On Thursday, March 7th, 2023, we ceremoniously marked the 10th anniversary of the iNetwork Innovation Awards with a grand dinner and ceremony hosted at the Manchester Marriot Victoria & Albert hotel.
In honor of a decade of recognition, we proudly unveiled a new award category, the Substantial Impact Award. This prestigious accolade was established to celebrate projects that have demonstrated long-lasting success and resilience. Eligible to any past nominee, this award aimed to commend the enduring impact of these remarkable projects.
The evening saw the announcement of eight winners in total for the following award categories:
– iStandUK Award (for Data sharing)
– Connected Procurement & Commissioning Award
– Effective Information Sharing & Security Award
– Transforming & Innovating Public Services Award
– Partnership Excellence Award
– Most Creative Video Award
– Substantial Impact Award
– Outstanding Contribution Award
iStandUK Award
The first category of the night was for the iStandUK Award. This award recognises projects that demonstrate innovation and achievement in the effective use of data and information standards to improve services, to enable information transparency and/or to enable common understanding of a key issue. The award was presented by Paul Davidson, iStandUK, & Phil Swan, GMCA. The winner of this award was:
Knowledge Mining: Reimagining Case Management, North Yorkshire Council
Partnership Excellence Award
We then moved on to the Partner Excellence Award. This award recognises outstanding performance from partner organisations. The award celebrates innovation, collaboration, efficiency and going the extra mile in partnership working. The award was presented by Tom Lowndes, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities. The winner was:
Kraft Heinz Care Leaver Traineeship, Kraft Heinz Care Leaver Traineeship Partnership Group
Connected Procurement & Commissioning (CPC) Award
The next award category was the Connected Procurement & Commissioning (CPC) award recognises successes in public procurement and commissioning. In particular initiatives that have used innovative and collaborative procurement or commissioning practices to tackle social outcomes that are important to the public sector, delivered savings and efficiencies, and generally supported the improvement of public service organisations and the communities which they serve. This award is sponsored by YPO and was presented by Hannah Gains, iNetwork and Agnieszka Gajli, YPO. The winner of the CPC category was:
Procuring and Commissioning for Carbon Reduction, Manchester City Council
Effective Information Sharing & Security (EISS) Award
The Effective Information Sharing & Security (EISS) Award recognises projects that facilitate the secure storage, sharing, and/or use of sensitive information to deliver more efficient and effective services for users whilst ensuring that personal information is protected. The award was presented by Lesley Bullen, The Guinness Partnership and Alan Boardman, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT. The winner of the EISS category was:
Here for You – Supporting Our People in an Emergency, Wigan Council
Transforming & Innovating Public Services (TIPS) Award
The fifth category was for the Transforming & Innovating Public Services (TIPS) Award. This award recognises excellence in the transformation of public services and teams/organisations that have successfully implemented change for people and places. The winning project demonstrated evidence of improved outcomes through innovative citizen focused solutions in the areas of data, technology and/or culture change. This award was presented by Tom Hindmarch, Local Government Association and Alex Grundy, Plus Dane Housing. The winner of the TIPS award category was:
Most Creative Video Award
The next award on the night was for the Most Creative Video Award. All shortlisted finalists who attended on the night submitted fantastic projects this year and alongside this were required to submit a short video on their project. View all of this year’s shortlisted finalist.
All shortlisted finalists were then automatically entered into this category. This award recognised the originality and ingenuity to create inspired, fun and/or impactful video content. The award was presented by Phil Swan, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the winners were:
Substantial Impact Award
This category was created this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Innovation Awards. This award recognised the continuous influence and impact of projects that have withstood the test of time. The award was presented by Shelley Heckman, iNetwork and the winners were:
STELLAR Evolution – The Journey of STAR Procurement, STAR Procurement, Trafford Council.
Outstanding Contribution Award
Finally the most anticipated award of the evening, the Outstanding Contribution Award was announced. It recognises the outstanding contribution of the iNetwork member organisation that has done the most to promote learning and sharing of innovation and best practice. The award was presented by Alison McKenzie-Folan, Wigan Council and Sarah Bullock, Chorley Council and South Ribble Borough Council and the winner was:
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
The evening closed with some remarks from the iNetwork Executive Chair, Alison McKenzie-Folan, who thanked all those that have supported iNetwork and to all the judges who have given up their time to help and support the Innovation Awards 2023. You can view all the images from the night in the Innovation Awards Gallery 2023.