Recognising measurable progress, not promises.
Every entry is scored on the five i5Benchmark dimensions, finalists present live on day two of the Forum, and an independent jury chooses the winners. No entry fee.
Who can enter
Start-ups, companies, cities and regions, public institutions and research-led initiatives with a solution or programme in real use, anywhere in the world. Concepts and pilots without users are not eligible. There is no entry fee.
An organisation may enter up to three categories, with a different entry in each. An organisation can win in one category only.
Categories
Breakthrough Startup Award
Early-stage teams with proof their solution works in practice.
- Responsible Innovation
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Live pilot, committed customers, credible path to scale.
Transformative Enterprise Award
Established companies with verified change across operations.
- Sustainable Practices
- Human Experience
- Before/after evidence, workforce involvement, supply-chain reach.
Pioneering City and Region Award
Public bodies delivering measurable public value.
- Human Experience
- Accountability
- Citizen participation, open data, replicable by other cities.
Accountable AI Award
AI in real use that people can understand, question and correct.
- Accountability
- Responsible Innovation
- Explainability to affected people, human oversight and redress, documented risk management, data provenance.
Outstanding People-First Design Award
Work, products and places designed around the people who use them.
- Human Experience
- Sustainable Practices
- User co-design, accessibility and inclusion, safety and wellbeing outcomes.
Extraordinary Gen Award
For the next generation of builders, and for what they build with generative AI: young founders, students and early-career teams whose generative-AI applications are already in real use.
- Human Experience
- Responsible Innovation
- Real users, demonstrable benefit, transparent use of generative models, safeguards in place.
- Teams founded less than three years ago, or led by students or early-career professionals.
How entries are scored
Every entry is scored on the five i5Benchmark dimensions: Human Experience, Sustainable Practices, Resilience & Adaptability, Responsible Innovation and Accountability.
- Each dimension is scored from 0 to 5.
- The category’s lead dimensions carry double weight.
- Every score must be supported by evidence submitted with the entry: data, documentation, user outcomes or third-party verification.
- Claims without evidence are scored as zero for that dimension.
Process
- Open callEntries are submitted through the awards portal.
- Eligibility and evidence checkThe secretariat verifies eligibility and that evidence supports each claim.
- Independent jury scoringEach entry is scored independently by at least three jury members.
- Finalists present liveThe highest-scored entries present on day two of the Forum; the jury may adjust scores after questions.
- Winners announcedAt the closing plenary. Scores and criteria are published after the Forum.
One win per organisation
If an organisation ranks first in more than one category, it wins the category in which it scored highest; the next-ranked entry wins the other category.
The jury
An independent jury drawn from research, industry and the public sector. Jury members declare conflicts of interest and do not score entries from organisations they are connected to. Jury members are announced before entries close.
Timeline
Entries open in 2027. Dates will be announced with the awards portal.
Sponsors
Sponsors present an award category on stage and meet the finalists in the impact deal room. Sponsors have no role in judging and no access to entries before the finalists are announced.
Sponsor an award category
Frequently asked questions
No. Entering the i5Awards is free in every category.
Yes, up to three categories, with a different entry in each. An organisation can win in one category only.
No. Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world. Finalists are expected to present in person on day two of the Forum.
Evidence is used only for judging and is seen by the secretariat and the jury under confidentiality. Sponsors do not see entries before the finalists are announced. After the Forum, winners’ summaries and scores are published; detailed evidence is published only with the entrant’s consent.
An independent jury of at least three members per entry, with declared conflicts of interest and no sponsor involvement.
Be there from the start.
Programme news, host city updates and the call for contributions, a few times a year.