Longlist announced for the Rising Stars Awards

The second stage of entries begins now

The Rising Stars Awards honour new entrants to the technology space. Rather than being about young versus old, anyone who has been in the industry for less than 10 years can enter or be nominated - and this year's entries were more prolific than ever before.

After receiving almost twice as many nominations as in 2020, we've produced a longlist of worthy contenders, each of whom must now submit a full entry. Once we have these answers we'll produce a shortlist, narrowing each category down to just 10 entries - and then it's over to our judging panel. Each of these industry pros is an experienced tech practitioner, and they'll be looking for evidence of innovation and success, as well as relevance to the chosen category. Copy-and-paste responses won't be accepted here!

If you made it to the longlist: congratulations! The deadline for submitting your responses is 5pm on the 14th of May, and winners will be announced at the virtual awards ceremony on the 6th of July.

The Rising Stars Awards are especially relevant this year, as the UK and the rest of the world recovers from the strains and stresses of the Covid-19 pandemic. The last year has brought a unique and unforeseen set of challenges, foremost among them the need to balance work and home lives; coping with personal and family stress while continuing to make a great contribution to the business.

The Awards provide an opportunity to focus on all of the positives in peoples' hard work and determination over the last year. It is because of the innovation and drive of new entrants to IT that the sector remains the buzzing, innovative industry it is known as, and only by continuing to attract and support that talent will our growth continue.

Click here to view the Rising Stars 2021 longlist and begin the second stage of the entry process. Good luck!