Announcing the winners of the GIG Awards 2021!!

 

Each year the Government Information Group presents two awards to recognise significant contributions to government Knowledge and Information Management. 

The GIG Annual Award is granted to mark a major contribution to government knowledge and information management during the previous year - this could be a technological or system development; development of a policy or procedure; a working practice; examples of good collaboration and knowledge sharing; work on a committee; a publication (in whatever format) and so on. To qualify for the Award the nominated piece of work must relate to government information and have been developed for use within a single department or Agency or be something that relates to government information, but has a wider application i.e. a concept which could usefully be introduced elsewhere.

The second award is the GIG Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given in recognition of a major contribution to government knowledge and information management over a sustained period. 

 

The 2021 Awards

 

The Judging Panel, made up of members of the GIG Committee, were impressed yet again at the incredibly high standard of entries received this year - all were great examples of the diversity and importance of the work undertaken by those working in the KIM profession in government. Over the coming days we will be featuring each of the GIG Award winners on the GIG Blog with more detail on the work they were nominated for.

And now to announce the very deserving winners!!

Image source: Pixabay

2021 Life-time Achievement Award

The GIG Committee is delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Life-time Achievement Award is Simon Marsh, who was Deputy Director of Information Management at the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office until his retirement earlier this year. The nomination for Simon was packed with evidence of his contribution to the KIM profession over a long and distinguished career which left the Judging Panel rather in awe of his achievements. Congratulations Simon!

 

2021 Annual Award

With the Annual Award the Judging Panel were faced with a much more difficult decision. The standard of entries was very high with two nominations standing out as worthy winners and so it was decided that this year the GIG Annual Award would be presented jointly to two very different, but equally deserving, teams. They are:

 

Government KIM bite-sized sessions

 

Since the start of the Covid pandemic Claire Jurczuk (DFE), Matthew Tanton (TNA), Shona Love (TNA), Nicki Welch (TNA) and Balint Csollein (TNA) have been instrumental in delivering a series of Government Knowledge and Information Management bite-sized sessions that the GKIM profession had developed on a wide range of KIM-related topics. During a difficult year, the initiative was excellent for keeping the GKIM community connected and the webinars were well-received as evidenced by the high numbers attending.

Going forward as we move to a more ‘normal’ working world, the bitesize webinar model will definitely continue and be a positive impact on Government information organisations. You can find out more about the programme in an upcoming post on the GIG blog. In the meantime, many congratulations to Claire, Matthew and Shona on a highly valued programme!

 

Legislation Services and Web Archiving Teams at The National Archives

 

This team from the TNA were nominated for their work in tackling the twin legislation challenges of EU Exit and the pandemic. It is not hard to imagine the sort of pressure that Clare Allison, Jack Eaglesfield, Richard Hodgson, Tom Storrar, Catherine Tabone, Claire Harvey and Judith Riley have had to face over the past 12-18 months. The nomination outlined the extent to which they and their colleagues stepped up to respond to new needs, both in the context of the Pandemic but also for EU Exit. The patterns of usage in www.legislation.gov.uk<http://www.legislation.gov.uk> changed enormously during the Pandemic and the teams’ response to those challenges was incredible. Legislation.gov.uk clearly filled a vital information role during very difficult and turbulent times, helping government officials, health and local government staff, and members of the general public access up to date information about COVID legislation. Congratulations on an incredible achievement!

 

 

This year’s Awards will be presented at GIG’s ‘virtual’ AGM on 17th November, 1400 - 1600. We hope lots of you will be able to join us for the occasion. There will also be an opportunity to hear from the UK Knowledge & Learning team at the National Lottery Community Fund who will be talking about their work on developing the 'Triple A’ model of knowledge management for which they won the GIG Award in 2020.

 

The GIG Annual Awards are an ideal opportunity to achieve wider recognition for the work that you do and can help raise the profile of you, your team and your organisation. So, why not start thinking now about submitting a nomination for 2022?  However big or small the piece of work may be they are all testament to innovation, hard work, professionalism and commitment - and the value of KIM skills.

 

 

Karen George

GIG Vice Chair & Chair of Judging Panel