Award Announcement

Leipzig – October 29, 2026 -- Six ARD broadcasters will cover gross production costs of up to €300,000 for "Die unglaubliche Geschichte des Moorhuhns" (The Incredible Story of the Moorhuhn), the winner of the 15th ARD TopDocs Competition. Leipzig-based Hoferichter & Jacobs GmbH, represented by Ariane Riecker and Olaf Jacobs, won the pitch for the 90-minute documentary.

Jury picked the winner from 52 submissions and three finalists

A jury of programme editors from the participating ARD media houses and the ARD Mediathek, chaired by ARD Editor-in-Chief Oliver Köhr, shortlisted three projects out of 52 entries. The finalists presented their concepts at a pitch in Leipzig on October 28, 2026. The call sought stories of people who risked everything for big goals, for release on Das Erste or in the ARD Mediathek.

XIAMEN – October 29, 2026 -- Winners of Yeastar's Yeahs Awards 2026 report measurable gains from the vendor's API-driven UC platforms, including a 91% cut in quality-assurance effort and an eightfold cloud expansion at a French hosting partner.

Hosting partners shorten migrations and automate inquiries

Rezzo Telecom (France) expanded its cloud footprint eightfold after migrating from Vodia to Yeastar. Vela Networks (UK) built tools that cut UC migrations from days to minutes, automating data mapping and configuration transfer across four platforms.

Telex S.r.l. (Italy) combined voice, messaging, workflows and AI in its Konversa product. It uses Gemini and OpenAI models to automate up to 70% of first-level inquiries.

BENGALURU – October 29, 2026 -- Qorus and Infosys Finacle named 37 financial institutions as winners of the 13th Banking Innovation Awards, selected from 538 projects submitted by 206 institutions in 68 countries.

Winners selected across ten categories by peer vote and 81-member jury

The awards span ten categories: Business Model Innovation, Product and Service Innovation, Business Banking Innovation, Predictive, AI-led Value Creation, Operational Transformation and Customer Experience Innovation. They also cover Social, Sustainable & Responsible Banking Innovation, Modern Tech Innovation of the Year, Neobank and Fintech Innovation, and Transformative Innovator of the Year.

Selection combined voting by a community of industry peers with evaluation by a jury of 81 senior global banking executives.

Las Vegas – October 29, 2026 -- Guidewire (NYSE: GWRE) named Beazley, Definity and RCIS winners of its 2026 Innovation Awards at its Connections conference. The wins include Beazley's consolidation of more than 200 marketable products and Definity's first production agentic AI tool for claims intake.

Beazley consolidates 200-plus products on a Guidewire Cloud platform

Lloyd's syndicate and global specialty insurer Beazley implemented Guidewire PolicyCenter and BillingCenter with Capgemini. The European solution was delivered in approximately eight months.

The program rationalized more than 200 marketable products into a condensed, streamlined set, which cut complexity and improved speed to market. Capgemini's AI-enabled delivery model and Guidewire's Advanced Product Designer (APD) established a repeatable "Product Factory" approach for rapid development.

ATLANTA – October 29, 2026 -- Riskonnect, a risk management software provider with more than 2,700 customers across six continents, has named the winners of its 2026 Konnect Awards, honoring customers across multiple industries for how they manage risk.

Awards span four categories tied to Riskonnect's core values

Winners were recognized in four categories: Pioneer, Focus, Spark and Community. Pioneer covers customers that explore new ways to deliver value. Focus covers those pursuing continuous improvement. Spark covers those that energize and inspire others. Community covers those that collaborate and share their talents. Riskonnect also honored additional organizations as new members of its customer community.

The honorees include both longtime partners and organizations new to the vendor.

Richmond – October 17, 2026 -- The American Bankers Association has given Blue Ridge Bank Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Risk Officer Rebecca "Becky" Schauer Robertson its Distinguished Service award for Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT).

Robertson's 30-year career spans traditional and fintech banking

Robertson has built expertise in risk strategy, financial crimes compliance and regulatory remediation across both traditional and fintech banking environments.

She helped found ABA's AML and Fraud certification and school

Robertson served on the founding boards of the Certified AML and Fraud Professional certification and the ABA AML and Fraud School. She also helped design the school's original curriculum, recruited faculty and developed educational content. She remains one of its most highly regarded instructors.

St. Paul – October 15, 2026 -- 3M and Discovery Education named 8th grader Raji Doshi of Farmington, Connecticut, the winner of the 2026 3M Young Scientist Challenge, awarding her a $25,000 cash prize and the title of "America's Top Young Scientist." Doshi, who attends Stanford Online High School, won with a natural algae-and-aragonite system designed to counter ocean acidification.

Doshi beat nine other finalists in final events at 3M headquarters

Doshi competed through the summer against nine other finalists, ages 11 to 14. She secured the win during final Challenge events at 3M global headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Oct. 12 and 13, 2026.

Greenbush, Minnesota – October 14, 2026 -- Altoz's TFX 766 i Tracked Zero Turn Mower has won three industry honors: a Landscape Business Twenty for 2026 New Product Award, a Pro Tool Innovation Award in the Riding/Zero Turn Lawn Mowers category and a Green Industry Pros 2026 Editor's Choice Award in Mowing & Maintenance.

The Landscape Business Twenty Awards cover new products for commercial landscape and irrigation markets. The Pro Tool Innovation Awards honor advances in design, technology and performance. The Green Industry Pros awards recognize products that save landscape professionals time, money and labor.

Fort Lauderdale – October 13, 2026 -- Dream Vacations won five 2026 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, three Gold and two Silver, for its work in advisor education, AI adoption, search visibility and business growth.

Agent Directory, destination training and CLIA credits take three Gold awards

The franchise won Gold in Web Marketing/Advertising for its Agent Directory. The platform is integrated with TravelLeaders.com and optimized for both traditional and AI-powered search. It is designed to help advisors improve online visibility and connect with high-intent travelers.

A second Gold, in Business Strategy, went to its destination certification programs covering Alaska, the Caribbean and Hawaii.

Columbus – October 13, 2026 -- Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) named 11 channel partners as 2025 North America Partner Award recipients, with World Wide Technology (WWT) taking the top Partner of the Year honor for year-over-year growth and continued investment in joint AI strategy. Winners were selected on 2025 results, growth trajectory and customer impact.

WWT wins top award on AI factory deployments

WWT's successful AI factory deployments and the integration of Vertiv technologies into its Advanced Technology Center accelerated AI solution innovation and deepened customer engagement, according to Vertiv. Alex Johnson, Vice President, North America Channel Sales, said demand for "high-density, AI-ready environments" is growing and partners are helping customers deploy scalable infrastructure faster.