Kilkenny villages, towns and communities invited to enter the .IE Digital Town Awards 2023

.IE, the national registry for .ie domain names, have announced that entries are now open for the .IE Digital Town Awards 2023. 

This year the awards also welcomes a new partner, Vodafone.

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The awards, now in their 3rd year, recognise and reward projects created by town groups and local communities that have a digital element, supporting Ireland’s digital development. 

In 2022, Piltown’s Broadband 4 our Community entry was shortlisted in two categories for its work in building, promoting, and managing the village’s high-speed network.

Piltown is Ireland’s first community owned and managed FTTP ‘fibre to the premises’ network.

The .IE Digital Town Awards offer a prize fund of €100,000 which is split across the 10 categories.

They promote awareness, knowledge, use and understanding of digital by citizens, businesses, and communities. Winners will be announced at a Gala event on Wednesday 24th May.

The .IE Digital Town Awards have ten categories for entry:

Digital Education
Digital Tourism, sponsored by AIB Merchant Services
Community Digital, sponsored by the Western Development Commission
Digital Business, sponsored by Vodafone
Agri-tech
Digital Sustainability
Newcomer
Digital Rising Star
Digital Change Maker, sponsored by Connected Hubs
Digital Local Hero

Welcoming the launch of this year’s awards, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Neale Richmond said: "I’m delighted to be here today to launch these awards which celebrate the efforts made by local groups to embrace digital and their work to give back to their towns and villages. 

"Digitaling towns promotes innovation and breathes new life into our communities, making them more attractive places to live and work as well as contributing to a more sustainable future. I would encourage local groups to apply and wish all applicants the best of luck."

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Projects submitted for consideration could include building a new town website, launching an App, developing a digital hub/co-working space, investing in digital signage, or providing digital training and workshops for the local community.

The Overall Winner from 2022 was Piltown, Co Kilkenny – ‘Broadband 4 community’.   

Closing date for entries is Friday 3rd March 2023.