Open for entry: InnovationAus Awards 2021


James Riley
Editorial Director

Entries are now open for all 11 categories of the InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence, the premium six-month program aimed at identifying and rewarding Australia’s best and brightest individuals and companies.

The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence seeks to highlight the people and the organisations that are driving the creation of new products and services, and new industries across the Australian economies.

These are the national heroes of an economy in transition: The people who are creating jobs, creating wealth, and creating high-value social impact, all in the national interest.

These awards represent 11 categories that map to the areas of strategic focus by Australian governments and will be judged by independent panels across five criteria that represent value to the nation.

“There are huge opportunities right now for Australian innovators to capitalise on a fast-evolving global technology landscape, and we want to play our role in putting a spotlight on the companies and the individuals that are making a real difference,” InnovationAus publisher Corrie McLeod said.

“Australia has a genuine competitive advantage in a range of market areas. We have great skills, and a long track record of research excellence in new to the world knowledge,” she said.

“This InnovationAus awards program will highlights the next steps in delivering economic and social value to Australia – commercial success; intellectual property translation; impact; non-R&D innovation; and applied technology.”

The InnovationAus 2021 Awards for Excellence is a six-month program or articles and podcasts and video testimony to shine a spotlight on these incredible innovators and will culminate in a black-tie Commercial Disco event at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney on November 18.

Our foundation partners for these awards includes Verizon Business Group, Sitecore, Squiz, Microsoft Australia, CSIRO, Mimecast, Agile Digital and Wrays, as well as the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC) and Digital Health CRC.

The judging criteria for the awards are:

Commercial success

Judges will review what commercial success looks like for your organisation, your export potential and success stories within the international marketplace. We want to see evidence of your company’s track record in creating a product or service, then effectively selling to domestic and/or international markets. This is a Commercial Disco(very)!

Translation of intellectual property

Intellectual property (IP) is developed in different environments and there are many strategies to successfully bring the research outputs to market. Judges will reward excellence in the translation of IP – through programs that enable successful research collaborations across various sectors as well as those companies that continue to develop IP internally.

Impact

What is your company’s impact on its sector? Does your product or service take Australian smarts and create new jobs and wealth for the nation, or make the lives of our citizens better? Does your innovation inspire through originality and ambition? Judges will review how entrants are aligning their success measures –such as addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals or CSIRO’s Challenge Missions.

Non-R&D innovation

We will also be looking for business innovations that have helped your organisation translate its IP for commercial or social impact success. Elements will include your organisation’s business strategy, a successful pivot, or its adaptability to major challenges, risk or unexpected outcomes. It will look at your leadership and human resources strategy and all the other non-R&D factors that are vital to successful growth.

Applied technology

Judges also want to hear stories of organisations that have adapted or pivoted research and innovation projects to build a product or service for an entirely different sector. What horizonal applications of these particular technologies have been used to solve a challenge? How are these companies themselves consumers of emerging tech that is then to create new products?

The 11 award categories are:

  1. Advanced Manufacturing
  2. CyberSecurity
  3. Food and AgriTech
  4. MedTech and Biotechnology
  5. Mining Equipment, Technology and Ser vices (METS)
  6. Energy and Renewables
  7. Space and Remote Automation
  8. Defence Industry
  9. Research Translation
  10. People’s Choice Award
  11. Australian Hero Award

You can find more details about these awards and the program of editorial activity that comes with them by visiting the InnovationAus Awards for Excellence website.

Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.

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