Blog | Winners of the .IE Digital Town Awards 2023 announced
On Wednesday, May 24th 2023, the winning entries for the .IE Digital Town Awards 2023, were announced at a Gala event, held at the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone.
The awards were created by .IE in 2021, as part of a broader four-year €1 million investment in the .IE Digital Town Programme encouraging the uptake and use of internet and digital technologies for businesses, citizens and communities. The awards recognise and reward digitally inspired projects run by towns and local community groups across several competitive categories.
This year’s category sponsors included Western Development Commission, Connected Hubs, and AIB Merchant Services, with Vodafone as the overall presenting sponsor.
Representing Vodafone, Sinéad Bryan, Managing Director, Vodafone Business said
“At Vodafone, our goal is to be a connectivity and technology partner to our customers the length and breadth of Ireland. We are delighted to support the .IE Digital Town Awards 2023 which cements our commitment to powering inclusion through technology and enabling a better Ireland through use of digital.”
Overall Winner
The .IE Agri-Tech award was introduced for the first time this year and its inaugural winner, Clonmel’s Smart Skills for Farming Communities was also named as the overall winner of the .IE Digital Town Awards 2023. This digital project helps farmers use new technologies to make their work easier, save time and money as well as improving the sustainability and profitability of their farm. The programme also delivers very practical digital training in areas such as soil fertility technology, grassland management technology, time and labour-saving technology, farm management systems, and handy Apps. The runner-up in the Agri-Tech category was the Achonry Farmer’s Market from Sligo.
Pictured (l-r) Sinéad Bryan, Managing Director Vodafone Business, Tina Mulhearne representing Smart Skills for Farming Communities, Clonmel and Oonagh McCutcheon, National Director, .IE Digital Town Programme.
Digital innovation within sustainability and business.
The .IE Digital Sustainability award was another new category introduced this year with Hollymount in Mayo announced as the winner with its Eco-Powered Cabinets which store life-saving equipment. The runner-up in this category was the Open Litter Map project which maps illegal dumping and aims to reduce it by showing the positive impact of litter-picking.
The .IE Digital Business award, sponsored by Vodafone, was won by Killorglin’s RDI Hub. The hub was launched to facilitate the creation of new products, services and jobs in the South West region. It has transformed Kerry into a globally connected digital technology innovation, enterprise and skillset hotspot boosting economic growth. It runs numerous programmes including hackathons which resulted in Augmented Reality Apps for Kerry tourism; a STEM passport programme whose graduates gain a bonus of 50 Leaving Cert points; and ongoing supports for scaling companies to attract investment and create jobs.
Pictured (l-r) Sinéad Bryan, Managing Director Vodafone Business, Liam Cronin representing RDI Hub Digital Business, Kerry, Killorglin and Oonagh McCutcheon, National Director, .IE Digital Town Programme.
Congratulations to all the winners and runners up
In total, 22 town and community digital projects were recognised at this year’s .IE Digital Town Awards 2023 – winners and runners-up across the seven main categories, three special category winners and one overall prize winner.
Read full list of category winners and runners up.
Oonagh McCutcheon, National Director, .IE Digital Town Programme said “The quality of entries in this year’s .IE Digital Town Awards has been incredibly impressive.”
“Ireland’s towns and communities are identifying and solving connectivity challenges, driving digital innovation and developing creative digital solutions to enhance the lives of their fellow citizens.”
“This year 22 projects were recognised at the .IE Digital Town Awards Gala event, which add significantly to the lives of their local communities and improves our nation’s digital footprint.”
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Neale Richmond added “I want to congratulate all the winners of this year’s .IE Digital Town Awards.”
“The 22 groups honoured at this year’s awards are great examples of how by embracing digitalisation, even small groups can make a big difference to their local communities, friends and neighbours. Congratulations again to all the winners, and thank you to every group that entered this year’s awards.”
More information on the .IE Digital Town Awards 2023 can be found here.
Laura Boyle is our Marketing Assistant working within our corporate communications team.