New Product & Product Management Categories
Includes all product management, product development, product engineering, manufacturing, etc., functions. New products and services released in the U.S.A. since January 1, 2025, are eligible to be nominated. Both brand-new and new-version products are eligible.
Nominations that won in the 2026 ABAs may be resubmitted for consideration in the 2027 ABAs. If they have been updated with recent achievements, they may be submitted to the same categories in which they won. If they have not been updated, they must be submitted to categories different from those in which they won.
Category Groups
Product Management Categories | Product Management Achievement Categories (New for 2027) | Product & Service Categories | Technology Solution Categories | Education & Education Technology Categories
Product Management Categories
Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories in the 2027 competition include
1. Written answers to the following questions, describing the nominated department’s, team’s, or individual’s achievements since January 1, 2025, OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length that answers all of the same questions:
a. Briefly describe the nominated department, team, or individual: history and past performance (up to 1,500 characters). Required
b. Outline the nominee’s achievements since the beginning of 2025 that you wish to bring to the judges’ attention (up to 1,500 characters). Required
c. Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee’s past performance (up to 1,500 characters). Required
d. Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination. (up to 1,500 characters). Optional
2.Optional (but highly recommended), add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges. These might be press articles, press releases, videos, or images, for example. These might be planning documents, press clippings, work samples, photographs, video clips, etc.
P96. Product Development/Management Department or Team of the Year
P97. Product Development/Management Executive of the Year
P98. Product Developer of the Year: recognizing all non-executive product development or management professionals. There is no entry fee for this category
Product Management Achievement
1. Written answers to the following questions, describing the nominated department’s, team’s, or individual’s achievements since January 1, 2025, OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length that answers all of the same questions:
a. Briefly describe the nominated department, team, or individual: history and past performance
(up to 1,500 characters). Required
b. Outline the nominee’s achievements since the beginning of 2025 that you wish to bring to the judges’ attention (up to 1,500 characters). Required
c. Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee’s past performance (up to 1,500 characters). Required
d. Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination. (up to 1,500 characters). Optional
2. Optional (but highly recommended), add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges. These might be press articles, press releases, videos, or images, for example. These might be planning documents, press clippings, work samples, photographs, video clips, etc.
P99. Achievement in Product Launch (New for 2027): Recognizes exceptional planning and execution of a new product or major product-version launch, including cross-functional coordination, go-to-market execution, customer adoption, and business results.
P100. Achievement in Product Strategy (New for 2027): Recognizes an outstanding product strategy that successfully identified market opportunities, addressed customer needs, strengthened competitive positioning, or drove measurable growth.
Product & Service Categories
For products and services introduced to the marketplace since January 1, 2025. Nominees may be brand new or new versions.
New for 2027, Stevie winners in the New Product or Service of the Year categories will be determined through a unique blending of the ratings of our professional judges and the votes of your employees, customers, and the general public. Public voting will run from March 15 thru April 14. Entrants in the New Product & Service categories will be given tools they may use to encourage their communities to vote for them. Nominees that receive 2,000 or more votes will receive People’s Choice Stevie Award for Favorite New Products trophies.
Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories in the 2027 competition include
1. Written answers to the following questions, describing the nominated product or service since January 1 2025, OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length that answers all of the same questions:
a. If this is a brand-new product, state the date on which the product or service was released. If this is a new version of an existing product or service, state the date on which the update was released. Required
b. Describe the features, functions, and benefits of the nominated product or service (up to 2,650 characters). Required
c. Outline the market performance, critical reception, and customer satisfaction with the product or service to date. State monetary or unit sales figures to date, if possible, and how they compare to expectations or past performance. Provide links to laudatory product or service reviews. Include some customer testimonials, if applicable (up to 2,650 characters). Required
d. Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination. (up to 2,000 characters). Optional
2. Optional (but highly recommended), add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges. These might be press articles, press releases, videos, or images, for example. These might be planning documents, press clippings, work samples, photographs, video clips, etc.
P01. Accessibility-Focused: Celebrates innovative products created or enhanced to be accessible to individuals with disabilities or impairments, ensuring inclusive design and usability.
P02. Business-to-Business Products: Recognizes tangible B2B products. Do not enter business technology products in this category, enter them in one of the business technology categories below.
P03. Business-to-Business Services: Recognizes B2B service offerings.
P04. Consumer Electronics: Recognizes all types of products under the umbrella of consumer electronics.
P05. Consumer Products: Recognizes all types of consumer products except those that fit in one of the other categories here. This category has four breakouts:
a. Durables (appliances, furniture, etc.)
b. Food & Beverage
c. Household Products
d. Other
P06. Consumer Services: Recognizes all service offerings for consumers.
P07. Financial Services: Recognizes all types of financial products and services.
P08. Hardware - Computer: Recognizes computer hardware products except those that fit in one of the other categories here.
P09. Hardware - Networking: Recognizes networking products and solutions.
P10. Hardware - Peripheral: Recognizes computer peripheral products.
P11. Hardware - Semiconductor or Other Electronic Component: Recognizes all types of semiconductor and electronic component products.
P12. Hardware - Storage: Recognizes storage products and solutions, for both B2B and consumer.
P13. Hardware - Other: Recognizes computer-related hardware products that don’t fit into one of the other categories here.
P14. Health & Pharmaceuticals - Product: Recognizes tangible health and pharmaceutical products, for trade or consumer.
P15. Health & Pharmaceutical - Service: Recognizes health and pharmaceutical-related services, for trade or consumer.
P16. Industrial Products & Services: Recognizes all types of industrial products and services used in manufacturing, logistics, etc., except for software solutions.
P17. Media & Entertainment - Product: Recognizes tangible media or entertainment products, for trade or consumer.
P18. Media & Entertainment - Service: Recognizes media or entertainment services, for trade or consumer.
P19. Sustainability-Focused: Honors consumer-facing products that reduce environmental impact through eco-design, recyclable packaging, renewable materials, or carbon-neutral manufacturing.
P20. Telecommunications - Product: Recognizes tangible telecommunications-related products.
P21. Telecommunications - Service: Recognizes telecommunications services, for trade or consumer.
P22. Transportation: Recognizes transportation-related products and services, for trade or consumer.
P23. Voice Technology: Recognizes products that utilize voice-enabled interfaces or voice-first design for consumer or enterprise use cases, such as virtual assistants, voice commerce, or accessibility solutions.
Technology Solution Categories
Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories in the 2027 competition include
1. Written answers to the following questions, describing the nominated product or service since January 1 2025, OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length that answers all of the same questions:
a. If this is a brand-new solution, state the date on which the solution was released. If this is a new version of an existing solution, state the date on which the update was released. Required
b. Describe the features, functions, and benefits of the nominated solution (up to 2,650 characters). Required
c. Outline the market performance, critical reception, and customer satisfaction with the solution to date. State monetary or unit sales figures to date, if possible, and how they compare to expectations or past performance. Provide links to laudatory solution reviews. Include some customer testimonials, if applicable (up to 2,650 characters). Required
d. Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination. (up to 1,500 characters). Optional
2. Optional (but highly recommended), add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges. These might be press articles, press releases, videos, or images, for example. These might be planning documents, press clippings, work samples, photographs, video clips, etc.
P24. AI Agent / Agentic AI Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes AI-powered agents and agentic AI solutions capable of independently or semi-autonomously reasoning, making decisions, executing tasks, or coordinating multi-step workflows on behalf of users or organizations.
P25. AI Data & Analytics Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes AI-powered solutions that help organizations collect, analyze, interpret, or act on data to generate insights, improve decision-making, or identify trends and opportunities.
P26. AI Governance, Safety & Responsible AI Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes commercially available technology solutions that help organizations govern, monitor, secure, and responsibly deploy artificial intelligence. Eligible solutions may address AI risk management, regulatory compliance, transparency, model monitoring, bias detection, privacy, security, explainability, or other responsible AI practices.
P27. AI-Powered Productivity & Workflow Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes solutions that use artificial intelligence to improve productivity, automate workflows, streamline tasks, or help individuals and teams work more efficiently.
P28. AI-Powered Software Development Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes solutions that use artificial intelligence to enhance the software development lifecycle, including coding, testing, debugging, documentation, deployment, or application maintenance.
P29. Application Programming Interface (API) Management Solution: recognizes the best platforms that create a centralized API architecture that makes the process of making, securing, deploying and managing high-performance interfaces significantly simpler and more consistent.
P30. Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Solution: recognizes solutions that enable computer-based systems to exhibit intelligent behavior in complex situations to solve problems, communicate with people, and perceive and interact with the physical world.
a. Agentic AI & Autonomous Systems
b. Financial AI
c. Generative AI
d. Healthcare AI
e. Predictive AI & Machine Learning
f. Other
P31. Best Business Information or Data Delivery Solution: Recognizes the best information solutions that help professionals with their daily job functions including strategy, business development, sales, marketing, research or other corporate functions. Solutions could include business and industry news, market research, business directories, company/industry information, executive profiles, financial data, analyst reports, vertical segment information, competitive intelligence, etc.
P32. Big Data & Reporting Analytics Solution: recognizes the best solutions for reporting and analyzing actionable intelligence from massive data sets containing a variety of data types, or the best platform for enabling organizations in developing, deploying, operating and managing a big data infrastructure/environment.
P33. Blockchain Solution: recognizes the best solutions for creating and managing shared, immutable ledgers for recording the history of transactions.
P34. Business or Competitive Intelligence Solution: recognizes the best solutions for reporting and analyzing data into useful information for business purposes, or the best platform for enabling enterprises to build BI into their applications by providing analysis, information delivery and platform integration.
P35. Cloud Application/Service: recognizes the best solutions that operate in the cloud.
P36. Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution: recognizes the best cloud platforms for collecting, storing, managing and interpreting data from many business activities. Can include but is not limited to finance, HR functions, product planning, purchasing, manufacturing, and service delivery.
P37. Cloud Infrastructure: recognizes the best infrastructure solutions for the deployment of cloud-based offerings.
P38. Cloud Platform: recognizes the best overall platforms for the deployment of cloud-based offerings.
P39. Compliance Solution: recognizes the best compliance solution to address regulatory rules, ethics, sustainability and governance. The winning solutions provide audit, risk and compliance solutions and/or expert insights that enable businesses to connect regulatory developments with internal policy systems, organizational risks and controls, and regulatory training.
P40. Construction Management Solution: recognizes the best software solutions that manage construction projects, resources, and teams to increase efficiency and productivity.
P41. Content Management Solution: recognizes the best tools, platforms, or services that allow users to sort through vast amounts of content and present technology in a meaningful and organized way. Solutions allow users to arrange, display, collect, organize, co-create, share, and manipulate content.
P42. Corporate Learning/Workforce Development Solution: recognizes the best platforms, services or providers that support the efforts of organizations (business, government, academia) to educate employees about specific knowledge that aids in the successful execution of an employee’s job. Includes applications that educate on internal processes, practices, expectations, and objectives of workplace assignments.
P43. Customer Data Platform: recognizes the best CDP marketer-managed systems that offer a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other systems. CDPs should create a comprehensive view of each customer by capturing data from multiple systems, linking information related to the same customer, and storing the information to track behavior over time. The CDP contains personal identifiers used to target marketing messages and track individual-level marketing results, offering marketing teams relevant insights needed to run marketing campaigns.
P44. Customer Education LMS: recognizes the best customer education or extended enterprise Learning Management Systems (LMS) that help users engage with the product and elevate customer engagement.
P45. Customer Service Solution: recognizes the best tools, platforms, or services that help businesses enhance their customer service and support. Includes help-desk services, live chat, social media tools, technology-enabled service providers, etc.
P46. Cybersecurity Solution: recognizes the best tools and services that help to protect organizations from cyber attacks.
P47. Data Tools & Platforms: recognizes the platforms that best enable organizations to develop, deploy, operate and manage a big data infrastructure/environment including deep analytics, AI and machine learning.
P48. DevOps Solution: recognizes the best solutions that aid in unifying software development (Dev) and software operation (Ops), by promoting automation and monitoring at all steps of software construction, from integration, testing, releasing to deployment and infrastructure management.
P49. Digital Asset Management Solution: recognizes the best solutions that store, organize, and distribute digital assets and rich media files in a central location. Assets may include photos, creative files, video, audio, presentations, documents, data, and more.
P50. Digital Employee Experience: recognizes the best services, solutions, products or tools that optimize digital employee experience across every touchpoint – device, application, etc. by leveraging workplace analytics, user sentiments analytics and automation thereby measuring, quantifying, analyzing and reporting user experiences to enhance each employee’s workplace experience.
P51. Digital Process Automation Solution: recognizes the best solutions that create process applications to automate complex workflows and digital business processes for application development and deployment professionals.
P52. Electronic Commerce Solution: recognizes the best software solutions designed to facilitate the purchase of products and services online. Includes credit card processing systems, personalization tools, shopping carts, comparison bots, order forms, delivery/shipping management systems, etc.
P53. Emerging Technology: recognizes the best emerging technology products, tools or solutions that are solving big problems, changing the status quo and opening up new opportunities. Products must be less than three years old or have put out a new version that includes new technology that is disruptive and/or relatively underdeveloped in potential.
P54. Endpoint Security Management Solution: recognizes the best solutions that require endpoint devices to comply with specific criteria before granting access to network resources. Includes antivirus, antispyware, personal firewall, host intrusion prevention, file/disk encryption, endpoint DLP, etc.
P55. ERP Solution: recognizes the best cloud platforms for collecting, storing, managing and interpreting data from many business activities. Can include but is not limited to finance, inventory management, HR functions, product planning, purchasing, manufacturing, and service delivery.
P56. Event Management Solution: recognizes the best solutions for managing the production and execution for events. Includes registration, payment processing, sponsor and attendee management, event marketing, reporting, event program, budgeting, etc.
P57. Financial & Market Data Solution: recognizes the Best Financial & Market Data Solutions designed for professionals in the financial and capital markets industries. Nominees may submit solutions that provide financial, market data and related information for market practitioners. Includes real-time data services, reference data solutions, or historical data, financial news services, market analysis & research, credit services, capital markets, commodities & energy, foreign exchange, fixed income and/or merger and acquisition information.
P58. Financial Management Solution: recognizes the best software solutions that automate business accounting and money management including accounts payable/receivable, general ledger, budgeting, resource allocation, reporting, etc.
P59. FinTech Solution: recognizes the best solutions to make financial services more efficient by demonstrating an incremental or radical/disruptive innovation development of applications, processes, products or business models in the financial services industry. This can include but is not limited to financing, insurance, investments, payments, advisory, security, etc.
P60. Governance, Risk & Compliance Solution: recognizes the best software solutions that provide a structured and systematic approach to ensure proper governance, manage risks and ensure compliance across an organization.
P61. Healthcare Technology Solution: recognizes the best solutions for improving care quality, patient safety, efficiency, medical information and/or data exchange to healthcare professionals or consumers.
P62. Human Capital or Talent Management Solution: recognizes the best solutions that automate any aspect of human resources management and talent acquisition, including HRIS, benefits administration, recruiting, payroll, and performance appraisal.
P63. Identity & Access Security Solution: recognizes the best solutions that enable the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times and for the right reasons.
P64. Industry Contact Relationship Management (CRM) Solution: Recognizes solutions that best help organizations manage, streamline and optimize every aspect of the sales cycle, from inquiries and orders to invoicing and payments, to ensure that sales representatives have access to tools and features that help them achieve their sales goals.
P65. Infrastructure as a Service: recognizes the best solutions for providing infrastructure as a service, including infrastructure, provisioning, security, reporting/controls, storage, and backup in a seamless, scalable, and flexible manner.
P66. Insurance Solution: recognizes the best solutions for managing any aspect of the insurance industry, from billing and policy operations to solutions for agents, underwriters, shoppers and insureds.
P67. Integration Platform (New for 2027): Recognizes platforms that connect applications, systems, data, and services to enable seamless information exchange, workflow automation, and interoperability across an organization’s technology environment.
P68. Knowledge Center/Help Site: recognizes the best all-in-one platforms that best provide support and self-service across channels, both for customers and/or employees. Entries can be enterprise help sites, knowledge centers, customer or employee support portals that contain both (structured and unstructured) product information, support information, specifications, documentation, training, customer community content, and other product-specific content.
P69. Knowledge Management & Enterprise Search Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes solutions that help organizations capture, organize, manage, search, and access institutional knowledge and information across systems, documents, and data sources.
P70. Lead Generation Solution: recognizes the best solutions that enable organizations to efficiently collect, manage, grade, distribute and respond to sales leads.
P71. Legal Solution: recognizes the best information-based solutions designed for the legal professional.
P72. Manufacturing Solution: recognizes the best solutions used in manufacturing. Nominated solutions may offer features including, among others, accounting integration, estimation, inventory management, work order flexibility, bill of materials replication, production stage management, packing slip generation, etc.
P73. Marketing/Public Relations Solution: recognizes the best solutions that enable companies to target, measure, and market products and services to reach consumers and customers online, on mobile devices, and even offline. Solutions can include (but are not limited to) marketing tactics such as SEO, SEM, social media, display advertising, native advertising, content marketing automation, marketing management, campaign management and deployment, and mobile marketing.
P74. Mobile Development Solution: recognizes the best tools or resources for designing, creating or testing mobile applications. Includes programming language, toolkits, diagnostic programs, IDE, applet and plug-in development tools, database development programs, etc.
P75. Mobile Operations Management Solution: recognizes the best solutions for managing the deployment and operations of products and services offered for the mobile use of B2B users or consumers.
P76. No Code/Low Code Platform: recognizes the best No Code/Low Code solutions that allow users to create applications with little knowledge of traditional programming languages, machine code or development work.
P77. Operations Management Solution: recognizes the best solutions for joining financial, contractual, licensing, and inventory functions to support the technology environment.
P78. Other: Recognizes the best business technology products and solutions that don’t fit into one of the many other categories listed here.
P79. Payments Solution: recognizes the best solutions for processing and/or facilitating payments.
P80. Platform as a Service: recognizes the best platforms as a service (PaaS) that increase the speed of development of applications, reduce cost of development, automate deployment, and provide flexibility and scalability. This includes enablement capabilities.
P81. Project Management Solution: recognizes the best business solutions that automate any aspect of managing project-based business activities. Includes estimation and planning, scheduling, cost control and budget management, resource allocation, collaboration, etc.
P82. Relationship Management Solution: recognizes the best software solutions designed to expand a company’s knowledge about, and relationship with, its current or potential customers and/or partners. Includes CRM, PRM, SFA, marketing automation, personalization products and services.
P83. Remote Working Solution: recognizes the best technology-based solutions that aid collaboration, communication, file sharing, and the process of managing, engaging, empowering, and problem-solving for teams working together over geographic distances.
P84. Service Management Solution: recognizes the best solutions that align the delivery of technology services with the needs of the business to deliver best services to employees and clients.
P85. Software Defined Infrastructure: recognizes the best solutions for creating technical computing infrastructure that is entirely under the control of software with no operator or human intervention. Technology operates independent of any hardware-specific dependencies and is programmatically extensible.
P86. Software Development Solution: recognizes the best tools or resources for designing, creating or testing software applications. Includes programming language, toolkits, diagnostic programs, IDE, applet and plug-in development tools, database development programs, etc.
P87. Subscription Billing Solution: recognizes the best solutions to help companies manage all aspects of the subscription lifecycle. Subscription management includes onboarding, assisted or unassisted subscription sales, pricing and packaging, recurring billing, auto-renewing, paywall management, invoicing, reporting, and financial management.
P88. Supply Chain Management Solution: recognizes the best solutions for coordination and collaboration with suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers, and customers in the movement and storage of materials and equipment; work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.
P89. Upskilling/Workforce Learning Solution: Recognizes the upskilling or workforce education solutions for organizations that best increase opportunities for aspiring or existing workers to grow their careers through education, mentoring, certifications and/or training.
P90. Work Management Platform: recognizes the best digital tools that allow users to plan, track, organize, and review both projects and non-project tasks to improve business results and team performance.
P91. Workforce Productivity Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes solutions that improve employee productivity, efficiency, collaboration, knowledge access, or execution through technology.
Education & Education Technology Categories
These categories recognize applications, products and services from developers of educational software, digital content, online learning services, and related technologies across the K-20 sector.
Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories in the 2027 competition include
1. Written answers to the following questions, describing the nominated product or service since January 1 2025, OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length that answers all of the same questions:
a. If this is a brand-new product, state the date on which the solution was released. If this is a new version of an existing product, state the date on which the update was released. Required
b. Describe the features, functions, and benefits of the nominated product or service (up to 2,000 characters). Required
c. Outline the market performance, critical reception, and customer satisfaction with the product or service to date. State monetary or unit sales figures to date, if possible, and how they compare to expectations or past performance. Provide links to laudatory product or service reviews. Include some customer testimonials, if applicable (up to 2,000 characters). Required
d. Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination. (up to 1,500 characters). Optional
2. Optional (but highly recommended), add to your entry up to 10 webpage links and up to 10 document uploads to support your case to the judges. These might be press articles, press releases, videos, or images, for example. These might be planning documents, press clippings, work samples, photographs, video clips, etc.
S01. Education - Administrative Solution: recognizes the best non-instructional business management applications or services that support education. Includes privacy tools, class/lecture capture solutions, network services, human resources/talent management, enterprise management, digital communication/security solutions, scheduling and registration services or student information systems.
S02. Education - AI-Powered Tutoring Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes the best AI-powered tutoring solutions that provide personalized instruction, guidance, feedback, or academic support to learners. Solutions may use artificial intelligence to adapt to individual learning needs, answer questions, explain concepts, identify knowledge gaps, recommend learning paths, or provide real-time coaching and feedback.
S03. Education - Arts & Creativity Solution: recognizes the best software solutions or digital tools designed for PK-12 or postsecondary learners. The solutions support educational goals within all media arts, music, theater, and visual arts areas, and help develop fine arts skills, knowledge, and creative practices that enhance learning practices for multiple content areas.
S04. Education - Career and Workforce Readiness Solution: recognizes the best software solutions or digital services that develop skills and knowledge needed in the 21st Century workforce. Includes applications that help close the gap between a learner’s current interest and skills and the needs and expectations in the workplace.
S05. Education - Classroom Management Solution: recognizes the best systems designed for PK-12 educators that provide any or all of the following: student information systems, data management and reporting tools, gradebooks, standards (including Common Core) alignment tools, packages that link data and resources to instruction, and other platform tools that take user content.
S06. Education - Coding & Computational Thinking Solution: Recognizes the best educational solutions or platforms that teach students coding and computational skills, logic, problem solving, computer science, and algorithmic thinking. Solutions may include programming language platforms, robotics and coding courses, not excluding hardware options or a blend of hardware and software. Solutions should allow students to think creatively, reason systematically, work collaboratively and share their creations with others.
S07. Education - Collaborative Social Media Solution for Educators: recognizes the best online systems designed to provide social learning, collaborative and community support for PK-12 or postsecondary education faculty and administration. Includes tools for communication, professional learning experiences, resource centers, collaboration and planning tools, and other interactive, social media solutions.
S08. Education - Cross-Curricular Solution: recognizes the best software tools for students, educators or administrators that can be used in multiple curriculum areas in the PK-12 or postsecondary market. Includes language literacy or productivity and creativity solutions that support instruction or management across different courses or subject areas, such as career planning, document creation, graphic design, problem solving or web development.
S09. Education - Education Cloud-based Solution: recognizes the best cloud-based solutions that are always available to educational users regardless of location, are multi-platform, and provide ubiquitous access to faculty, administration, and students. Provide all applications and files for anywhere, anytime availability with an Internet connection, using devices at home or at school, from desktops to laptops to tablets or smartphones.
S10. Education - Education Platform for PK-20: recognizes the best educational platforms or solutions for faculty, administration and students in grades PK-20. Provides all applications and files for anywhere, anytime availability, using any device at home or at school.
S11. Education - ELL/World Language Acquisition Instructional Solution: recognizes the best instructional solutions for English as a Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELL), and World Languages for students in the PK-12 or postsecondary market. Includes language learning curricula and content that can be managed classroom/course-based instruction or online supplemental instruction.
S12. Education - Emerging Technology Solution for Administrators: recognizes new and innovative technology solutions that are designed to solve administrative problems or improve operational efficiency and processes for schools or campuses. These new tools could support administrators in their education management or communication functions.
S13. Education - Evidence Management Solution: Recognizes the best software or digital services for the application of data analytics to improve PK-12 or higher education teaching, learning, retention, and/or growth strategies, and decision-making within an educational or training environment.
S14. Education - Formative Assessment Solution: Recognizes the best formative student assessment solutions that identify a student’s learning gaps and learning standard they have not yet achieved throughout a class or course, and assesses how to close those gaps to improve student achievement. This category is available for PK-12 or higher education solutions.
S15. Education - Game-based Curriculum Solution: recognizes the best curriculum solutions that use gaming elements as an integral component of a curriculum or assessment product. Designed for PK-12, postsecondary, or adult students to enable them to learn/apply concepts by using a compelling game environment that is academically and pedagogically sound.
S16. Education - Immersive Learning Solution (New for 2027): Recognizes the best educational solutions that use immersive technologies to create engaging, interactive learning experiences. Solutions may incorporate virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), simulations, virtual environments, or other immersive technologies to help learners explore concepts, practice skills, or participate in experiential learning.
S17. Education - Instructional Solution in Other Curriculum Areas: recognizes the best applications focusing on non-core curriculum areas for students in the PK-12 or postsecondary market. These areas include (but are not limited to) art, music, health, technology, engineering, computer science or business.
S18. Education - K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution: recognizes the best digital learning environment/systems designed for K-12 educators to manage curriculum-based content, student access and use, diagnostic and remediation programs, data management and reporting tools. Enables the teacher to register, access, and build course materials, communicate with students, and acquire content, developed by students, colleagues or a provider. Includes course and content-based learning management systems used by students.
S19. Education - K-12 Enterprise Solution: recognizes the best non-instructional, business management applications or services that support education enterprises in the PK-12 market, including transportation, human resources, talent management, security, food services, digital communication/security solutions, scheduling and registration services, data mining, data analysis, student information systems, network services, special ed funding tracking, IEP tracking, etc. These solutions, delivered by the Internet or a network, will also best enable data exchange, processing, and reporting.
S20. Education - Mathematics Instructional Solution: recognizes the best instructional products that offer mathematics curriculum and content for students in the PK-12 or postsecondary market. Includes managed classroom/course-based instruction or online supplemental instruction for students so they can learn and apply mathematics concepts and methods. Provides for deep learning experiences for students, supports standards alignment, and reflects current curriculum practice.
S21. Education - Parent Engagement Platform (New for 2027): Recognizes the best platforms or solutions that help educational institutions strengthen communication and engagement with parents, guardians, and families. Solutions may provide tools for school-to-home communications, academic progress updates, attendance and scheduling, messaging, resource sharing, family participation, or other services that help families stay informed and involved in a student’s education.
S22. Education - PK-12 Personalized Learning Solution: recognizes the best education solutions that are specifically developed to personalize learning for PK-12 students. The solution must provide for adaptive, anytime/anywhere learning, competency-based progression, and/or student-driven learning paths and support seamless integration with other content, assessment, or data systems.
S23. Education - Postsecondary Enterprise Solution: recognizes the best non-instructional business management applications or services that support postsecondary education enterprises. Included are class/lecture capture solutions, network services, human resources/talent management, digital communication/security solutions, scheduling and registration services, data mining, data analysis or student information systems.
S24. Education - Postsecondary Learning Management Solution: recognizes the best teaching and learning platforms designed for postsecondary faculty to manage curriculum-based content, student access, and use, diagnostic and remediation programs, data management and reporting tools. Includes enterprise e-Learning platform or course and content-based learning management systems used by students.
S25. Education - Postsecondary Learning Solution: recognizes the best broad-based, multi-disciplinary teaching solutions for curricula and content that are specifically targeted toward students in college (graduate and undergraduate) and trade/professional school learning environments. Includes solutions that deliver blended or custom-crafted materials, digitally on a number of devices. Helps students navigate their digital/ebooks and reference content in a format that fits the way they learn with interactive media, collaboration tools, and course content.
S26. Education - Postsecondary Personalized Learning Solution: recognizes the best education solutions that are specifically developed to personalize learning for postsecondary students. The solution must provide for adaptive, anytime/anywhere learning, competency-based progression, and/or student-driven learning paths and support seamless integration with other content, assessment, or data systems.
S27. Education - PreK / Early Childhood Learning Solution: recognizes the best digital products providing or supporting learning for children ages 3-5. Includes applications designed for tablets and/or desktop computers, in areas such as literacy and numeracy content, assessment and reporting, for use at home or in early childhood development settings.
S28. Education - Professional Development Solution: recognizes the best solutions that support the efforts of educational organizations (K12, Higher Education, Regional Agencies, State Ed Tech Departments, etc.) to deliver, track and manage employee, faculty and staff training on topics ranging from compliance, to reskilling/upskilling, working with the public (parents, community, students), to safety and/or trauma informed practices and training content.
S29. Education - Professional Learning Solution for Education: recognizes the best educational applications or services designed to support PK-12 or postsecondary education institutions in the development of faculty and administrative staff. Includes professional development programs, learning management systems, and content development, with video-based delivery and packaging tools.
S30. Education - Reading/English/Language Arts Instructional Solution: recognizes the best reading/English/language arts instructional solutions.
S31. Education - Research and Development Database Solution: Recognizes the best research and development database solutions that allow users to quickly reference materials, content, resources, links, and other researched information or disaggregated media assets for educational purposes in the PK-12 or higher education markets. This service can include content such as curated collections of encyclopedias, maps, databases and primary source materials, resources, lesson plans, etc.
S32. Education - Science Instructional Solution: recognizes the best instructional solutions for science and health curricula and content for students in the PK-12 or postsecondary market. Includes managed classroom/course-based instruction or online supplemental instruction for individuals. Provides for deep learning experiences for students, supports standards alignment and reflects current curriculum practice.
S33. Education - Solution for Special Needs Students: recognizes the best applications specifically designed to benefit students with unique educational needs, including those with physical or learning disabilities, those on the autism spectrum or those who are gifted and talented in the PK-12 or postsecondary market.
S34. Education - Source for Reference or Education Resources: recognizes the services that best package reference, original source materials, library or research information, or disaggregated media assets for educational purposes in the PK-12 and/or postsecondary markets. This service can include content such as encyclopedias, maps, databases, and source material.
S35. Education - STEM Instructional Solution for Grades K - 12: Recognizes the best instructional solutions for science, technology, engineering and math curricula and content for students in the K-12 market. Provides for deep and personalized learning experiences for students, supports standards alignment and reflects current curriculum practice.
S36. Education - Use of Artificial Intelligence in EdTech: recognizes the best artificial intelligence, machine or deep learning solutions, platforms or products that improve learning outcomes and implements solutions that help students succeed.
S37. Education - Virtual Learning Solution: recognizes the educational solutions that best deliver course support, full courses, or degree programs online, in either subscription-based or massive, open environments. Can be designed for tutoring, self-paced digital instruction, home-schooling, advance placement course work, credit recovery, instructional support, personalized learning environments, or college credit and targets the PK-12 or postsecondary market.