The application phase for the eco://award this year runs from 25 May to 27 July 2020. All fully-completed applications received by email by 10 August 2020, 12 a.m. (CEST) will be considered. On 14 September 2020, the nominees of the categories will be published and presented on eco.de. The award ceremony will take place on 4 November 2020.

The competition is open to companies, initiatives and projects that have developed innovative and market-ready products, services and processes based on the Internet, or who use the Internet as an intelligent extension. Only one application is possible for each solution – but you are welcome to apply with additional products, services or projects.

This is how your application and all necessary documents should be submitted:

• Read the conditions of participation for the eco://award 2020.
• Complete the application form in full.
• As part of your application, prepare presentation slides presenting your solution, to be saved as a PDF and to comprise of a maximum of ten pages.
• The participation fee is 299 Euro (before tax). Applications are free of charge for the category “Start-ups” and for eco members..
• Please send the completed form (including your consent to the conditions of participation and the granting of usage rights), and the presentation with the subject line “eco://awards 2020 – submission”, to awards@eco.de. After a short check for completeness, we will send you a confirmation of its receipt.
• The final deadline for your application is Monday, 10 August 2020 at 12 a.m.(CEST) (midnight).

The eco://award team reserves the right to check the application in advance: Does the application meet the formal criteria; is it complete, legible, and was it submitted in time? In the case of a justified objection, a written rejection will be sent out, accompanied by the possibility to rectify the application within a given period of time. The opportunity to rectify the application only applies to applications submitted at least two weeks before the application deadline.

A jury of experts decides on the nominations and the granting of the eco://award. For each category, eco nominates specialists from areas of business, academia, research or politics who possess relevant professional competence and experience. Individuals who have direct ties to the applicants are excluded from the respective categories.

For non-members of the eco Association, a participation fee of 299 Euro (before tax) is due upon application. For both members of eco – Association of the Internet Industry and applicants in the category “Start-up”, the application is free of charge. The invoice will be created and issued by eco after the complete set of application documents have been submitted. The application for the eco://award will only be considered after receipt of the participation fee.

The participation fee will be refunded if the company joins eco – Association of the Internet Industry by 31.12.2020.

Contributions that contain inappropriate content or violate the rights of third parties – natural or legal persons – can be excluded from the eco://award at the organizer’s discretion.

The organizer reserves the right to publish extracts of the submitted information as part of the press and publicity work for the eco://award (e.g. website, press releases, etc.).

The rights of use for the submissions are hereby transferred, without spatial or temporal limitations, to the organizer for the following purposes:

• Publication on the organizer’s websites
• Publication of press releases in connection with the competition
• Publication on the social media channels and on the organizer’s own media channels (e.g. newsletter, audio magazine, etc.)
• Publication in award materials, such as brochures, videos, programmes, and presentations (e.g. audio and slides)
• Publication of submitted contributions, author names and other PR measures of the organizer after the end of the competition, in connection with the competition (e.g. marketing for subsequent awards)

In addition, the copyrights remain with the author. By participating in the eco://award, the applicant confirms that all rights which are necessary for the award application exist, and that no rights of third parties are infringed.

The applicant expressly exempts the organizer from all claims of third parties with regard to the competition and related measures.

There is no right of appeal.

Decisive criteria for the expert jury are:

• Uniqueness: What makes your solution unique on the market? Can the unique selling points be used as sales arguments?
• Innovation: To what extent is your solution truly innovative or even revolutionary?
• Competitive environment: Who does something comparable – why is your solution better?
• Specific benefits: For whom is your solution important, and what needs does it address?
• Features: Is your solution convincing in terms of quality, security, flexibility and usability?
• Reach: Who are the (potential) customers and users?
• Significance: What are the wider implications of your solution for the economy, society or the environment?

Further information on each criterion can be found in the respective category.

Do you support your customers with unique IT services that enable them to overcome the hurdles on the way to the cloud, and to get the maximum benefit from it? Are you using innovative IT concepts to ensure that your customers achieve real added-value with the cloud? Is your IT service offering for the cloud characterized by especially high quality, security, interoperability or high performance in opening up new markets?

Then get your solution into the running for the eco://award by applying in the category Cloud/Hosting by 27 July 2020!

Companies with a service offering in the field of cloud computing or cloud hosting are welcome to apply.

In addition to the cross-category criteria, the following aspects are especially important for the jury’s evaluation:

• Can the service function be categorized and does it offer precisely defined added value?
• Is your offer characterized by unique and non-standard market services?
• Is there any proof of quality for the service (e.g. seal of quality, certification, attestation.)?
• Is the service distinguished through special security features (e.g. DDoS prevention etc.)?
• Are there any certificates (e.g. Star Audit, Code of Conduct, C5 etc.) which prove that your service is GDPR-compliant?
• Can it be connected to other systems/services via interfaces?
• How open is the architecture? Is the service interoperable and portable?
• How process-relevant is the service?
• Are there significant customer references?
• How high is the user-friendliness/customer-friendliness of the service?
• How high is the innovation factor?

Do you offer an exceptional IT service or product that decisively contributes to the security of company networks, endpoints, internal processes and structures, or the end user? Do your IT security solutions contribute significantly to the long-term economic success of your customers?

Then get your solution into the running for the eco://award by applying in the category Security by 27 July 2020!

Companies/ initiatives can apply if

• the service/ product is clearly outlined and the scope of service is publicly verifiable,
• the service/ product is available on the market and can be booked/ordered,
• the target group is well-defined,
• there is at least one documented customer reference.

In addition to the cross-category criteria, the following aspects are especially important for the jury’s evaluation:

• The service/ product can be categorized.
• The service/product can be readily integrated into existing processes/architectures.
• A proof of quality for the service/product exists (e.g. seals of quality, certifications, attestation).
• The service/product is user-friendly.
• The service/product is particularly data-efficient.

Do you support your customers with unique IT services that enable them to overcome the hurdles on the way to the cloud, and to get the maximum benefit from it? Are you using innovative IT concepts to ensure that your customers achieve real added-value with the cloud? Is your IT service offering for the cloud characterized by especially high quality, security, interoperability or high performance in opening up new markets?

Then get your solution into the running for the eco://award by applying in the category Cloud/Hosting by 27 July 2020!

Companies with a service offering in the field of cloud computing or cloud hosting are welcome to apply.

In addition to the cross-category criteria, the following aspects are especially important for the jury’s evaluation:

• Can the service function be categorized and does it offer precisely defined added value?
• Is your offer characterized by unique and non-standard market services?
• Is there any proof of quality for the service (e.g. seal of quality, certification, attestation.)?
• Is the service distinguished through special security features (e.g. DDoS prevention etc.)?
• Are there any certificates (e.g. Star Audit, Code of Conduct, C5 etc.) which prove that your service is GDPR-compliant?
• Can it be connected to other systems/services via interfaces?
• How open is the architecture? Is the service interoperable and portable?
• How process-relevant is the service?
• Are there significant customer references?
• How high is the user-friendliness/customer-friendliness of the service?
• How high is the innovation factor?

Does your start-up offer innovative digital services, IT products, or a business model that delivers significant added value for the economy, environment and society? Would you like to present your start-up to a large professional audience?

Then apply with your company for the eco://award in the category “Start-ups” until 27 July 2020!

Alongside the cross-category criteria, in their evaluation of the “Start-ups” category, the expert jury will pay particular attention to:

• The innovative character of the business concept
• The growth potential of the company
• The relevance for society, environment and the economy
• Benefits for users/operators

The companies founded by the nominees must be start-ups and must fulfil the following criteria, which are based on the guidelines of the German Start-Up Association (Bundesverband Deutsche Startups e.V):

• Start-ups are younger than 5 years
• have a (planned) growth in employees/turnover and/or
• are (highly) innovative in terms of their products/services, business models and/or technologies

We are looking for companies who, with their digital and/or Internet-based products and services, demonstrate a high level of societal responsibility.

• Self-nominations and nominations by third parties are both possible
• Applications are possible by form or as a two-page PDF

You can apply yourself or nominate a company for the eco://award in the category “Internet with Responsibility” by 27 July 2020!

In addition to the cross-category criteria, the following aspects are especially important for the jury’s evaluation:

• Visible or tangible benefits/added value of the product/service/project for society or for a particular target group, in either societal or monetary terms
• Aspects aimed at the common good outweigh those aimed at entrepreneurial added value
• Sustainability of the offer (in the sense of an ongoing creation of added value as opposed to short-term and once-off “incentive offers” to entice users to avail of the product/service/project)

Minimum content of the application:

• Company, name and position of the contact person for inquiries; contact details (telephone/email/postal address); name of the product/service /project
• Short descriptions in line with the application form
• Description of the origins and motivation lying behind the product/service/project; description of the target group and the benefits they acquire
• Description of the level of acceptance/usage; description of the identified added value for society, the target group or the intended scope of the product/service/project