Dubai has opened nominations for the first Dubai-it Award, giving individuals, project teams, companies and organisations until 10 September to put forward achievements that turned ambitious ideas into measurable results.
Nominations for the inaugural award opened on 10 August 2026 and remain open until 10 September 2026.
The award is built around the Dubai-it philosophy of turning ideas into tangible achievements through strong execution, quality and speed.
That means this is not simply an innovation competition looking for interesting ideas.
The focus is on what was actually delivered and what changed because of it.
Who can be nominated?
The award covers three broad recognition groups: Individuals, Projects, and Institutions & Companies. People and organisations can nominate themselves or nominate others through the official digital platform.
For the first edition, achievements completed during the past four years can be considered. From later editions, the eligibility period is expected to focus on achievements from the previous 24 months.
The award spans 10 areas:
Government, Real Estate, Economy, Business, Technology, Sports, Society, Education, Services and Health.
That makes it relevant to a much wider group than senior executives or government organisations alone.
What makes a strong nomination?
A good nomination needs more than a polished presentation.
The official criteria look at the scale of the achievement, quality of execution, speed of delivery, measurable results, impact, sustainability and whether the work can become a useful model for others.
In practical terms, applicants should be able to answer:
What was the challenge?
What did you do differently?
How quickly was it delivered?
What measurable result followed?
Who benefited?
Can the achievement be proved?
Supporting evidence can include performance indicators, figures, reports, photographs, certificates and other documents demonstrating the results.
Interestingly, these are also good questions for anyone updating a CV, LinkedIn profile or professional portfolio.
Should professionals consider nominating their work?
Potentially, yes.
Project managers, engineers, entrepreneurs, technology teams, service-improvement teams and others may have substantial achievements that are well known internally but have never been documented as a clear impact story.
One of the individual categories announced when the award was launched specifically recognises a government project manager who delivered an exceptional achievement, while another recognises an entrepreneur who turned an idea into measurable success.
Employees should, however, obtain the necessary organisational approval before submitting confidential project information, customer data or commercially sensitive material.
What to do before 10 September
If you think you have a suitable achievement, review projects delivered during the past four years, identify the strongest measurable outcome, gather evidence and confirm who owns or is authorised to disclose the information.
Then use the official Dubai-it nomination platform rather than third-party forms.
MalluMetro Take
The most useful idea behind the Dubai-it Award may be the emphasis on results rather than claims.
A project becomes much easier to recognise when someone can explain clearly:
Here was the problem. Here is what we changed. Here is the evidence that it worked.
Even for professionals who never enter the award, that is a useful way to think about career achievements.
Good work matters. Being able to prove what changed because of your work matters too.