Leaders Awards recognise Cork companies for innovation and impact on tech sector

The winners of the 2022 Leaders Awards, which recognise innovation, growth and impact in the South-West’s technology sector, have been announced.

For over 15 years, the Leaders Awards have recognised those who have excelled in the technology sector in the South-West region of Ireland, from notable multinationals and disruptive start-ups to ground-breaking individuals and emerging companies.

This year’s Awards were held at a black-tie ceremony at Rochestown Park Hotel Cork on Friday evening.

Winners on the night included Founder of Poppulo Andrew O’Shaughnessy who won the Tech Person of the Year Award; valid8Me who won Tech Start Up of the Year Award; Keelvar who won Scale Up of the Year Award; Dairymaster who won Multinational of the Year Award; ENERCON who won it@cork Skillnet Best Learning Workplace Winner; ICBF who won Smart Technology Innovation Award; VMware who won the Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact Award; Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Kerry County Council who won Chairperson’s Award; and St Vincent’s Secondary School who won the Excellence in Education Award.

Founder of Poppulo Andrew O’Shaughnessy was recognised for his pioneering work in founding and scaling employee communications platform Poppulo and for his role in developing legislation and best practice for the tech industry.

St Vincent’s Secondary School was revealed as the winner of The Excellence in Education award for their work in developing student and teacher IT skills, receiving €5,000 to promote STEM activities within their school, sponsored by Trend Micro.

Excellence in social impact saw the Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact award go to VMware for the company’s education, training and awareness initiatives, and its social impact agenda of partnerships, programs, volunteering and charitable events across Cork.

Speaking about awards on Friday night, it@cork Chairperson and Senior Consultant in Global Business Transformation at Dell, Gillian Bergin said: "We are delighted to be back in person tonight to celebrate the innovation and ambition of the tech ecosystem in the South-West.

“Tonight’s finalists and winners not only represent the highest standards and technological innovations, but also the courage and commitment of our members every day to the region and sector.

It’s our mission to shine a light on the technology, business and innovative contributions across the South-West.

"Under our new name, Tech Industry Alliance, we will leverage our collective knowledge, experience and networks to the benefit of our members."

Sponsors for this year’s Leaders Awards included it@cork Skillnet, Deloitte, RDJ, Fexco, Trend Micro, Cork Smart Gateway, KPMG, Cork City Council, Springboard Communications, Cork County Council, Enterprise Ireland, and the Kinsale Spirit Company.