The National Project Awards recognise and honour individuals, project teams and organisations that have excelled within the project management discipline with submissions up 38% on last year.

Commenting on the calibre of projects submitted, Pat Lucey, President of the Ireland Chapter of PMI, said:

“We were hugely impressed with how project teams nationwide have embraced new tools available to them.

"These ranged from digitising previously paper-based processes to creating new client portals, as well as adapting to how the Internet of Things will change customer behaviour.

The successful outcomes of the shortlisted projects are testament to the disruptive impact of combining world-class project management skills with innovative technologies.

Féilim Harvey, Partner in PwC heading up their Portfolio and Programme Management Practice in Ireland, added:

“While the projects themselves were varied, a clear theme of excellence in project delivery was evident in all submissions. The project team and leads all clearly shared the same commitment to project management best practice and demonstrated the significant value of using these approaches in achieving their respective project outcomes.

“I have been truly impressed by the calibre of the submissions this year which are at the pinnacle of project excellence and a testament to what can be achieved by project management leaders. We look forward to welcoming the finalists in November to celebrate their project delivery successes at PwC.”

The 2018 shortlist is as follows:

Project Professional of the Year (sponsored by PwC)

• Mike Byrne, Laya Healthcare
• Declan Rundle, AIB
• Gary Stack, Stryker Ireland

PMO of the Year (sponsored by Datalex)

• Fáilte Ireland
• IT Services, ESB
• Stryker Ireland

Public Sector Project of the Year (sponsored by IPA)

• Customer Engagement Strategy, Revenue Commissioners
• National Childcare Information System (NCCIS), Tusla
• The National Disinfection Project, Irish Water

Private Sector Project of the Year (sponsored by Aspira)

• Mortgage Customer Experience, AIB
• Project Oath Demand Side Platform (TITAN), Oath
• The GDPR Programme, AIB

Social Good - Community (sponsored by the Ireland Chapter of PMI)

• ‘Time to Move On’ Project, St Joseph’s House
• Tour de Munster Charity Cycle
• Motor Neurone Disease Awareness, Walk While You Can

Social Good - Corporate (sponsored by AIB)

• Brighter Communities Worldwide, Aspira
• Charity of the Year, Cork Airport
• ‘It’s About People’ CSR, Technically Write IT

The National Project Awards also recognise the Distinguished Contribution to Project Management, sponsored by CORA Systems, which will be announced on the night.

Mr Lucey added:

The value of project management is evident across projects in the public sector, the private sector and voluntary/community bodies. There is no organisation, no matter how big or small, that cannot benefit from adoption of good project management.

The independent judging panel for the awards comprises of nine leading experts from public and private sectors.

The independent verifier for the judging process is Matheson, one of Ireland’s leading law firms.