Celebrating The Best of the NI Tech Industry
28th April 2022
ICC Belfast
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The Digital DNA Awards Recognise,
Celebrate & Promote the best tech talent from across NI.
Now in their 7th year, the Digital DNA awards are the No.1 Awards for companies and individuals working within the fast growing and highly competitive tech industry in Northern Ireland.
Recognising success across 14 categories, The Digital DNA Awards celebrate the best of the NI tech industry across three key areas; Project, Individual and Company.
2022 Categories
INDIVIDUAL
Young Person of the Year
Developer of the Year
Founder of the Year
Business Personality of the Year
PROJECT
eCommerce Project of the Year
Mobile App Project of the Year
Tech for Good Project of the Year
Sustainability Project of the Year
Digital Innovation of the Year
Marketing Project of the Year
COMPANY
Start Up Company of the Year
Small Tech Company of the Year
Large Tech Company of the Year
Company Workplace of the Year
Meet Our Judges
Ian Browne
Ignite
Ian Browne
Ignite
Ian is a successfully exited founder, angel investor and most recently chief operating officer of Ignite. He has been instrumental in helping N.Irish founders strengthen ties with Europe and North America and propelling these startups to raise over £50m in venture capital funding.
Ian has held non-exec and Chairman positions at venture backed startups and is currently helping the Royal Academy of Engineering on their entrepreneur programming.
Rachel McMillan
Clockwise Offices
Rachel McMillan
Clockwise Offices
Rachel McMillan is the General Manager of Clockwise in River House, Belfast. Clockwise provides well-designed, contemporary private offices, shared workspaces and meeting rooms with brilliantly flexible membership plans. Our intention is to fully support members, zeroing in on the details of running an office, so they can zoom out to the big picture and focus on their business. As the 2nd site to open, Rachel joined the company in July 2018 and has grown the business from launch through to 100% desk capacity. Clockwise has now grown to 12 sites across the UK, as well as opening in mainland Europe with the launch of Brussels this year.
Jonathan Wallace
Ulster University
Jonathan Wallace
Ulster University
Professor Jonathan Wallace is Professor of Innovation within the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment at Ulster. His excellence in both Knowledge & Technology Transfer and lecturing has been recognised by his being awarded a Distinguished Business Fellowship and Distinguished Teaching Fellowship.
He has led the development of numerous software systems in diverse market sectors attaining broad experience of managing successful research projects at a local, national and international level. Jonathan has a significant track record in the field of Digital Health and is recognised as an innovator in the co-creation of user-centred Digital Health product and service solutions. He is a founder member and Deputy Chair of the Northern Ireland Science Festival as well as Chair of the IET/BCS annual Belfast Turing Lecture. Jonathan chaired and remains an active member of the IET Policy Group for Northern Ireland and is a member of the All-Party Advisory Group on Science, Engineering, Technology and Maths for the local devolved Government Assembly. Given his strong engagement with industry, Jonathan also Chairs the Faculty’s Computing Employer Advisory Board (CEAB).
He currently has a leading role in a number of regional, national and international Digital Health & Wellbeing research projects where he is particularly applying his expertise in Co-creation, UX & Usability Engineering, Data Science and Business Model Development.
Paula Kennedy
Concentrix
Paula Kennedy
Concentrix
Paula is an industry leader in innovative tech solutions, designed to disrupt the status quo, with a successful and multi award-winning product innovation and leadership track record as Vice President for global leading organisations, like Concentrix. Paula leads the charge of next-gen innovation technology solutions that respond to the latest in new emerging trends and waves in all areas of digital engagement, with recent focus on global practices for Trust and Safety, Metaverse, Cryptocurrency and NFT, alongside a pioneering neuroscience-led research program that is transforming the future of wellbeing in the workplace.
Brian Roche
Belfast City Airport
Brian Roche
Belfast City Airport
Brian has an obvious passion for technology, and with over 20 years’ experience in the IT sector, has established himself as a leader in digital transformation and innovation. Throughout his career, Brian has led technical and commercial teams on both a local and global scale, deploying comprehensive business transformation programmes for the NHS, the banking sector, the Public Sector, the Pharma sector as well as driving regional sales for multinational organisations. His global commercial experience combined with deep technical acumen and range of expertise allow him to deliver tangible results and achieve company-wide impact in whatever role he holds. Brian is currently Director of Information Technology at George Best Belfast City Airport, responsible for all technology and innovation, cyber and information security, Data, Regulatory Compliance for technology, and digital efficiency. He is an elected member of the Northern Ireland CBI regional council. He believes that technology and digital solutions are integral to unlocking social benefits and sustainable business growth in NI and is committed to playing his part in achieving that.
Kieran McCorry
Microsoft
Kieran McCorry
Microsoft
Kieran McCorry is the National Technology Officer for Microsoft in Ireland and has worked in the technology industry for over 30 years. He is responsible for representing Microsoft to broad audiences for technology leadership, engendering trust, technology vision, strategic alignment, and national policy.
He works across many sectors of the technology landscape including those of collaboration, social media, analytics, mobility, privacy, the Internet of Things, innovation, digital transformation, intellectual property, AI, and quantum computing.
He is a frequent speaker at worldwide conferences and has been a regular contributor to various industry publications. He is the author of four books on messaging technology and has several patents. He holds a variety of degrees and qualifications in computer science, law, corporate governance, digital policy, innovation and enterprise development.
Jeremy Biggerstaff
Flint Studios
Jeremy Biggerstaff
Flint Studios
Jeremy has over 20 year’s commercial experience across digital, telecoms and software. He is Managing Director of a web solutions business called Flint Studios. With over 25 years of industry experience, with an unrivalled understanding of all things commercial with an extensive background in digital and tech. Jeremy is a proactive and tenacious executive director, with direct experience of start-ups, business development, marketing, finance and operational management. He has additional experience in mergers and acquisitions, including companies, business assets and joint ventures. Jeremy has an in-depth knowledge of the UK and Ireland market, focused on growth through new business, acquisitions and establishing trusted relationships with clients and business partners.
Jeremy has made a substantial contribution to the digital industries sector and has been involved in some of the most successful digital media operations in Northern Ireland. This includes other non-executive roles in start-ups and established businesses that benefit from my effective leadership, consultancy and mentoring skills.
Oonagh O’Reilly
ICC Belfast
Oonagh O’Reilly
ICC Belfast
Oonagh O’Reilly is Director of Sales and Marketing ICC Belfast where she has the privilege of leading a multi-award-winning sales and marketing team that are responsible for profiling two of Belfast’s most iconic venues as leaders within the conferencing and live entertainment sectors. A digital-first approach implemented under Oonagh’s leadership has witnessed exceptional success to date, including all time high occupancy rates of 81% and a 28% year on year increase in ticket sales within the venue’s live entertainment sector, without an increase in marketing spend. Alongside her high performing team, Oonagh has applied the learnings of this digital-first approach to the conferencing sector and spearheads campaigns that work for the business and for the client to fulfil ICC Belfast’s mantra, ‘When we win, everyone wins’.
Mark Scully
256 Agency
Mark Scully
256 Agency
Mark is 256’s Head of Digital Innovation and Strategy leading the development of the agency’s proprietary technology to support client work bringing insights to data. Mark is a former Digital Marketing Manager, an SEO Specialist and founder of the Learn Inbound community. Mark has extensive knowledge of the Google suite of tools required to unlock digital insights and uses his experience to produce award-winning data-driven digital ecosystems. He is well-versed in content distribution, amplification strategies and data analytics. He has an advanced understanding of how customer behaviour evolves and the importance of digital content in relation to brand engagement and audience growth.
Clare Dillon
InnerSource Commons
Clare Dillon
InnerSource Commons
Clare Dillon has spent over 25 years working with developers and developer communities. In 2021, Clare co-founded Open Ireland Network, a community for those interested in advancing open source at a national level in Ireland. Last year, she was appointed Executive Director of InnerSource Commons, a community of practitioners with the goal of creating and sharing knowledge about InnerSource: the use of open source best practices for software development inside organizations. Clare also helps organize the OSPO++ Network to support the establishment of University and Government Open Source Program Offices globally. Previously, Clare was a member of Microsoft Ireland Leadership Team, heading up their Developer Evangelism and Experience Group. Clare frequently speaks at international conferences and corporate events on topics relating to the future of work, innovation trends and digital ethics.
John Ferris
Ulster Bank
John Ferris
Ulster Bank
John is the current Regional Ecosystem Manager at Ulster Bank. After a brief stint as a coder in Pittsburgh, John spent 15 years in media including a time as Editor of a weekly newspaper. Following three years in a tech startup, selling wifi software across the world, John joined Ulster Bank to launch an accelerator programme in Northern Ireland. In the past six years, he has supported 700+ startup and scaleups helping them raise more than £30m in investment and create more than 1000 jobs.
Carmel Somers
Technology Ireland
Carmel Somers
Technology Ireland
Carmel is an Organisational Psychologist and is Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet’s Human Capital Strategist supporting organisations in Ireland develop and implement their future of work strategies. Prior to joining ICT Skillnet, Carmel held a number of senior roles in research & development, consulting services, operations, talent and “technology for good” at IBM. Carmel is on the board of Cyber Ireland where she leads the Talent & Skills Working Group and is a member of the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO). She is a member of Technology Ireland’s Innovation Forum, a member of the Education and Skills working group of Blockchain Ireland and is on the External Advisory Board of the Irish Institute of Digital Business at Dublin City University. She recently joined the NSAI SI56000 Innovation Standards Committee.
Andi Jarvis
Eximo Marketing
Andi Jarvis
Eximo Marketing
Andi Jarvis is the Founder and Strategy Director at Eximo Marketing, a strategy consultancy based in Bangor. He works with medium to large organisations to create marketing strategies that perform, fix underperforming campaigns and develop long-term, authentic marketing activity. He loves Direct To Consumer projects and working with products most marketers find boring!
Dave Feeban
Blockchain Ireland
Dave Feeban
Blockchain Ireland
Dave is a senior boardroom Director, having worked with UK and USA based multinationals. He led a MBO and the subsequent sale of that company before spending time in the SaaS start-up arena.
He managed the Irish Software Innovation Network and today is building technology talent pipelines and pathways as the manager of the ICT Skillnet. He is the current Chair of Blockchain Ireland, a member of several standards committees and participates in various EU led and funded initiatives.
Mary McKenna
DiT & AwakenHub
Mary McKenna
DiT & AwakenHub
Mary McKenna is a Northern Irish serial tech entrepreneur and angel investor. She co-founded successful Derry based online learning company Learning Pool.
She is an EU Horizon Europe innovation judge, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Oxford and in 2020 along with some like minded friends she launched the AwakenHub community for female founders across the island of Ireland.
Mary was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen in the 2014 New Year’s Honours for services to digital technology, innovation and learning.
Hilary Moran
The Fintech Corridor
Hilary Moran
The Fintech Corridor
Hilary Moran is the Programme Manager at The Fintech Corridor, the primary cross border fintech Cluster on the island of Ireland. Hilary is responsible for leading cluster’s operations, development and delivery of the programme – incorporating and including strategy, operations, business development, service innovation and ecosystem development whilst exploring new opportunities for all island collaboration that will result in mutual economic benefit for Ireland and Northern Ireland’s fintech ecosystem. Hilary is a highly experienced and creative company executive with a passion for innovation, technology and leadership. She has 20 years of professional experience across global advertising agencies client facing and corporate leadership roles. In 2021, Hilary was appointed onto the IIDB (Irish Institute of Digital Business) as an External Advisory Board member to input into the strategic direction of the IIDB at DCU.
Emmet Ryan
Business Post
Emmet Ryan
Business Post
Emmet Ryan is Connected editor at the Business Post. With almost two decades of experience covering the tech sector, the multi-award winning journalist leads all of the Business Post’s tech coverage. Ryan has also written three books and is a regular face and voice in national and international broadcast media.
Trevor Skinner
GSMA
Trevor Skinner
GSMA
Trevor Skinner is the Senior Digital Director at the GSMA, responsible for the strategy and development of a global portfolio of digital platforms.
With over 35 years’ experience across digital development and marketing, Trevor has a deep understanding of the connection between critical business objectives, digital innovation and brand awareness. At the GSMA, Trevor leads an experienced team in the progression of web and app channels including those for mobile industry flagship events MWC Barcelona, Shanghai and Las Vegas, as well as the award-winning Mobile World Live, the GSMA’s live TV broadcast and news service.
A qualified electronics engineer, and now a reluctant back seat coder, Trevor is passionate about the digital future, Ulster Rugby and (for his sins) Tottenham Hotspur!
Alastair Cameron
Startacus
How to Enter
Our online system makes it easy to submit your entry or nominate worthy winners
Nominations are now closed
Nominations open Monday 10th January 2022
Days Hours Minutes
Entry deadline is 5.00pm on 4th March 2022
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Register your details on our online entry system.
Select Category
Select your category from the drop down and answer the questions as prompted. You can save a draft at any time to complete at a future date.
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When you have completed all questions, simply submit for our judges to review.
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The biggest night of the year for the local tech industry is not to be missed. Make sure you book your place to avoid disappointment.
WHERE
ICC Belfast
WHEN
28 April 2022
TIME
6.30pm – Late
DRESS CODE
Smart Casual
Individual Seat
Minimum 2 Guests
£
145
+ vat
- Drinks reception
- Access to Awards Ceremony
- Networking with the very best from the tech industry
- 4-course meal & wine
- Access to After Party
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Standard Table
10 Guests
£
1395
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- Table for 10 Guests
- Drinks Reception
- Access to Awards Ceremony
- Networking with the very best from the tech industry
- 4-course meal & table
- Access to After Party
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Digital DNA Awards 2021 Winners Announced
Read all about our winners and highly commended award winners from the biggest awards for the Northern ireland Tech Community
FIND OUT MORE
Register to WATCH our 2021 Show NOW!
Check out our 2021 Shortlist
Digital DNA Awards 2021
Watch the Replay
The Digital DNA Awards 2021 were broadcast to a global audience of over 2,000 people
Viewers from around the world watched as the winners of our 13 highly coveted awards were announced.
Hosted by TV presenter and broadcaster, ZoeSalmon, the show also featured an exclusive fireside chat with Danny Moore, President and CEO of Options Technology and 2020 recipient of our Global Recognition Award.
VIEW OUR SHORTLIST HERE
Previous Winners
Below are just some of our previous winners.
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