The winners of the 2022 Leaders Awards, which recognise innovation, growth and impact in the South-West’s technology sector, were announced this evening, with awardees including Keelvar, VMware and Dairymaster. The awards were hosted by it@cork and KerryScitech, who also announced their rebranding as a combined entity to Tech Industry Alliance, representing the interests of the tech sector across the region.  

Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Founder of Poppulo was awarded Tech Person of the Year at the black-tie event in the Rochestown Park Hotel, held in person for the first time since 2019. Mr O’Shaughnessy was recognised for his pioneering work in founding and scaling employee communications platform Poppulo and for his role in developing legislation and best practice for the tech industry.   

St. Vincent’s Secondary School was revealed as the winner of The Excellence in Education award for their work in developing student and teacher IT skills, receiving €5,000 to promote STEM activities within their school, sponsored by Trend Micro.  

Other award-winners included valid8Me, which received the Tech Start-Up of the Year award, and Dairymaster, which was recognised as the Multinational of the Year for 2022.  

The Smart Technology Innovation award went to ICBF, while the it@cork Skillnet Best Workplaces award was awarded to ENERCON.  

Excellence in social impact saw the Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact award go to VMware for the company’s education, training and awareness initiatives, and its social impact agenda of partnerships, programs, volunteering and charitable events across Cork. The Tech Scale-Up of the Year was awarded to Keelvar. 

The Chairperson’s Award was awarded jointly to Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Kerry County Council.  

Speaking on this evening’s awards, it@cork Chairperson & Senior Consultant in Global Business Transformation at Dell, Gillian Bergin said: “We are delighted to be back in person tonight to celebrate the innovation and ambition of the tech ecosystem in the South-West. Tonight’s finalists and winners not only represent the highest standards and technological innovations, but also the courage and commitment of our members every day to the region and sector.   

“It’s our mission to shine a light on the technology, business and innovative contributions across the South-West. Under our new name, Tech Industry Alliance, we will leverage our collective knowledge, experience and networks to the benefit of our members.”  

KerrySciTech Chairperson and CFO of Aspen Grove Solutions, Manjit Gill, also commented: “Congratulations to tonight’s well-deserved winners and to all those shortlisted. Tonight, was a ringing endorsement of the diversity, passion and resilience of those working in our sector. Under our new combined brand, we look forward to a bright future, working together to drive innovation and growth across the region”.  

Sponsors for this year’s Leaders Awards included it@cork Skillnet, Deloitte, RDJ, Fexco, Trend Micro, Cork Smart Gateway, KPMG, Cork City Council, Springboard Communications, Cork County Council, Enterprise Ireland, and the Kinsale Spirit Company. 

For over 15 years, the Leaders Awards have recognised those who have excelled in the technology sector in the South-West region of Ireland, from notable multinationals and disruptive start-ups to ground-breaking individuals and emerging companies. Find out more on www.techindustryalliance.ie.