AWARD CRITERIA
break at the Meet the Innovator's Forum
To be considered for a 2013 Edison Award, your innovative product or service must have been launched between July 1, 2011 and February 28, 2013. If your product or service has not yet been launched and is still in development, please feel free to submit a nomination once you have reached production level.
All completed nominations will be reviewed by the members of the Edison Awards Steering Committee as well as an ad hoc panel of professionals who are recognized experts in their fields, aligning with our award categories. Upon conclusion of this primary review process, a ballot of Finalists is prepared, which is then sent to a Panel of Judges who decide the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners within each category. Winners are announced at the Annual Awards Gala.
2013 Edison Awards Calendar
| September 1, 2012 - December 7, 2012 | Open Call for Nominations | December 7, 2012 | Nominations Deadline | December 8, 2012 - January 31, 2013 | Review of Nominations / Selection of Finalists | Early February, 2013 | Finalists are Announced | February 1, 2013 - February 28, 2013 | Judging | April 25, 2013 | Annual Edison Awards Gala / Announcement of Winners |
Evaluation Criteria
Building on the heritage of Thomas Edison and the 26-year history of the Edison Awards, we introduced new evaluation criteria which will ensure that all companies, regardless of industry, domain or innovation type can clearly communicate, affirm and support their nomination.
These new evaluation criteria were established to be more relevant, more comprehensive, better aligned with the ever-evolving definition of "innovation," more transparent for nominees AND more clearly defined for our voting bodies. All entries will be judged on the following Edison Award criteria:
- CONCEPT: opportunity, conception, method & development
In the true spirit of Thomas Edison, we are looking for innovations that not only address a need and solve a problem but also seize an opportunity and create a new market or industry. And true to Edison's work, we are interested in the overall method and development of the concept and opportunity. We would like to understand how discovery, collaboration, iteration, prototyping, etc. contributed to the conception and development of the innovation as it progressed from genesis to design and implementation.
- VALUE: need/desire, differentiation, advantage & cost
For Edison, value was a primary driver for his innovations. We would like to understand how the innovation satisfies an existing need or desire. We are seeking evidence for how the offering is different and whether it has distinct, game changing advantages over any alternatives. We also want to evaluate its unique value proposition, the relationship between its cost and benefits and its economic desirability
- DELIVERY: message, engagement, availability, achievement
Edison was not only an accomplished innovator but also a great communicator, marketer and master of delivery. We would like to understand how the message and broader story of the innovation is communicated in clear and compelling ways. We are looking for interesting examples of how consumers have been engaged and how the offering has been delivered and made available to the marketplace.. Finally, we are interested in how the value proposition of the offering is being achieved, fulfilled and validated in the marketplace.
- IMPACT: sustainability, social responsibility & potential
Edison devoutly believed that real innovation not only demonstrated commercial success but also sustained sensitivity to broader implications. We would like to understand the immediate and longer term impact the innovation has on the environment and society as a whole. We are also interested in how the offering may establish a vision or be the basis of a larger system or platform of innovations and how it might be an inspiration to future innovation and innovators.
