• Published on 14 Jul 2015
• External News

CTO of the Year award

The call for suggestions for the European CTO of the Year 2015 is now open - who is the most inspiring, innovative and foresighted technology leader you know in Europe?

The CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of the Year award is a platform to promote the importance of technology and innovation in Europe. The award is given to the most prominent technology leaders of highly successful European companies: persons, who are both inspiring leaders and foresighted technology managers. The awardee does not need to be a CTO by title and can come from any industry and any size of a company, as long as he or she is responsible for the company’s technology and its development at the highest level. The selection is based on an open call for nominations: Perhaps it is now time for your candidate to be a winner?

The CTO of the Year award is again given to an outstanding technology leader of an innovative European company from any industry: a person who is an inspiring leader, a foresighted technology manager, and who contributes to the development and sustainability of his/her industry as well as to society at large. The award aims to promote the importance of technology and innovation for the growth and competitiveness of Europe, and to find the people who can act as role models and promote the importance of technology leaders in companies of different sectors and locations.

The event has been recognised by the European Commission. Mr. Robert-Jan Smits, General Director, DG Research and Innovation endorsed the award saying that “Europe needs to celebrate those who advance technology and innovate. Initiatives like the ‘CTO of the Year award’ are very welcome as they lead to role models and further strengthen innovation in Europe.”

The winner is selected from the suggestions collected by the open call by a high level jury. Professor Yrjö Neuvo, former CTO of Nokia and a jury member, explains that “The European CTO of the Year Award was launched in 2014 and immediately created a lot of interest. It is given to a CTO who is both an inspiring leader and a competent technology developer. The winners are awarded in two categories in order to highlight that both SMEs and large corporations are needed to support technology-based growth in Europe. We look again forward to broad participation and believe that this contest has a significant role in strengthening cross-sectorial learning and cooperation across European industries”.

In 2014, the award was given to Prof. Richard Parker of Rolls-Royce in the large companies category, based on his personal leadership and long career in technology innovation, and the strong effort towards partnering to the outside world, and Dr. Gert-Jan Gruter of Avantium in the SME category, due to his and the company’s impressive work, focus on innovation and strong partnerships combined with the future potential, as well as their green chemistry.

Perhaps it is now time for your candidate to be a winner in this contest organised by Spinverse and EIRMA, the European Industrial Research Management Association? Your nominee can be any European technology leader driving technology-based sustainable growth not only in his or her company of any industry, but also in Europe and globally. Find more information and submit your nomination by September 18th online at http://www.ctoeurope.net.