Key Updates

  • Team Login credentials emailed to the Catalyst teams, via email on 31st March. If not received, please reach out to your Catalyst Success Manager or our support team. 

  • Deadline to submit the Awards form - 16th May 2025 midnight EST.

  • NewOpen Innovation Catalyst Awards webinars held on 15th April, 1pm (UK time). Recording & Slides now available

  • Form Template (only for reference & team discussions) - Available now 


Timelines

Date/Time

Milestones

21st March

Catalyst Award Categories live on confluence for teams to review. 

31st March

Award Submission Portal opens to catalyst teams. 

15th April

1pm (UK time)

Catalyst Awards Webinar for Open Innovation Catalyst teams.

16th May (Midnight) 

Deadline: Awards Submission form closes

All teams ensure they make award submission before deadline.

2nd June

Judges' allocations to respective teams & the Judging timings onsite will be shared. 

17th June

Onsite judging from 11am to 5:30pm. Allocated judges & time bands will be available from 2nd June onwards. 

19th June, 1:30pm at DTW Ignite (Stage - TBC)

Awards Ceremony to announce finalists & winners.

Please refer to below sections for:

  • Open Innovation Award Categories

  • Judging criteria

    • General criteria

    • Award specific criteria

  • Judging process

    • Judging process

    • Award submissions 

    • Catalyst spaces / URL / resources shared on their spaces

    • Onsite judging

  • Awards timelines

  • Awards help

Open Innovation Catalyst Awards 

The Open Innovation Catalyst Awards recognize achievements in igniting industry innovation, collaboration, and growth through their proof-of-concepts.

Open Innovation Catalyst teams (i.e. C25.0.xxx) are eligible for these Awards. 


Award Categories

For DTW Ignite, each Open Innovation Catalyst team will have an option to select & compete for 3 award categories from the below listed 7 Award categories to be awarded as Open Innovation Catalyst Awards at Digital Transformation World: 17-19 June 2025. 

    Open Innovation Award categories (to be awarded based on Judges' scoring)

Winners will be announced live during a ceremony at Digital Transformation World in Copenhagen on June 19, 2025.


Judging Criteria 

For Open Innovation Catalyst Awards, each award category would be judged by:

 - a set of common ‘General Criteria’ and

 - a set of ‘Award Specific Criteria’ corresponding to the award category selected.

General Judging Criteria

Set of 7 parameters common to all award categories above. 

  • Storyline: How strong is the Catalyst’s storyline, solution & deliverables?

  • Team Collaborations: How well has the participants & champions contributed & collaborated towards catalyst success?

  • TMF Assets: How well has the team used or plans to contribute to TM Forum’s assets, best practices & standards?

  • Proof of concept: How well-developed is the proof-of-concept? (1 = ‘Just an idea’; 10 = ‘Credible working solution’)

  • Industry Value: How valuable is the Catalyst to the industry in the long term? (1 = ‘Not much/Redundant’; 10 = ‘Potential to revolutionize’)

  • Sustainable innovation: To what extent is the Catalyst solution sustainable? 

  • Showcase (online & onsite): How informational, interactive & well-presented is the onsite demonstration & the online Catalyst Spaces, to showcase the Catalyst solution/innovation? 

Award Specific Judging Criteria

Set of 2 parameters unique to each award category.

Outstanding Catalyst – Business Impact

Awarded to the Catalyst that demonstrates the most compelling business impact & potential to be commercially deployed.

    • Business Impact: How well does the project team quantify and explain the business impact of their solution? 

    • Commercial Viability: To what extent is the Catalyst solution relevant, commercially viable & credible to the business? (Describe with proof points e.g. target audience, market size, implementation cost, etc.) 

Outstanding Catalyst – Innovative & Futuristic

Awarded to the Catalyst team with the most innovative & futuristic solution aimed towards bringing digital transformation to industry.

    • Innovation: How original & innovative is the team’s business idea and/or technology solution?

    • Future Impact: How would the Catalyst solution potentially impact the future developments & technologies to revolutionize the industry?

Outstanding Catalyst – Use of TM Forum Assets  

Awarded to the team that shows the most powerful use of TM Forum assets in their Catalyst project and quantify the benefits of using these assets. 

    • Use of TMF Assets: How deeply rooted is the team’s solution with TM Forum’s best practices and standards? (Scoring –1=’Nil use’; 10=’Powerful use & testing of assets’)

    • New Thinking: How well has the team tested or developed new thinking / requirements for TM Forum’s best practices & standards?

Outstanding Catalyst – Rising Star For Phase-I / New catalysts only 

Awarded to the new Phase 1 Catalyst team that demonstrates the most compelling and innovative solution. 

    • Solution: How well has the new Catalyst addressed the key industry challenge & offered the most innovatively compelling technology solution? 

    • Impact on Industry: What level of impact will the Catalyst have on transforming telco industry? 

Outstanding Catalyst – Application of AI & Automation

Awarded to the Catalyst that demonstrates best application of AI & Automation to drive efficiency & growth.  

    • Scalability & Impact: How well does the Catalyst demonstrate the AI system or technology that is sustainable and scalable, ensuring long-term viability and impact on the business (either efficiency of new revenue models) and customer experience in the rapidly evolving field of AI. 

    • Ethical and responsible use: How well does the AI system or technology adhere to ethical and responsible principles, such as transparency, fairness, accountability, privacy, and human-centric design. 

Outstanding Catalyst – Tech for Good

Awarded to the Catalyst that demonstrates exemplary utilization of technology to make a difference to positively impact both community welfare and organizational culture, while ensuring attainment of sustainable development goals. 

    • Sustainable solution: How well does the Catalyst solution align with UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for community & industry welfare? (Scoring –1=Nil; 10=’Highest alignment with multiple SDG goals & well-defined proof points’)

    • Societal Impact: What degree of societal & industry impact is the Catalyst likely to have in the next 1 year (from community, ESG & Organizational culture perspective)? (Scoring –1=Nil; 10=’Highest)

Outstanding Catalyst – Interactive showcase

Awarded to the Catalyst that demonstrates the most interactive & engaging showcase at the event. 

           Introducing this award category to invite the teams to get creative & think outside the box for showcasing their Catalyst solution!

    • Demonstration: How engaging, creative, immersive & interactive is the demonstration presented to judges showcasing the Catalyst solution?

    • Industry Concerns: How well does the demonstration highlight their solution's relevancy to telco industry concerns?

Outstanding Catalyst – Attendees Choice Award 

Awarded to the Catalyst that receives the most votes in the onsite voting at DTW Ignite.

    • All Open Innovation Catalysts are automatically eligible for this award.


Judging Process


Each Open Innovation Catalyst teams can select maximum of 3 award categories (except the default category). 

Judging Process:

    • To score the allocated teams, Judges will review: 

        • Awards submission forms (pre-read - reviewed up to 1 week before event)

        • Catalyst spaces / URL / resources shared on their spaces (pre-read - reviewed up to 1 week before event)

        • Onsite team interactions / demos at their booths (onsite)

Award Submission:

    • Teams are required to submit the Awards submission forms (1 per team).

    • Each Catalyst team will be allocated a common Username and Password to access the Awards portal and for submitting their Awards Submission Forms.

    • Award Submission dates:

      • Opens - 31st March 

      • Closes - 16th May (EST midnight)


Catalyst spaces / URL / resources shared on their spaces (pre-read - reviewed up to 2 week before event)

    • Online project page is reviewed as part of the judging process.

    • It's important to keep these spaces updated 

    • Teams can upload resources such as: 

      • PDFs

      • Whitepaper

      • Links to CurateFx

      • Videos

      • Presentations

      • Infographics

Onsite Judging:

    • Each Catalyst will be allocated a panel of 3-4 Judges to review and score the team onsite.  

    • Judges will visit the booths of allocated teams to interact with and score the teams. 

    • Onsite Judging will take place all day on Day 1 (17th).   

    • Judging time slots will be allocated to Judges. 

      • Although we encourage Judges to visit in the set time slots, in case of any schedule conflicts, Judges may visit the team at their convenience.

      • Judges may not necessarily visit together or may visit at other timings.

      • Teams should ensure their booth is staffed at all times.   

Summary - Awards & Judging Criteria

Award Category

Description

Judging Criteria

Award Specific Criteria 

(Specific to the respective award category)

General Criteria 

(Common for ALL award categories)

Outstanding Catalyst – Business Impact

Awarded to the Catalyst that demonstrates the most compelling business impact & potential to be commercially deployed.

  • Business Impact: How well does the project team quantify and explain the business impact of their solution? 

  • Commercial Viability: To what extent is the Catalyst solution relevant, commercially viable & credible to the business? (Describe with proof points e.g. target audience, market size, implementation cost, etc.)

  • Storyline: How strong is the Catalyst’s storyline, solution & deliverables?

  • Team Collaborations: How well has the participants & champions contributed & collaborated towards catalyst success?

  • TMF Assets: How well has the team used or plans to contribute to TM Forum’s assets, best practices & standards?

  • Proof of concept: How well-developed is the proof-of-concept? (1 = ‘Just an idea’; 10 = ‘Credible working solution’)

  • Industry Value: How valuable is the Catalyst to the industry in the long term? (1 = ‘Not much/Redundant’; 10 = ‘Potential to revolutionize’)

  • Sustainable innovation: To what extent is the Catalyst solution sustainable? 

  • Showcase (online & onsite): How informational, interactive & well-presented is the onsite demonstration & the online Catalyst Spaces, to showcase the Catalyst solution/innovation? 

 

Outstanding Catalyst – Innovative & Futuristic

Awarded to the Catalyst team with the most innovative & futuristic solution aimed towards bringing digital transformation to industry.

  • Innovation: How original & innovative is the team’s business idea and/or technology solution?

  • Future Impact: How would the Catalyst solution potentially impact the future developments & technologies to revolutionize the industry?

Outstanding Catalyst – Use of TM Forum Assets

Awarded to the team that shows the most powerful use of TM Forum assets in their Catalyst project and quantify the benefits of using these assets. 

  • Use of TMF Assets: How deeply rooted is the team’s solution with TM Forum’s best practices and standards? (Scoring –1=’Nil use’; 10=’Powerful use & testing of assets’)

  • New Thinking: How well has the team tested or developed new thinking / requirements for TM Forum’s best practices & standards?

Outstanding Catalyst – Rising Star

For Phase-I / New catalysts only. 

Awarded to the new Phase 1 Catalyst team that demonstrates the most compelling and innovative solution. 

  • Solution: How well has the new Catalyst addressed the key industry challenge & offered the most innovatively compelling technology solution? 

  • Impact on Industry: What level of impact will the Catalyst have on transforming telco industry? 

Outstanding Catalyst – Application of AI & Automation

Awarded to the Catalyst that demonstrates best application of AI & Automation to drive efficiency & growth. 

  • Scalability & Impact: How well does the Catalyst demonstrate the AI system or technology that is sustainable and scalable, ensuring long-term viability and impact on the business (either efficiency of new revenue models) and customer experience in the rapidly evolving field of AI. 

  • Ethical and responsible use: How well does the AI system or technology adhere to ethical and responsible principles, such as transparency, fairness, accountability, privacy, and human-centric design. 

Outstanding Catalyst – Tech for Good

Awarded to the Catalyst that demonstrates exemplary utilization of technology to make a difference to positively impact both community welfare and organizational culture, while ensuring attainment of sustainable development goals. 

  • Sustainable solution: How well does the Catalyst solution align with UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for community & industry welfare? (Scoring –1=Nil; 10=’Highest alignment with multiple SDG goals & well-defined proof points’)

  • Societal Impact: What degree of societal & industry impact is the Catalyst likely to have in the next 1 year (from community, ESG & Organizational culture perspective)? (Scoring –1=Nil; 10=’Highest)

Outstanding Catalyst – Interactive showcase New

 

Awarded to the Catalyst that demonstrates the most immersive & interactive showcase at the event. 

 

  • Introducing this new award category to invite the teams to get creative & think outside the box for showcasing their Catalyst solution! Will be awarded to the team based on how immersive & interactive was their demos onsite. 

 

Outstanding Catalyst – Attendees Choice Award 

Awarded to the Catalyst that receives the most votes in the onsite voting at DTW Ignite.

All Open Innovation Catalysts are automatically eligible for this award.

Awards webinar

Open Innovation Awards Webinar held on 15th April 2025, 2pm CEST / 1pm BST (UK time)

Help & Support

If you have any further questions/concerns, kindly reach out to: