The ‘Nature Walker App’ has been recognised for its efforts in digital innovation at the .ie Digital Town Awards 2024 today…
The Wexford project picked up the prize for its use of technology in making local green spaces accessible to all members of the community. .ie, the trusted national registry for over 330,000 domain names announced the winners of the .ie Digital Town Awards 2024 at a Gala event held in the Sheraton Hotel, Athlone, Co. Westmeath today.
The awards are proudly sponsored by Square, the technology company that makes commerce and financial services easy and accessible and are supported by the Western Development Commission. Now in their 4th year, the .ie Digital Town Awards shine a light on local projects that have a digital element and promote the use of the internet and digital technologies. They recognise the positive impact of digital strategies in community organisations, town groups, regional or national collaboration projects, and individual businesses across the country. A total prize fund of €60,000 was distributed across nine categories at today’s gala ceremony.
The Nature Walker App allows individuals with physical or psychological impairments to explore parks or sites of natural beauty through the use of augmented reality. The app enables users to build familiarity with an area so that they can eventually physically visit the area when ready.
The overall .ie Digital Town Awards winner was a collaborative project entitled ‘Driving Digital Education in the Midlands’ which aims to embed digital education programmes in schools in Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford. As an area that has been directly impacted by the green transition, the development of future skills in these communities to meet new industry demands is essential.
The project has seen industry, government, and education stakeholders coming together to collaborate on digital education programmes for students and young people across the region. This project was also the winner in the Digital Education category. The runner up in the Digital Education category was Friends of the Elderly from Dublin 1.
.ie Digital Town Awards Winners 2024:
Digital Education Award Winner: Driving Digital Education in the Midlands
Overall Winner
Digital Tourism Award Winner: Digital Ennistymon with Waywyser – a tool for slow tourism
Digital Community Award Winner: Wexford – Nature Walker App
Digital Business Award Winner: Shannon – Future Mobility Campus Ireland
Digital Sustainability Award Winner: Trim – Decarbonising Trim
Digital Newcomer Award Winner: Midland’s Polish Community TV
Digital Rising Star Award: Truagh Spirit Wise & Well Social Club
Digital Changemaker Award: Waterford Digital Story Trail
Digital Local Hero Award: Alan Kelly, school principal, Carrigallen
In total, 16 town and community digital projects were recognised at this year’s .ie Digital Town Awards 2024 – winners and runners-up across the six main categories, three special category winners and one overall prize winner.
Oonagh McCutcheon, National Director, .ie Digital Town Programme, said:
‘The quality of entries in this year’s .ie Digital Town Awards has been incredibly impressive. We were delighted to see so many projects across the country harnessing the power of digital to enhance and contribute to their local towns and communities. The projects recognised at the awards ceremony today epitomise the benefits of digital transformation in Ireland.’
Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary TD, said:
‘I want to congratulate all the winners and runners up of this year’s .ie Digital Town Awards, all of the projects that entered in these awards should be commended for their contribution to Ireland’s digitalisation. It is inspiring to see how the digital innovations recognised at these awards have helped their communities work towards a more inclusive and sustainable future.’
The .ie Digital Towns Awards is an initiative of .ie, the trusted national registry for over 330,000 .ie domain names. Find out more at www.weare.ie
Wexford Weekly
This article was published by a member of the Wexford Weekly team.
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