Nominations are now open for the Women in ICT Awards in 2024, setting the industry benchmark for female excellence as gender diversity and inclusion (D&I) takes centre stage in Australia.

For more than a decade, ARN has celebrated gender D&I and recognised female excellence across the Australian channel since first launching WIICTA in 2012, providing a platform to showcase influential figures across the local industry.

In 2024, WIICTA will honour the channel across eight categories, spanning Innovation, Technical, Entrepreneur, Graduate, Rising Star, Shining Star, Achievement and D&I Champion (Company and Individual) awards.

Nominations can be submitted by an individual, an employee, employer or business partner. Note: Only Australia-based individuals are eligible, with finalists and winners selected by an executive judging panel of business leaders from partner, vendor and distributor organisations. Please read the criteria carefully for each category, especially Graduate, Rising, Shining and Achievement, which focus on the individual's overall IT industry experience.

Submissions will close on Friday 14 June.

From early-stage graduates to experienced industry leaders - and everyone in-between - WIICTA recognises inspiring examples of female creativity and ingenuity in equal measure, spanning all job functions and disciplines across all states and territories. This is in addition to pioneering organisations and individuals who have gone beyond surface-level commitments through the introduction of policies and programs to meet D&I goals.

The awards program reached record-breaking levels in 2023 with 230 finalists honoured from a pool of over 148 organisations and 400 nominations, spanning partner, telco, vendor and distributor businesses.

This culminated in more than 620 attendees - the largest ever in-person audience for the channel's leading gender D&I awards program - coming together under the ARN roof to set new levels of female achievement and accomplishment.

Since launching more than 10 years ago, the collective aim of WIICTA remains unchanged - to ensure as many outstanding women are endorsed through this unique awards program as possible, aligned to the unified goal of providing a platform upon which aspiring female talent can shine across Australia.

Set for Thursday 19 September, the winners will be announced at a celebration lunch at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney.

For more information email: julia_talevski@foundryco.com

This article originally appeared on ARN.