IBC opens entries for 2018 Innovation Awards

The IBC Innovation Awards is now open for submissions, with entrants encouraged to submit unique solutions used in the media and broadcast industry. 

The Awards seek to recognise the best applications of technology and invention for any broadcaster or media company, reflecting the advances in the industry used to engage and excite audiences. 

IBC judges will reward a winning project where the commissioning company works closely with technology partners to deliver a clever, appropriate and innovative solution that finds new ways to meet today’s creative, commercial and technical challenges.

Successful submissions might add to creativity, enable the enterprise to work more effectively or use new ways to reach and engage with audiences.

”Whether you are established in the broadcast sector or focused on emerging technologies, innovation is key” - Michael Lumley, Chair of the judging panel 

IBC Chief Executive Michael Crimp said: “The IBC Innovation Awards are the awards that everyone in our industry wants to win.

”We see projects from around the world, from the biggest players to exciting new providers, all competing to win one of our coveted awards. The quantity and quality of entries continues to grow each year, and this year we are sure that we will see an ever more diverse set of nominations, which means an even tougher task for our judges.”

The judging panel will award a Judges’ Prize drawn from the nominations in the three Innovation Award categories, or it may be another project which has caught their eye because of its creative, technical or commercial imagination.

The 2017 Judges’ Prize went to Groupe Média TFO for its excellence as a not-for-profit broadcaster and content creator. 

Groupe Média TFO also won the Innovation Award for Content Creation. 

Past winners of the Judges’ Prize also include Stereoscopic 3D coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and NASA for chronicling the exploration of space, for collaborating with film-makers, for continuing to make the content available and for advancing the science and craft of imaging.

Last year, The Innovation Award for Content Everywhere was won by BT Sport, while the The Innovation Award for Content Distribution went to VOOT.

Chair of the judging panel Michael Lumley said: “It does not matter where the nomination comes from, nor the size and scale of the project.

”Winners can be the biggest multi-national broadcasters, or they can be app developers with a very specific audience.

”What the judges are looking for is innovation and collaboration in all its forms to solve a real-world challenge, something that makes the content more engaging or more commercially successful.

“Whether you are established in the broadcast sector or focused on emerging technologies that are disrupting the industry, we encourage companies of all sizes and from all industry sectors to submit an entry for the IBC Innovation Awards – remember innovation is key!”

The deadline for submissions is Monday 24 April 2018; finalists will be shortlisted and announced in mid-June.

All those who enter are invited to attend the awards ceremony, which takes place during IBC on Sunday 16 September at the RAI Auditorium, Amsterdam. 

For more information visit the IBC Show site.