and supporting evidence must be included to support the application. Examples may include but are not limited to: backgrounds; behaviours; beliefs; characteristics; experiences; values.

Awarded to an Engineer who has evidenced and demonstrated outstanding commitment and ability to and within the Engineering process inside the business. Your submission must demonstrate your commitment to the engineering ethos and your ability and agility to work with the necessary range of individuals and functions involved in the IT Engineering arena.

A judges’ award for an individual who has been a source of inspiration for others working in IT, whether for a specific contribution in the year, or for continued contribution to UK IT. Particular attention will be paid to those who have inspired change and/or provided thought leadership in a societally beneficial area, with the application justifying the area cited.

Exceptionally the Inspirational Individual of the Year category will have an extra means of submission to allow the candidate to be supported by his/her colleague/s. Each supporter can upload a short video (of maximum 2 minutes in length) giving their justifications for the candidate being awarded the title of Inspirational Individual of the Year.

Awarded to a Senior IT Leader, e.g. board or C-level IT executive or an individual who is operationally responsible for any aspect of IT delivery but especially roles in areas such as project/program management, Security & Governance or Consultancy. They will have delivered and evidenced tangible benefits to their organisation, meeting key objectives for budget, timescales and service.  The winner will be an individual who has consistently demonstrated excellence in leadership, innovation and quality in the use and promotion of IT in their organisation to deliver business growth or public services.  The size of the organisation is immaterial.

Awarded to an IT Educator or Career Developer who has demonstrated proven sustained and outstanding commitment to the support and mentoring of individual/s within the IT field. They will have an established record of achievement in their mentoring work, demonstrated through their high-quality performance and professionalism within their organisation

Awarded to an IT professional under the age of 30, or who turns 30 in 2024, in any discipline, who has demonstrated outstanding commitment and achievement in their work, and through their quality and professionalism stands out in their organisation as a high performer in the application and management of IT. Credit will be given for high achievement early in the career, but those in an apprentice program should enter the "IT Apprentice" category.

Awarded to an IT professional who has demonstrated exceptional commitment and achievement in the area of security, and through their quality and professionalism stands out in their organisation.

Awarded to the organisation that provides the best employment and career opportunities for IT professionals as well as demonstrating a positive commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion The winner will be an organisation that its IT employees view as a great place to work; that can demonstrate improvements to the diversity and inclusiveness of its staff; that values the role of IT and the professionalism of the staff that provide and support it, offering career and skills development, reward and recognition for personal achievement and industry-leading employment benefits. Metrics showing how the organisation’s inclusivity has improved in recent years will be helpful.

This award will go to the organisation which is best able to prove that it has taken specific steps to reduce its environmental impact and improve its sustainability. Judges will expect to see details of a significant sustainable initiative, together with the impact achieved. Metrics showing how the organisation’s sustainability has improved as a result of the initiative will be helpful.

Awarded to the team or department that best demonstrates how its work has helped achieve or exceed objectives and contribute to the overall competitiveness and/or success of the organisation during the previous 12 months. The winning entry will show how important the development team is to the business, and what steps it took to accomplish its goals.

This award will go to the organisation which is best able to demonstrate the steps it has taken to improve diversity, equity and inclusion. This could be of it’s own workforce, initiatives it has taken to assist its customers or a service or product it has created and supplied to others. Metrics demonstrating achievement will be helpful.

Awarded to an outstanding project team that has implemented an end-user project that has been exceptionally well-managed. The winning team will demonstrate against the four criteria how well the project has been run and what lessons have been learnt, how customer expectations have been surpassed, innovation introduced by the project and measurable outcomes for the project.

Awarded to recognise excellence in the provision of IT systems, the winner 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.

Awarded to the 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 past 12 months. The winning organisation will show how IT is fundamental to achieving business goals.

Open to all vendors, this standalone award will go to the vendor who can demonstrate outstanding performance in terms of market penetration, revenue growth, customer feedback and the launch of innovative new products. Crucially, the vendor must clearly demonstrate a commitment to workplace diversity as well as IT excellence. They will have set up schemes to encourage and promote equality amongst staff, with opportunities provided to the most talented individuals regardless of their personal attributes or beliefs. The organisation will be able to demonstrate a solid record of both innovation (whether that's in their products, working practises or processes) and investment in the UK IT industry. Evidence of youth training and recruitment programmes, and charitable works will also be considered.

The awards in this category will be judged against four key criteria:

Excellence: Consistently able to demonstrate leading performance in terms of market penetration, revenue growth, product launches and/or customer satisfaction.

Diversity: Encouraging and promoting diversity of all kinds in the workplace, both in terms of recruitment practises, and staff opportunities, training and retention policies.

Innovation: Demonstrating a true commitment to innovation, with the aim of providing the latest technology and services to customers, creating new products or even new marketplaces, and / or creating new routes to market and fresh ways to engage and communicate with the IT community.

Investment: Able to give strong evidence of investment in the UK, whether that's in terms of new hires, investment in research and development, opening new facilities and / or charitable works and donations. At its root an answer to the question: what have you done to make the UK a better place to live and work in?

Entrants should provide: An explanation for how the submitted entry meets each of the four criteria, plus a maximum 250-word summary of why they believe they should win this award.

Each entry, therefore, requires:

• Organisational overview (80 words), which can be used for PR purposes

• Four sections detailing achievements (up to 500 words each) against each of the four criteria above

• A summary statement (up to 250 words)

Entrants are urged to ensure that their submissions follow the above format so that the judges can give the entry their fullest consideration.

Additional Evidence: Under commercial confidence, entrants should seek to provide quantitative evidence (including limited ancillary materials) wherever appropriate to support the submission.

Please note that any additional documents provided should be brief and additive to the entry, and video material should be a maximum of 3 minutes in duration.

All sections of the form must be completed.

Awarded to a public or private sector entrant for the most outstanding project utilising an automation technology such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence (AI), or Machine Learning (ML). This could be a chatbot, a marketing automation tool, an image analysis assistant, or any other related project. The winning entry will demonstrate the business value of the project, and why automation technologies were necessary over other options to deliver the required outcomes.

Awarded to a 'not for profit' sector organisation for the most outstanding project in the charitable sector. For clarity, the award is open to charities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and not-for-profit organisations outside of the public sector, subject to the accepted criteria on surplus distribution. The award is not limited to any specific type of project if it uses IT to benefit the organisation or its clients. The judges may consider, where relevant, the size of the organisation when making their determination. The determination will be made based on the project outcomes and not for the technology per se.

Awarded to an organisation who can demonstrate the most outstanding project related to the ability to deliver significant value from data in terms of organisational performance. The winning entry will demonstrate the business value of the project, and why data technologies were necessary over other options to deliver the required outcomes.

Awarded to a defence, security, or law enforcement organisation for the most outstanding IT project. The award is open to any organisation engaged in security, defence, or law enforcement such as police forces, military establishments, law enforcement agencies and associated technology providers. The award is not limited to any specific type of project if it uses IT to benefit the organisation or its clients. The judges may consider, where relevant, the size of the organisation when making their determination. The determination will be made based on the project outcomes and not for the technology per se.

Awarded to a public or private sector entrant for the most outstanding digital transformation project that transforms the workplace, business models, customer experience or operational models. The determination will be made based on the project outcomes and not for the technology per se.

Awarded to a financial services organisation for the most outstanding business project. The award is open to any organisation engaged in financial services to individuals or organisations. The award is not limited to any specific type of project if it uses IT to benefit the organisation or its clients. The judges may consider, where relevant, the size of the organisation when making their determination. The determination will be made based on the project outcomes and not for the technology per se.

Awarded to a healthcare sector organisation for the most outstanding business project. The award is open to any organisation engaged in healthcare such as NHS Trusts, commissioning groups, hospitals, or medical technology providers. The award is not limited to any specific type of project, if it uses IT to benefit the organisation or its clients. The judges may consider, where relevant, the size of the organisation when making their determination. The determination will be made based on the project outcomes and not for the technology per se.

Awarded to a public sector organisation for the most outstanding business project. The award is open to government departments, local government and their associated agencies. The award is not limited to any specific type of project, if it uses IT to benefit the organisation or its clients. The judges may consider, where relevant, the size of the organisation when making their determination. The determination will be made based on the project outcomes and not for the technology per se.

Awarded to an organisation that has undertaken a significant technology refresh project. The project should have transformed an existing service, process or application through a re-imagining of the technical implementation. The determination will be made based on the degree of innovation, ROI, quality of management and impact of the refresh project and not for the technology per se.

Awarded to an innovative development and/or application of Artificial Intelligence that is realising new potential in AI.  As one of the hottest topics in technology, this significant new category to the IT Awards for 2023 will showcase impact and innovation in areas such as machine learning, natural language processing and process automation.

Awarded to a product or service that has delivered measurable benefit to end users in either a single, large organisation or for a variety of organisations through any mix of private or public cloud offerings.

Awarded to an innovative new development or service that delivers a new class of solution or type of benefit. This category does not need to demonstrate 12 months’ worth of results before being submitted as it is intended to allow UK inventiveness to be showcased through these Awards however, products should at least be able to showcase some early measurable results.

Awarded to an innovative new product or service which is accessible by as many people as possible, regardless of their gender, age, ability or background. It will use inclusive design principles and practices to deliver measurable benefits, transforming lives, boosting productivity and driving societal benefit.

Awarded to an innovative new product or service that has delivered measurable benefit for customers in areas such as IT security, data protection, information management, risk management, business continuity, cybersecurity or disaster recovery.

Awarded to a technological innovation that reduces the effects of IT development, usage and disposal on the environment, saving energy and resources which translates into lower carbon emissions. Resources may be recycled to bring business benefits and minimise cost at all stages of IT product development. This category will showcase Green Technology Innovations from businesses to act more responsibly under the 3R's of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Awarded to a new or improved product, service or process that leverages technological advancements or breakthroughs to solve problems, help make IT good for society and drive business value. The Technology Innovation may involve the development of hardware, software, systems and other digital or physical products in a range of areas including but not limited to: Digital Twin, VR, Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, Robotics, Mobile Technology, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Blockchain, Quantum Computing.