Cisco BIG Awards Is Back to Celebrate and Reward Innovative Start-ups and SMEs Within the UK Phil Smith, CEO of Cisco UK and Ireland, launches second annual BIG Awards
London - 21 March 2013 Following the success of last years BIG Awards, Cisco is continuing its quest to discover and help develop emerging and early-stage technology based start-ups. Last year the BIG Awards attracted more than 300 entries, including six fantastic finalists. Registration opened yesterday, and Cisco is calling all new start-ups and SMEs to raise the bar this year.
This years BIG Awards will run from March until November 2013 and involve a four-stage judging process. The final of the awards will take place at a special event on 14 November 2013, where the six finalists will present their business plans live to a judging panel before the winner is chosen.
With support from partners including Bird & Bird, DNX, Spigit, Right Management and Octopus Communications the BIG Awards is now an annual open innovation competition to discover and reward the finest examples of the UKs most futuristic start-up digital businesses and SMEs. Last year Snap Fashion was crowned winner, following a live Dragons Den-style event. Jenny Griffiths, Founder and CEO, was presented with a cheque for $100,000, plus a mentorship package valued at over $75k including business support, investment advice, technology advice, marketing and PR support and legal advice.
Runners-up and semi-finalists will also receive cash and technology prizes to support and accelerate the development of their brands and businesses. The BIG Awards is an essential part of Ciscos British Innovation Gateway (BIG) initiative, a significant five-year investment of cash, technology and human resources, which aims to develop Britains innovation eco-system and create an environment in which start-up digital businesses and their ideas can flourish. The awards will continue annually throughout the five-year duration of Ciscos BIG initiative to help create a community of innovative industry leaders.
Open to individuals, groups and legal entities in the UK, applicants can enter their technology concept or prototype idea into one of four categories that represent some of the most relevant technology challenges and mega-trends we are seeing across the globe today. For each category, the entry should showcase how the concept can benefit the public and private sectors, utilising the network as the platform to deliver economic, social and environmental sustainability.
The categories are:
BIG Data, including Data Centre/Virtualisation
Collaboration, including Video and Social Media
The Internet of Things
Mobility
For more information on each category and competition entry requirements, visit the BIG Awards website. Registration is now open and entrants will be able to submit their initial business or technology ideas from 20 March 2013. Entries will close on 21 June 2013.
An event to launch the awards took place yesterday at St Marys Axe, London. Phil Smith, Cisco CEO UK and Ireland, was in attendance and delivered a keynote address about the importance of innovation and the global mega-trend, the Internet of Everything.
Supporting Quote
Phil Smith, CEO, Cisco UK and Ireland, said: The BIG Awards is a key component of our five year, British Innovation Gateway initiative to encourage UK growth through entrepreneurship and the advancement of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) skills. Last year demonstrated how many high potential technology based start-ups and SMEs there are in the UK. We are looking forward to identifying more potential in businesses at this years BIG Awards. By nurturing the growing businesses of tomorrow, we are helping to build a brilliant future for technology in the UK.
About the British Innovation Gateway (BIG)
Ciscos main focus is to create programs that will have a long-term contribution to the growth high-tech industries and the economic health of the UK. The British Innovation Gateway (BIG) initiative is part of that economic legacy and is a framework of programs that is designed to help drive innovation and support technology start-ups across London and the rest of the UK and Ireland.
Launched in January 2011 by Prime Minister David Cameron and Ciscos chairman and CEO, John Chambers, BIG is underpinned by Ciscos significant five-year investment of cash, technology and human resources. The initiative aims to develop Britains innovation eco-system and create an environment in which start-up digital businesses and their ideas can flourish.
Ciscos long-term vision is to help build a brilliant future for Britain. BIG will discover and develop the entrepreneurs of today, helping to establish Britain as a leader in innovation, whilst Ciscos other Olympic Legacy programs such as key educational initiatives like STEMNet and the extension of the Cisco Network Academy programs in East London, will help to uncover the skills of tomorrow. Information about BIG can be found at http://www.ciscobig.co.uk/
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected. For ongoing news, please go to http://thenetwork.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is provided by Cisco Systems International B.V. and Cisco International Limited, wholly owned subsidiaries of Cisco Systems, Inc.
# # #
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Ciscos trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the pro
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Cisco BIG Awards Is Back to Celebrate and Reward Innovative Start-ups and SMEs Within the UK Phil Smith, CEO of Cisco UK and Ireland, launches second annual BIG Awards 
