Your award entry will be evaluated in four distinct areas: The description of the application/product/service; its level of innovation; the complexity/difficulty; and the impact it has provided. Your entry will be evaluated using the information which you provide. Please ensure that the information clearly explains the project from a technological perspective, its scope and impact. Volume is not as important as clarity and substance. The space allotted on the form indicates relative importance of each category. Ensure that you have included appropriate details.
Please note that the Independent Judges are not from the Upstate of South Carolina. Details which may be considered to be public knowledge in your local community should be included for perspective.
Tips to help you complete your application and supporting documentation concisely and effectively are noted below.
Description: Describe the application or product/service. Define what the objectives were for this application/product/service. Clarity of the descriptions is key.
Innovation: Explain how your application/product/service was new, unique, or employed an original approach. Explain how your application/product/service applied existing technology in a different, innovative way.
Complexity/Difficulty: The complexity or difficulty of your use of technology is an important criterion. Be sure to include: an explanation of the type of technology used, uniqueness of application, complexity or difficulty of application, and any extraordinary circumstances which you may have encountered or dealt with.
Results/Impact: The results or impact of your project are very important. Please describe, in detail, the tangible and measurable benefits attained through the application/product/service which you have developed. Describe the scope and significance of these benefits. Be sure to include information on the breadth of the audience impacted (local community, regional, national, worldwide) and the longevity of the impact (short-term; long-term). Do not rely on attachments or marketing materials when completing each section. Describe appropriate information on the application itself. Specific details upon which you wished to be judged should be included in the appropriate category of the application.
You should be aware that although additional materials can be provided as back up information, they might not be referenced by each of the judges. Ensure that your application includes complete technical details. If a technical person does not complete the application, we strongly suggest that you have a technical person review it and add appropriate details prior to submission. Judges are evaluating these applications from a technical perspective to recognize and award innovation. It is imperative that they understand the nature of the technology, its uniqueness and impact. Be sure you concentrate on this perspective. The following criteria will be evaluated by each judge:
- Level of innovation of contribution/achievement
- Clarity of the technological description
- Complexity/Difficulty of the contribution/achievement
- Results/Impact of the contribution/achievement: tangible benefits attained; significance; scope; and longevity.
Three past entry submissions that provide an example of the types of information that is valuable to the the judges are available on the Award Application page.
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