Following are the categories and criteria for the CIO Awards New Zealand programme.
New Zealand CIO of the Year
This award celebrates a senior ICT leader who exemplifies strategic thinking, innovation, and transformative leadership. They will demonstrate innovation and key successes achieved in the past 12 months with an eye on digital leadership in the future. They will also be able to show how technology and digital will enable their organisation’s overall business strategy.
Open to individuals in the most senior ICT leadership position within their organisation (CIO, CDO, CTO, or Head of IT etc.), this category recognises excellence across three subcategories:
Public Sector CIO of the Year
Private Sector CIO of the Year
Not-for-Profit CIO of the Year
Three winners will be selected from these subcategories, with one ultimately chosen as the overall CIO of the Year.
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Emerging ICT Leader of the Year
This award recognises and celebrates exceptional talent in New Zealand's ICT sector— future leaders under 35 who are demonstrating outstanding ICT initiative and leadership.
The recipient will have already made a significant impact in their ICT career, demonstrated through outstanding initiative and leadership. This could include leading a high-performing ICT team in an established organisation, building a successful technology business, or mentoring underrepresented communities in digital leadership.
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Business Transformation through Digital and IT
This award celebrates organisations that have successfully planned and executed business transformation initiatives by leveraging digital and disruptive technologies. It recognises those that have strategically integrated these innovations to deliver outstanding outcomes aligned with their broader business goals.
The recipient of this award will showcase seamless collaboration across the organisation, strong leadership advocacy, and a clear vision that paved the way for transformation. They will set the standard for industry leadership, demonstrating how digital technologies can be harnessed to drive meaningful and lasting organisational change.
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Community Tech Champions
This award honours outstanding initiatives that promote digital equity, diversity, and accessibility to technology and tech careers in Aotearoa, New Zealand. These initiatives may include programmes for women in tech, Māori and Pasifika in tech, regional or community projects, accessibility for people with disabilities, youth engagement, and lifelong learning.
The Community Tech Champions award encourages private businesses, public sector organisations, not-for-profits, and academic institutions to take action, ensuring the digital capabilities of all New Zealanders continue to grow and improve.
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Best ICT Team Culture & Inclusion
This award recognises outstanding ICT team culture, recruitment, inclusion, and diversity practices that drive team and organisational success. These organisations prioritise recruitment, retention, and training future talent as essential to building high-performing ICT teams.
The award highlights practices, policies, and strategies that create a modern, inclusive, and open team culture. Successful teams nurture diversity, foster cohesion and morale, and retain critical talent to build a competitive digital business.
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Innovation Leadership Through an Emerging Technology - NEW CATEGORY
This award celebrates an organisation that is redefining innovation by harnessing emerging technologies to shape the future of their industry. It recognises those leveraging an emerging technology to create new business models, transform processes, or develop new products and services.
The recipient of this award sets a benchmark for innovation, showcasing how emerging technologies can drive competitive advantage and resilience while navigating the complexities of evolving technologies and regulatory frameworks.
For the 2025 award emerging technology is defined as one of the following categories (please contact the awards coordinator if the technology you wish to enter is not on the list below).
Artificial intelligence and Generative AI
Sovereign Cloud
Quantum Computing
Next generation connectivity (5G, satellite technology)
Extended Reality (XR) - Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR)
Digital Twins and Smart City Technologies
Edge computing and Internet of Things (IoT)
Sustainable and Green Technologies
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Excellence in Customer Value - NEW CATEGORY
This award celebrates technology teams that redefine customer engagement, delivering increased levels of customer value and experience through a refreshed approach to user engagement.
The recipient will demonstrate how their initiative—spanning projects, solutions, processes, business models, or operations—has significantly improved customer outcomes. By prioritising user needs and fostering meaningful engagement, they set a benchmark for excellence in creating lasting customer value.
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Outstanding Contribution to Technology and Business in New Zealand
This award honours a high-profile business leader from either the public or private sector whose contributions have significantly and uniquely impacted the New Zealand or global business community through information technology.
The award recognises individuals at the intersection of business and technology. Those that have had a long and successful career in IT, who have contributed significantly to the effectiveness of business through technology, or someone who has had great success in a technology company.
The recipient is selected by the judging panel. However, if you know of a worthy candidate, we encourage you to submit a nomination via the form or by emailing awards@brightstar.co.nz.
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