Anthony O'Callaghan, Flex and Chair of it@Cork; Eoghan O'Mahony, it@cork and Avril Ronan, Trend Micro ahead of the it@Cork Tech Leaders Awards 2019.Photo: Diane Cusack

The big reveal for it@Cork Leaders Awards

21 tech organisations in the Cork region have been recognised for excellence by their peers after they were selected to go to through to the final stage of the judging process in the it@Cork Tech Leaders Awards 2019.

Those companies include McAfee, VMware, Spearline and Work Vivo.

Anthony O’Callaghan, Chair of it@Cork, said: “We are delighted with the applications received for the seven award categories this year, and the calibre of each and every submission brings home what we already know – that our IT sector is brimming with talent, ambition and innovation.

“Whittling it down to just three candidates per category was an unenviable task, which the judging panel spent hours upon hours poring over. Those who have been shortlisted this year were the standout IT leaders in an exceptionally talented pool, and they should be extremely proud of this achievement.”

The awards, which are in their 13th year, shine a light on the leading lights in the region’s tech community.

Winners of the seven categories will be announced at a gala dinner to take place at the Rochestown Park Hotel on 18 October. The night will also see one person take home the coveted Tech Person of the Year Award, which, in the past, has been won by gamechangers of Ireland’s tech industry, such as Peter Coppinger and Daniel Mackey of Teamwork, and Dan and Linda Kiely of Voxpro.

it@Cork also announced the addition of the new Trend Micro Excellence in Education Award.

Mr O’Callaghan added: “We have added a hugely positive incentive to the award this year, with the winner receiving a prize to the value of €5,000, which can be used towards purchasing equipment to further their STEM initiatives. We collectively feel that this is a very important give-back initiative, one which the entire it@Cork community feel very strongly about, and we are thankful to the continued support of Trend Micro, who jumped at the opportunity to support this initiative.”

Shortlisted post-primary schools are Mayfield Community School, Coláiste Éamann Rís and St Brogan’s College.

This year will also see one company win the inaugural it@Cork Skillnet Best Workplace Award, which CTO of Skillnet Ireland Mark Jordan described as a “fantastic addition to the already broad accreditation base”. Shortlisted companies for this year are McKesson, Poppulo and VMware.

The theme of this year’s Leaders Awards is Towards 2020, which it@Cork say is a celebration of all the previous winners who have contributed immensely to the tech industry in the region, and a nod to the present and future leaders who will bring the Irish tech industry into the next decade.