The IAPCO Innovation Award recognises and celebrates those at the forefront of innovation, helping to raise the standards of professionalism across the global meetings industry. It serves as a platform to showcase the work of trailblazers and encourages continued innovation across the events sector.
Finding creative solutions to overcome the frequent challenges encountered when organising international congresses is part of the everyday work of Professional Congress Organisers. The Innovation Award recognises those who demonstrate initiative, creativity and forward thinking in developing innovative solutions that transform these challenges into opportunities.
Have you come across someone who has revolutionised the way events are organised? Someone who has introduced groundbreaking ideas, technologies or strategies that have significantly enhanced the event experience? Now is your chance to honour their remarkable contributions by nominating them for the IAPCO Driving Excellence Innovation Award.
Nominations for the IAPCO Innovation Award 2026 are now closed. The winner was announced on 20 May 2026 at the Gala Evening during IMEX Frankfurt.
Criteria/ Rules of Entry
Current Winner
Mohamed Sherif, General Manager, ICOM DMC, ICOM Group
The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) has announced Mohamed Sherif, General Manager at ICOM DMC, a subsidiary of ICOM Group, as the winner of the IAPCO Driving Excellence Innovation Award 2026 for his leadership in transforming delegate transportation at CardioAlex 2025 through a data-driven smart mobility solution.
Supported by IMEX, the award recognises individuals and teams who challenge conventional approaches and take action to deliver meaningful innovation across the global meetings industry.
The award was presented by Sissi Lignou, IAPCO President, during the prestigious IMEX Gala Dinner in Frankfurt last night, celebrating Sherif’s role in spearheading the development of the CardioAlex Smart Shuttle System — a proprietary transport solution designed to optimise delegate movement between hotels and venues during one of the Middle East and Africa’s largest cardiovascular conferences.
Held annually at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, CardioAlex 2025 welcomed more than 6,200 cardiology professionals across three intensive days of scientific sessions, live cases, workshops and international faculty exchange.
For several years, delegate transportation had presented a significant operational and sustainability challenge. Traditional transport models relied on assigned dedicated buses to fixed hotel allocations and estimated demand forecasting, often resulting in idle vehicles, overlapping routes, unnecessary fuel consumption and a growing carbon footprint.
Under Sherif’s leadership, ICOM Group formed a cross-functional task force spanning web development, ground logistics and operations to redesign the system using real-time data, dynamic routing and integrated fleet management.
The resulting CardioAlex Smart Shuttle System was built around a round-robin rotation model, replacing static hotel allocations with a smaller, continuously circulating fleet operating across multiple hotel pick-up points and the conference venue at scheduled intervals.
The system integrated three operational layers: a delegate-facing rider application using GPS-enabled nearest pick-up identification and real-time estimated arrival times; a driver application to guide dynamic route sequencing and live vehicle management; and a centralised operations dashboard that enabled live bus tracking, passenger load visibility and rapid operational intervention where needed.
The operational impact was immediate and measurable. In 2025, CardioAlex served its largest hotel footprint to date, spanning 18 hotels and 1,600 rooms, while reducing total vehicle deployments to 47 buses across the three-day conference. This represented a 47.8 per cent reduction in fleet size compared to 2023 and a 44 per cent reduction compared to 2024, without compromising delegate experience or service standards.
The reduced fleet model delivered measurable environmental and operational benefits, including lower fuel consumption, reduced emissions and significant cost savings across vehicle hire, fuel and driver logistics, enabling resources to be redirected towards scientific programming and the delegate experience.
In presenting the award, Sissi Lignou said Sherif and ICOM Group demonstrated the kind of practical, future-focused innovation that continues to raise standards across the profession.
“Sherif’s work is a powerful example of innovation in action. Operational excellence, sustainability and delegate experience should not be viewed as competing priorities, but as interconnected outcomes,” said Lignou.
“By turning a complex, recurring logistics challenge into a smart, scalable solution, Sherif and the ICOM Group team have demonstrated how intelligent operational design can unlock better outcomes for conferences, communities and the environment. This is exactly the kind of leadership IAPCO is proud to recognise.”
Sherif brings 19 years of expertise in international congress management and operational strategy. As Operations Director at ICOM Group, he has built a reputation for driving innovation-led operational models and cross-functional collaboration across large-scale and complex conferences.
ICOM Group is a leading Professional Conference Organiser based in Egypt, with more than 28 years of expertise in managing large-scale medical and scientific conferences across the Middle East and Africa. A trusted steward of CardioAlex since its inception, ICOM Group combines operational precision with a commitment to innovation, sustainability and world-class delegate experience.
Previous Winners
2024 (awarded in 2025)
Nuria Fernández Roldán, Online Education Specialist at Kenes Group
Nuria Fernández Roldán, Online Education Specialist at Kenes Group was announced the winner of the IAPCO Innovation Award 2025 at the prestigious IMEX Frankfurt Gala Dinner on 21st May 2025, for her visionary work in transforming medical education through artificial intelligence.
IAPCO President Sissi Lignou presented the 11th annual IAPCO Innovation Award – which is supported by IMEX and recognises those who push the boundaries of what is possible and then take action to bring meaningful change.
This year’s award-winning project, AI-Powered Simulation Training: Mastering Sensitive Discussions on Weight Management, is a breakthrough online course hosted on UNLOK Education, Kenes Group’s digital learning platform.
This short course is designed to help healthcare professionals navigate emotionally sensitive conversations with patients living with chronic conditions like Type 2 Diabetes. This fully digital, self-paced course blends emotionally engaging actor-led simulations with real-time emotional recognition AI.
Nuria Fernández Roldán said that by analysing facial expressions, tone of voice, and engagement levels, the course which is only 15 minutes long, provides personalised feedback on verbal and non-verbal communication, empowering healthcare professionals to navigate complex conversations with greater sensitivity.
“We saw the potential to use emotional recognition AI to help healthcare professionals handle conversations with their patients more sensitively and without judgement.
“This technology provides an opportunity for self-reflection and growth in a way that traditional training does not,” said Fernández Roldán.
Launched at the Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) 2024 Congress, the course has already trained over 300 medical professionals worldwide, with participants praising its innovation and human-centric approach.
Kenes Group continues to lead the way in integrating AI into professional healthcare training with plans to expand into more patient and clinical scenarios.
In presenting the award, Sissi Lignou said Fernández Roldán and Kenes Group are a great example of working to raise the standards of professionalism across the meetings industry, which is the mission of IAPCO.
“This innovation truly represents the best of what our industry can achieve when we lead with compassion, creativity, and purpose,” said Lignou.
2023 (awarded in 2024)
Claire Smith, Director of Sales and Marketing at Conference Partners International (CPI)
Claire Smyth, Director of Sales and Marketing at Conference Partners International (CPI) was announced the winner of the coveted 2024 IAPCO Innovation Award, supported by IMEX.
The IAPCO award, part of IAPCO’s Driving Excellence Awards Programme was presented at the IMEX Frankfurt Gala Dinner on Wednesday, 15th May by Sissi Lignou, IAPCO President-Elect and President and CEO of AFEA Congress. The Innovation Award recognises and celebrates those at the forefront of innovation, raising the standards of professionalism within the meetings industry.
Claire’s winning entry addressed the challenge faced by One Young World, a forum for young leaders when they brought their 2023 Summit to Belfast, Northern Ireland. Part of the motivation for choosing Belfast was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a pivotal moment in the region’s peace process. Claire impressed the judging panel with her creative and impactful approach to connecting the 2023 One Young World Summit with the city of Belfast.
Under Claire’s leadership, CPI engaged both exhibitors and local street artists to create bespoke artwork that formed a connection between the Summit, commercial exhibitors and the local community. Every exhibitor hung a unique piece of artwork, each identifying a key theme around modern Belfast and the role of peace and reconciliation. Additionally, CPI organised a Community Dine Around, allowing delegates to experience firsthand the impact of peace on local communities affected by the Troubles.
The innovative initiatives led by Claire resulted in multiple positive outcomes, including increased engagement between delegates and exhibitors, a deeper connection to Belfast City and meaningful participation from local artists and communities.
“Winning the IAPCO Innovation Award is a significant honour and privilege for me,” said Claire Smyth. “It signifies CPI’s dedication to pushing boundaries and fostering creativity. Being acknowledged for an innovation that emanates from the heart is truly rewarding. This award is a testament to the hard work and commitment of every member of the CPI team, who continuously drive such innovations forward.”
Nicola McGrane, CEO of Conference Partners International, commended Claire’s achievement, stating, “Claire’s innovative solution exemplifies our passion for delivering events that create lasting value. This recognition has not only validated our relentless pursuit of excellence and boosted our reputation in the industry but has also energised our team, sparking creativity and fostering a culture of innovation to propel us to new heights of success. We are immensely grateful for this honour and remain inspired to continue revolutionising our industry with cutting-edge solutions that make a lasting difference.”
IAPCO President-Elect, Sissi Lignou praising Claire on her win commented, “We’re delighted to recognise Claire’s outstanding achievement. Her creativity showcases the power of collaborative problem-solving within the meetings industry and the special care provided to our clients by IAPCO PCOs.”
As the 2024 Innovation Award winner, Claire will receive a complimentary registration to attend IAPCO’s 2025 Annual Meeting in Taipei, Taiwan. Her innovative solution to events management will also be featured in the upcoming edition of IAPCO’s ‘The PCO’ magazine, inspiring meeting professionals worldwide.
2022 (awarded in 2023)
Audrey Alloul, Chief Digital Officer, Kenes Group
Kenes Group, a leading global meetings and events organiser, is announced as the winner of the 2022 IAPCO Innovation Award for its Unlok Education platform at a gala Awards evening on Wednesday, 24th May at the IMEX 2023.
The Innovation Award judges picked Unlok Education as the most innovative new product or service in the meetings and events industry in 2022 from the nominations submitted.
Audrey Alloul is the current Chief Digital Officer, in charge of the recently created Digital Department at Kenes and, subsequently, the development of Unlok – the visionary online educational platform for healthcare professionals . Audrey has been part of Kenes for over 17 years holding several leadership positions.
Unlok Education is an AI-powered video library that integrates several technologies into an easy-to-navigate, cross-specialities learning space. The platform allows healthcare professionals to access Continuing Medical Education (CME) – accredited content from Kenes’ Original Events, the Global Education of Medicine and Science – GEMS Association, and other leading medical organizations.
Unlok Education was created in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation or postponement of many in-person medical congresses. Kenes Group was committed to enabling a platform for medical collaboration and advancement no matter what, and Unlok Education is the result of that commitment.
Unlok Education uses algorithm-based matching systems and artificial intelligence to facilitate the knowledge exchange between users themselves and between users and speakers. It automatically generates captions and translations to 120 different languages, identifies highlights of keynotes in the speakers’ speech, and accurately recommends similar content to create personalized CME-accredited learning programs based on users’ searches.
Unlok Education is currently available in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Chinese. The platform will be translated into additional languages in the coming months.
The IAPCO Innovation Award winner received the prestigious trophy as well as a complimentary registration and speaker’s slot to attend the IAPCO Annual Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2024.
“This award represents both the recognition of 1.5 years of the Digital Team working hard to materialize a vision that is only possible thanks to our six decades of expertise and knowledge about the continuous learning journey of healthcare professionals and the momentum of our Unlok Education space – designed to be a turning point in the field of continuous medical education. We understand the great value that the IAPCO Driving Excellence Awards hold within the associative sector and it is an honour for me to receive the Innovation Award on behalf of Kenes Group and everyone involved in the Unlok Education project. Without a doubt, this accolade has already awakened significant interest in Unlok Education and I am very much looking forward to further sharing insights about it in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at the next IAPCO Annual Meeting.”
2021 (awarded in 2022)
Ms Hyojung Ok, EZpmp, South Korea
For Ms Hyojung Ok’s use of innovative digital technology to deliver a flawless carbon-neutral event to a virtual audience at the P4G Summit in Korea in 2021.
Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G), the first multilateral environmental event to be hosted by the Korean government, the virtual summit brought together government representatives and international organisations to focus on the theme of ‘Inclusive Green Recovery Towards Carbon Neutrality’.
The summit was delivered virtually using 5G wireless technology and in the spirit of inclusivity, innovation, and sustainability, used real-time augmented reality to provide delegates with an immersive experience while showcasing Korea’s culture and natural habitat.
2020 (awarded in 2021)
Jakel Lin with the GIS Group
Created a successful hybrid experience that will become a benchmark for hybrid congresses in the future. The perfect use of technology – including holograms – combined with a well-designed programme created the perfect engagement experience for both in-person and virtual audiences.