LONDON-Wednesday 10 July 2019 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- The industry’s sense of social responsibility is stronger than ever, movements championing diversity and inclusivity are gathering momentum at an unprecedented pace and there is a conscious increase in company initiatives making a positive impact in the wider world. To reflect this, and its commitment to driving change in the industry, IBC is for the first time recognising social responsibility as part of its prestigious awards programme with a stand-alone award – the Social Impact Award.

This year’s call for entries received an overwhelming response and with so many impressive and impactful projects submitted the judges were moved to create three shortlists, recognising initiatives focused on diversity and inclusivity, on minimising environmental impact, and for the best ethical leadership. One winner from each category will be announced at the IBC Awards Ceremony.

“The decision facing us as judges was tremendously hard. The quality of the entries was exceptionally high, and all the initiatives submitted have real purpose,” said Ade Rawcliffe, Head of Diversity for ITV Commissioning and Chair of the Social Impact Award Judging Panel. “This reflects what’s going on in the industry worldwide,” she added. “There is a real shift, a positive drive to not just create and deliver great content, but to do it with the best people from the widest range of backgrounds, with real audience engagement, and with the smallest possible environmental footprint.”

Recognising everything from projects making the industry more inclusive, both by ensuring clear career paths for women and in engagement with the young and the disadvantaged, to a focus on societal issues from drink driving to recycling, this year’s shortlist demonstrates the breadth of projects in the industry working to improve the world around us.

Shortlisted in the Diversity and Inclusivity category are:

• Flex, A BBC cultural transformation to introduce a new flexible working policy, supporting career progression for women and men. As of July 2019, 80% of BBC vacancies have been advertised with flexible working, both in the UK and globally
• Broadcast Academy, which provides a practical environment to develop technical and operational skills, with a particular emphasis on creating a diverse and multicultural talent pool and increasing the number of women in sports broadcasting. Broadcast Academy is part of HBS, a company that specialises in the host broadcasting of sports events
• Journalism for Juniors, an initiative from Turkish broadcaster TRT which teaches disadvantaged young people and refugee children – in Turkey and overseas – how to tell their stories through the medium of journalism, not just to encourage them to make it their career but to understand the importance of trusted information

There are two finalists in the Environmental Impact category:

• VoxA Omnichannel Engagement Platform, an advanced and extensive emergency alert and advisory platform for half a billion Indians living in India’s coastal communities, developed by Gaian Solutions for the Government of India, Ministry of Earth Sciences
• Liquid Technology, a leader in the recycling of electronic equipment, eliminating the risk of harmful materials like cadmium, lead and rare earth metals finding their way into landfill

The third category for Ethical Leadership has three finalists:

• An immersive, virtual reality experience to put you in the shoes of a drunk driver and experience its agonising consequences – created by BBDO DUBLIN and Inition for the Irish Road Safety Authority (RSA)
• Combining green filmmaking and creative flair Chouette Films, an associate member of SOAS, University of London, crafts films with the ingredients to inspire social impact with the smallest possible environmental footprint
• The gunman in the Christchurch massacre was welcomed into the Al Noor Mosque with the words “hello brother” – TRT created an online video campaign for citizens worldwide to share their stories under the hashtag #hellobrother

Who will take home the – newly redesigned, from sustainable materials – trophies? The winners will be revealed at the IBC2019 Awards Ceremony at 18:30 on Sunday 15 September. Your ticket to the IBC Awards Ceremony is included in your free IBC exhibition visitor pass. Register now: show.ibc.org/register.

Notes to Editors:

About IBC 
IBC is the world’s most influential media, entertainment and technology show, attracting 55,000+ attendees from more than 170 countries and combining a highly respected and peer-reviewed conference with an exhibition that showcases 1,700+ leading industry suppliers of state-of-the-art technology. In addition to the world-class exhibition and conference, IBC also encompasses the IBC Daily, IBCTV and IBC365.

IBC365 provides year-round insight and opinion into the hot topics and key trends from leading industry journalists, along with insightful whitepapers, peer reviewed technical papers, highly engaging webinars and an expansive video library.

IBC2019 Dates 
Conference: 13 - 17 September 2019 
Exhibition: 13 - 17 September 2019

For more information about IBC2019 visit: show.ibc.org

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