Nominations are now being accepted for the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) 2020 Innovation Awards!

The NDSA award program was established in 2012 to recognize and encourage innovative achievement in the field of digital preservation stewardship. The awards highlight and commend creative individuals, projects, organizations, future stewards, and educators demonstrating originality and excellence in their contributions to the field of digital preservation.   Awards are offered in the following categories:

• Individuals making a significant, innovative contribution to the digital preservation community.
• Projects whose goals or outcomes represent an inventive, meaningful addition to the understanding or processes required for successful, sustainable digital preservation stewardship.
• Organizations taking an innovative approach to providing support, guidance, advocacy, or leadership for the digital preservation community.
• Future stewards, especially students and early-career professionals, taking a creative approach to advancing knowledge and practice of digital preservation issues and concerns.
• Educators, including trainers and curricular endeavors, promoting innovative approaches and access to digital preservation through academic programs, partnerships, professional development opportunities, and curriculum development.

As a diverse international membership organization with a shared commitment to digital preservation, the NDSA understands the importance of innovation and risk-taking in developing and supporting a broad range of successful digital preservation activities.  Acknowledging that innovative digital stewardship can take many forms, eligibility for these awards has been left purposely broad.  Anyone or any project or institution acting in the context of the above categories can be nominated for an award.  Nominees do not have to be NDSA member institutions or individuals or project staff affiliated with member institutions, but must evidence innovative engagement with the theory and practice of long-term digital preservation stewardship at a level of national or international importance.  Nominators similarly do not need to be affiliated with NDSA member institutions.  Self-nomination is accepted and encouraged, as are submissions reflecting the needs and accomplishments of historically marginalized and underrepresented communities.

Nominations will be accepted until Friday, September 4, 2019.

In past years, prizes have been presented during the NDSA’s annual Digital Preservation conference.  Given the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s event will take place in virtual form.  Details about the conference, including the specific date of the award ceremony, have not yet been determined but will be announced as soon as possible. 

In these troubled times, it is especially important to take the time to recognize and laud exemplary activity.  We encourage all members of the international digital preservation community to help us highlight and reward novel, risk-taking, and inventive approaches to the challenges of digital preservation by submitting nominations for worthy candidates at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020-ndsa-innovation-awards.

For more information on the details on awards from previous years, please visit https://ndsa.org/groups/innovation-awards/.  Please feel free to pass along this announcement to colleagues.

NDSA Innovation Awards Working Group: