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.
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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.
What the judges are looking for:
Innovation and success: Demonstration of key achievements and innovation in the past 12 months.
Digital leadership: A strong focus on leading digital transformation and shaping the future.
Strategic enablement: Evidence of how technology and digital initiatives have advanced overall business objectives.
Leadership and influence: A role model within the organisation and an influencer across the leadership team.
Transformation and empowerment: Driving change, empowering teams, and leading integrated innovations.
Building a digital business: Leadership in creating a forward-thinking, technology-driven organisation.
Open to individuals in the most senior ICT leadership position within their organisation (CIO, CDO, CTO, or Head of IT etc.)
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 an impact in their ICT career, demonstrated through outstanding initiative and leadership. This could include leading a high-performing ICT team, building a successful technology business, or mentoring underrepresented communities in digital leadership.
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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 an impact in their ICT career, demonstrated through outstanding initiative and leadership. This could include leading a high-performing ICT team, building a successful technology business, or mentoring underrepresented communities in digital leadership.
What the judges are looking for:
Project leadership and impact: Demonstration of key achievements in a project or initiative, including your role, outcomes, and challenges faced.
Communication and influence: Ability to effectively communicate and influence decision makers and stakeholders to drive project success.
Promotion of ICT: Efforts to advocate for and promote the use of ICT within your organisation, sector, or the broader community.
Professional development: Clear focus on your professional goals for the next five years and the steps you’re taking to achieve them.
Vision for the future: Insight into how ICT can drive New Zealand’s digital economy forward
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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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.
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.
What the judges are looking for:
Executive sponsorship: Evidence of executive or board-level sponsorship and advocacy
Technology as an enabler: Demonstration of how technology was leveraged to enable the business transformation project or initiative.
Innovation: Use of innovative approaches or solutions, such as being the first in your industry or New Zealand to implement, or showcasing competitive advantages created through innovation.
Measurable outcomes: Clear benefits to the organisation, demonstrated across business and IT metrics.
Collaboration: Examples of collaboration between IT, the organisation, and the wider partner ecosystem.
Strategic fit: While focused on one transformation project or initiative, entries should also demonstrate how it aligns with the wider business strategy and forms part of a broader transformation programme, rather than being a stand-alone project.
Executive sponsorship: Evidence of executive or board-level sponsorship and advocacy
Technology as an enabler: Demonstration of how technology was leveraged to enable the business transformation project or initiative.
Innovation: Use of innovative approaches or solutions, such as being the first in your industry or New Zealand to implement, or showcasing competitive advantages created through innovation.
Measurable outcomes: Clear benefits to the organisation, demonstrated across business and IT metrics.
Collaboration: Examples of collaboration between IT, the organisation, and the wider partner ecosystem.
Strategic fit: While focused on one transformation project or initiative, entries should also demonstrate how it aligns with the wider business strategy and forms part of a broader transformation programme, rather than being a stand-alone project.
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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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.
What the judges are looking for:
Impactful community initiatives – Clear purpose, goals, and measurable benefits of programmes that support digital skills and inclusion.
Sustainability and partnerships – Evidence of long-term commitment, funding strategies, and collaboration with key partners.
Tangible benefits – Demonstrated positive outcomes for individuals, organisations, and the wider community, supported by data where possible.
Overcoming challenges and continuous improvement – How obstacles were tackled and enhancements made to maximise impact.
Scalability and inspiration – Why the initiative serves as a model for others looking to drive meaningful change through technology.
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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What the judges are looking for:
Executive sponsorship: Evidence of executive or board-level sponsorship and advocacy.
ICT team culture: Demonstration of how the ICT team’s culture contributes to the organisation’s success beyond a single project or programme.
Culture change management: Implementation of change management programmes that have improved talent retention and recruitment.
Team resilience and agility: Examples of how the culture enables resilience, agility, and empowered team members.
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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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:
- 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
What the judges are looking for:
Visionary innovation: How the organisation uses emerging technology to solve problems, create opportunities, or reshape industry norms.
Strategic impact: Alignment of the technology with the organisation’s long-term vision and measurable business outcomes.
Technology execution: Successful deployment, integration, and overcoming challenges such as adoption and scalability.
Ethical and responsible use: Consideration of ethical, security, and regulatory factors, including transparency and compliance.
Measurable outcomes: Clear evidence of impact, supported by relevant metrics.
Leadership and influence: The role of leadership in driving innovation, upskilling teams, and fostering collaboration.
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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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.
What the judges are looking for:
Customer-centric innovation: Evidence of how innovative technologies, processes, or strategies have redefined customer engagement and delivered unique or differentiated value.
Measurable impact: Demonstration of clear, quantifiable improvements in customer satisfaction, retention, or overall experience, supported by business impact metrics.
User-centred design: How the solution prioritises customer needs through personalisation, accessibility, and seamless interactions, leveraging data, AI, or automation.
Execution and scalability: Effectiveness of implementation, overcoming challenges, and the ability to scale the initiative to serve a wider customer base while aligning with business goals.
Customer voice: Direct feedback, testimonials, or case studies that illustrate meaningful improvements in customer experience and engagement.
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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