ACT-IAC is pleased to recognize outstanding examples of the power of innovation solutions in the federal market. Awards are distributed at the annual Emerging Technology and Innovation Conference. Nominations are submitted by federal, state, and local government agencies, private companies, FFRDCs and national labs. ACT-IAC awards are as follows:
ACT-IAC Innovation Awards
2026
The Innovation Champion Award, ACT-IAC’s highest innovation award, recognizes a significant and game-changing innovation.
Congratulations to the 2026 winners!
- PlanetSense SeGraph – Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- TSA CX Digital Data Transformation – Transportation Security Administration (TSA), ASI Government LLC, and Vitruvian Advantage
- CMS' Crushing Fraud Chili Cook-Off Competition – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Center for Program Integrity
The Innovation Impact Award recognizes an innovation that has had a substantial impact within government technology.
Congratulations to the 2026 winners!
- Beacon Network – TRM Labs
- Army Contracting Agentic AI Suite – Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Procurement) and Tuknik Government Services, LLC
- Ophthalmology Deep Learning Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software – VISN 7 Clinical Resource Hub, Atlanta Veterans Affairs R&D/DAC/CVNR, Miami VA Medical Center, VISN 23 Clinical Resource Hub, and VHA Innovation Ecosystem
2025
The Innovation Champion Award, ACT-IAC’s highest innovation award, recognizes a significant and game-changing innovation.
Congratulations to the 2025 winners!
- AQNav: AI and Quantum-powered Magnetic Anomaly-Based Navigation (MagNav), SandboxAQ
- TSA's Touchless Identity Solution (TIS), Transportation Security Administration & ASRC Federal
- Augmented Reality (AR) Incident Commander/Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mentor game, A P Ventures, LLC
The Innovation Impact Award recognizes an innovation that has had a substantial impact within government technology.
Congratulations to the 2025 winners!
- Online Passport Renewal (OPR) system, State Department, Peraton & ManTech
- Multiscale Machine-Learned Modeling Infrastructure (MuMMI) in the Cloud, Accenture
- FEMA Data Exchange Pilot (FEMADex), REI Systems
- The Federal Grant Systems Hub, Department of Health and Human Services & Guidehouse
- Global Entry Portals, Customs and Border Protection & Leidos
2024
The Innovation Champion Award, ACT-IAC’s highest innovation award, recognizes a significant and game-changing innovation.
Congratulations to the 2024 Winners!
- Implementing Efficient AI/ML Solutions to Reduce Revenue Loss for the United States Government, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Dev Technology Group
- Craniofacial Structural Progression and Other Biometric Initiatives, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Biometric Identity Management
- An Approach to Independent Verification of End-to-End Verifiable Elections, MITRE Corporation
The Innovation Impact Award recognizes an innovation that has had a substantial impact within government technology.
Congratulations to the 2024 Winners!
- VSignals (Veteran Signals), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Experience Office
- Bob The Closer, U.S. Department of the Interior, Business Integration Office
- "Voice of the Customer" Deep Dive Analysis Suite (Tools such as GovCXAnalyzer and DigitalCXAnalyzer), General Services Administration
- NOS3 (NASA Operational Simulator for Small Satellites), National Aeronautics and Space Administration Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Program
2023
The Innovation Champion Award, ACT-IAC’s highest innovation award, recognizes a significant and game-changing innovation.
Congratulations to the 2023 Winners!
- Valuable Use Cases for The Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM), MITRE Corporation
- Urban Heat Island of Washington DC Virtual Reality (VR) Experience, NOAA Global Systems Lab and NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab, I.M. Systems Group, Inc.
- Detecting Counterfeit Electronics Using Oracle's Electromagnetic Interference Fingerprinting (EMIF), Oracle
The Innovation Impact Award recognizes an innovation that has had a substantial impact within government technology.
Congratulations to the 2023 Winners!
- Federal Facility Design-Basis Threat Methodology, Argonne National Laboratory & Federal Protective Service
- Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Extended Reality (XR) Network, Department of Veterans Affairs
- Blind Rehab In-House Eyeglass Fabrication (BRIEF), Department of Veterans Affairs
- Auto Documentation Separation and Classification (ADSC) Proof of Concept & Person Centric Identity Services, IntelliBridge & US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
- Pill Recognition Using Machine Learning, Precise Software Solutions
2022
The Innovation Champion Award, ACT-IAC’s highest innovation award, recognizes a significant and game-changing innovation.
Congratulations to the 2022 Winners!
- California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) Wildfire Mapping, California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) & Google
- Threat, Identification, Determination, Evaluation (TIDE), Argonne National Laboratory & Department of Homeland Security
- Shots Fired Azimuth Detector, Octo Consulting
- High Level Automated Robots (Bots) in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Procurement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Next Generation Immersive Augmented Reality Mobile Solution to Improve the Taxpayer Experience, INADEV Corporation
The Innovation Impact Award recognizes an innovation that has had a substantial impact within government technology.
Congratulations to the 2022 Winners!
- Joint Health Information Exchange (Joint HIE), Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) Office
- State of Colorado, Intelligent Automation for Periodic Reporting, Colorado Department of Human Services & Deloitte
- Veterans Benefits Administration Automation Platform (VBAAP), IBM
- VA: Health and Benefits App, Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Information and Technology
- Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) HoloLens Program, Accenture
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid RapidATO Project, CivicActions
- Veterans Administration (VA) Skin Lesion Classifier, General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT)
2021
2021 Innovation Award Winners:
- Army Vantage, PEO EIS/PM ARDAP
- BUYSMARTER - Full Contract Scan Artificial Intelligence Tool, Unissant
- C.O.D.A. (COVID-19 Outreach Digital Assistant), Integrity Management Systems Inc
- ContagionNET, DataRobot
- HealthPrismTM, Deloitte Consulting LLP
- LCR - Laser Coating Removal Robot, Xyrec, Inc
- NASA COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Tracking Application Built on a SaaS Platform, Accenture Federal Services
- RedOx, Simple Technology Solutions
- Remote Temperature Monitoring for the Prevention of Diabetic Foot Ulcers, VHA Innovation Ecosystem
- Sara AlertTM, MITRE
- Shepherd Case Management System, HHS Administration for Children and Families & REI Systems
- Smart White Cane for the Blind, VHA Innovation Ecosystem
- HHS WATERS Blockchain Platform: COVID-19 Immutable Test Results Analysis, Oracle
2020
Igniting Innovation Awards and Dynamite Awards were designed to showcase the best solutions to important problems and help spread them to other federal, state and local government organizations and industry. They were replaced in 2022 with the Champion and Impact awards.
2020 Igniting Innovation Award Winner - USA Staffing Onboarding, Office of Personnel Management
2020 Dynamite Award Winners:
- Impacter: Advana Defense Analytics Platform, Department of Defense; and U.S. Census Modernization Project, Adobe and the U.S. Census Bureau
- Game Changer: Opioid360, Deloitte and Google; and StrongMind Virtual Reality Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Therapy, Veterans Health Administration and ERPi
- Transformer: GrantSolutions Recipient Insight, Department of Health and Human Services; and USA Staffing Onboarding, Office of Personnel Management
- Incubator: Counterfeit Drug Detector, Precise Software Solution Inc.; and The Robotics Academy, Florida International University
2019
Igniting Innovation Awards and Dynamite Awards were designed to showcase the best solutions to important problems and help spread them to other federal, state and local government organizations and industry. They were replaced in 2022 with the Champion and Impact awards.
2019 Igniting Innovation Award Winner - Lifesaving CT Opioid Detection, Leidos
2019 Dynamite Award Winners:
- Impacter: Diffusion of Excellence, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs; and Blue Button 2.0, NewWave
- Game Changer: Pilot Training Next, SAIC; and Steps to PBA Application, General Services Administration
- Transformer: Ohio Benefits IPA, State of Ohio Department of Administrative Services; and Assistive Technology Center, Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center
- Incubator: Genomics LIMS, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Services VA Medical Center; and Lifesaving CT Opioid Detection, Leidos
- Innovation in Healthcare Award Winners: Blue Button 2.0, NewWave; Genomics LIMS, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Services VA Medical Center; Self-Leveling Walker, Advanced Platform Technology Center (VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System); and, CDS Connect, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
2018
Igniting Innovation Awards and Dynamite Awards were designed to showcase the best solutions to important problems and help spread them to other federal, state and local government organizations and industry. They were replaced in 2022 with the Champion and Impact awards.
2018 Igniting Innovation Award Winner - HRSA's New Data Analytics Platform, Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS
2018 Dynamite Award Winners:
- Impacter: Gov2Go, NIC Federal, LLC
- Game Changer: Acquisition in the Digital Age (AiDA), The MITRE Corporation
- Transformer: Cognitive Object Detection Assistant (CODA), IBM Corporation
- Incubator: Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management, NASA
2017
Igniting Innovation Awards and Dynamite Awards were designed to showcase the best solutions to important problems and help spread them to other federal, state and local government organizations and industry. They were replaced in 2022 with the Champion and Impact awards.
2017 Igniting Innovation Award Winner - USCIS Verification Program, DHS, USCIS, Excella Consulting, and NTIS
2017 Dynamite Award Winners:
- Impacter: Global Innovation Exchange, USAID
- Game Changer: Immersive Multi-Dimensional Experience, INADEV Corporation
- Transformer: Developer's Integration Lab (DIL), AEGIS.net, Inc.
- Incubator: Web-Based Prototype Application for School Meals, USDA, FNS
2016
Igniting Innovation Awards and Dynamite Awards were designed to showcase the best solutions to important problems and help spread them to other federal, state and local government organizations and industry. They were replaced in 2022 with the Champion and Impact awards.
2016 Igniting Innovation Award Winner - myUSCIS: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security
2016 Dynamite Award Winners:
- Impacter: IdentityTheft.gov, Lockheed Martin and Federal Trade Commission
- Game Changer: HealthMap, Epidemico
- Transformer: Ares Mobile Biometric Solution, InCadence Strategic Solutions
- Incubator: DHS CMSI PushButtonPD™, Cyber Management Support Initiative, Department of Homeland Security
2015
Igniting Innovation Awards and Dynamite Awards were designed to showcase the best solutions to important problems and help spread them to other federal, state and local government organizations and industry. They were replaced in 2022 with the Champion and Impact awards.
2015 Igniting Innovation Award Winner - NYC Streets Permit Management, NYC Department of Transportation
2015 Dynamite Award Winners:
- Citizen Impact: TSA Pre✓®, Transportation Security Administration
- Incubator: PEAK Real Time Eligibility, State of Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology
- High Risk, High Reward: Emergency Medicine Management Tool (EMMT) Process Analytics Application, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and SynthSys, LLC
- 3 Rs (Recycle, Reduce & Reuse): Innovative Architecture Exploits Big Data to Prevent Fraud and Misuse, Social Security Administration and Lockheed Martin
- Most Disruptive: Army NETCOM Secure Passive Optical Network (SPON), U.S. Army and NCI Information Systems, Inc.
2014
Igniting Innovation Awards and Dynamite Awards were designed to showcase the best solutions to important problems and help spread them to other federal, state and local government organizations and industry. They were replaced in 2022 with the Champion and Impact awards.
2014 Igniting Innovation Award Winner - How’s My Waterway, EPA and INDUS Corporation
2014 Dynamite Award Winners:
- Citizen Impact: Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, Federal Emergency Management Agency
- Incubator: Patient Buddy, Creative Information Technology Inc.
- High Risk, High Reward: Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection Iris Pilot, Customs and Border Protection, Office of Information and Technology, BEMSD and Dev Technology Group
- 3 Rs (Recycle, Reduce & Reuse): BusinessUSA, U.S. Department of Commerce and Small Business Administration
- Most Disruptive: Full Motion Video Optical Navigation Targeting, The MITRE Corporation