The overall winner will receive a total prize package of approximately $200k, made up of $100k cash, 12 months of mentoring from Cisco and a 12- month support package covering PR, marketing and legal services.

Runners-up and semi-finalists will also receive cash and technology prizes to support and accelerate the development of their brands and businesses.

The BIG Awards is the latest development in Cisco’s British Innovation Gateway (BIG) initiative, a significant five-year investment of cash, technology and human resources, which aims to develop Britain’s innovation eco-system and create an environment in which start-up digital businesses and their ideas can flourish.  

The Awards are held in partnership with JP Morgan, Bird & Bird  and Octopus Group  will take place annually throughout the five year duration to help create a community of innovative industry leaders.

The current competition will run from until September 2012 and involves a four stage judging process.  The final of the Awards will take place at a special event on 12 September 2012, where the six finalists will present their business plans live to a judging panel before the winner is chosen.

Open to individuals, groups of individuals and legal entities in the UK, applicants can enter their technology concept or prototype idea into one of five categories which represent some of the most relevant technology challenges and mega trends we are seeing across the globe today.

For each category, the entry should showcase how the concept can benefit the public and private sector, utilising the network as the platform to deliver economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Categories are:

• BIG Data inc. Datacentre/Virtualisation
• Collaboration inc. Video and Social Media
• Future Cities
• Internet of Things
• Mobility

For more information on each category and competition entry requirements, visit the BIG Awards