Anyone hoping to see a bold idea recognized in Dubai has a one-month window opening this week. The emirate has confirmed that nominations for the debut Dubai-it Award run from August 10 through September 10, marking the first time the public can put forward candidates for the honor.
Applications are submitted at www.dubai-it.ae, where nominators enter an email address, receive a one-time password, and complete an online form. Self-nominations are permitted, and individuals, institutions, and companies may also nominate others, provided they identify the relevant category for the achievement.
Each submission must lay out what the nominee accomplished, the nature and objectives of the work, its field, and the applicant’s role in delivering it. Beyond that, entries need to describe the challenge or opportunity behind the achievement, the steps taken to carry it out, the outcomes, and the effect on people, the city, a given sector, an institution, the economy, or quality of life. Supporting material, including performance data, figures, reports, photographs, media coverage, and testimonials, is required to demonstrate the scale, quality, speed, and tangible results of the work.
After submission, entries move through a verification process that checks whether information is complete, evidence is credible, and results are clearly stated. Reviewers may interview nominees or the parties tied to an achievement and can request further documentation.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, announced the award in June, describing it as an honor that “celebrates achievement while inspiring the next generation of transformative success.” It recognizes individuals, projects, companies, and institutions that reflect the “Dubai-it” approach in their work.
Judges will weigh eight measures when choosing winners: the exceptional nature of the achievement, the excellence and quality of its execution, the speed and efficiency involved, alignment with Dubai’s philosophy of action, the translation of vision into concrete results, exceptional impact, sustainability and room for development, and the clarity of the model along with its power to inspire.
The award traces back to June 17, when Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the “Dubai-it” initiative. The idea rests on the view that ambition means little without execution, and that speed has to be paired with quality.
While this first edition is compressed into an August-to-September nomination period, future cycles will operate on a longer calendar, running annually from September to May, with June through August reserved for collecting and assessing nominations for the following round. Those later editions will span ten fields, including government, real estate, economy, business, technology, health, sports, education, society, and services, with winners named across three main categories: individual, project, and institution or company.
Alongside public nominations, the award team plans to track standout achievements over the course of the year, flagging examples that mirror the emirate’s emphasis on getting things done.
