'Dubai-It' Award Opens Nominations: What to Know

The Dubai-it Award is accepting nominations for its next cycle. The annual recognition is open to individuals, projects, companies, organizations, and other entities that demonstrate Dubai's working style: turning ambitious ideas into tangible results with excellence and speed.

The award was launched under the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai. It sits within the broader Dubai-it initiative created by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The initiative's stated philosophy:

we say what we do, and we do what we say.

Nominations open August 10 and close September 10, 2026. The award is annual, and each cycle follows a set rhythm: September to May for the active cycle, June through August for receiving and evaluating nominations for the next edition. That structure is meant to identify, document, and celebrate achievements across Dubai on a continuous basis.

Submissions are accepted in ten fields: Government, Real Estate, Economy, Business, Technology, Sports, Society, Education, Services, and Health. Recognition is organized in three core segments: Individuals, Projects, and Institutions and Companies. Individuals may nominate themselves or be nominated by their companies or organizations. Companies and organizations can also submit themselves, their projects, teams, or individuals through www.dubai-it.ae.

For this first edition, achievements from the past four years are eligible. From the second edition onward, the window narrows to the previous 24 months of each cycle.

Nominations must be filed through the award's digital platform. Each entry must include achievement details, objectives, the relevant field, and the nominee's role. Applicants are also asked to lay out the challenge or opportunity, their objectives, implementation process, results, and impact. Supporting evidence can include performance indicators, figures, reports, photographs, media materials, certificates, and other documents. The award team reviews the material, verifies information and evidence, and may request additional documents or conduct interviews with nominees or related parties.

Judging follows the Dubai-it philosophy of achieving something extraordinary with excellence and speed. Among the considerations: exceptional achievement, excellence in execution, speed and efficiency of delivery, embodying Dubai's philosophy of work, turning vision into tangible results, exceptional impact, sustainability and growth potential, and clarity of the model with the power to inspire.

The effect is to make the award a permanent feedback loop. Because anyone can nominate and submissions must document measurable results, the process turns Sheikh Mohammed's slogan into an operational checklist. It is less about selecting winners than about establishing a public standard for how swiftly and cleanly work in Dubai gets done.