IBC has opened nominations for its 2026 Innovation Awards, recognising real-world technology projects across the global media and entertainment industry.
Entries are open across 4 categories: Content Creation, Content Distribution, Content Everywhere and Social Impact. Environmental and sustainability initiatives will now be included within the Social Impact category.
The awards are designed to recognise completed projects that demonstrate innovation, collaboration and measurable industry impact.
Fergal Ringrose, chair of the IBC Innovation Awards jury, said the industry is seeing major change driven by software-defined, virtualised, 5G-based and agentic AI technologies, adding that the awards will highlight projects delivering breakthrough workflows and consumer experiences.
Nominations close at midnight BST on Friday 29 May, with winners to be announced during the IBC2026 Awards reception at the RAI Amsterdam on September 13.
Last year’s winners included NHK Japan, ZDF/ARTE, Sky Group, the Alliance for Open Media, Meta, Intel, the ACLU and SK Telecom, with projects spanning cloud-native distribution, mobile video efficiency, citizen journalism tools and energy-efficient UHD upscaling.
