The Sigma Awards is a competition to celebrate the best data journalism from around the world. Striding into its third year, it’s also here to empower, elevate and enlighten the global community of data journalists.

This year, we’d like to focus our efforts on four main goals:

• To highlight the very best data journalism being done around the world, putting a real focus on those tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. A multitude of compelling projects tackling COVID-19 have been released over the past few months, in all regions of the world. We want to celebrate that great work, share it with our community and get journalists to get inspired and learn from each other’s projects;
• To build a community that endures beyond the awards themselves;

• To set up webinars, chats and gather online resources tackling the real urgent issues met by journalists today.
• To use the awards as a way to unite, galvanise and expand data journalism communities around the world. Core to this project is The Sigma Awards team’s ambition to ignite collaborations and discussions between members of our community.

To that end, winners will be brought together to participate in and lead online data journalism panels, discussions and workshops.

They will not only learn from each other, but will be reaching out to the broader community of data journalists and would-be data journalists, building relationships that will help spark better collaborations and work around the world.
A 5000 USD cash prize will also be split amongst the winners, who will also get a certificate suitable for framing.

Here are the criteria for the Sigma Awards 2022:

• Entries must be for work published in calendar year 2021
• Entries should be submitted via our online form.
• Entries must be received by January 7th, 2022 at 11:59pm ET, to qualify.
• Applicants can enter as many projects as they want.
• Entries should specify if they qualify as a large or a small newsroom or as an individual, where applicable. Small newsrooms are defined as those with 35 or fewer journalists (including regular freelancers/contractors), or equivalent (eg, two half-time freelancers count as one person.)
• Organizations that do not qualify under this definition but who believe they belong in the small newsroom category may petition for an exception by sending a letter from the editor-in-chief explaining his or her rationale to Marianne Bouchart, executive director at marianne@sigmaawards.org.

Learn more and Apply here.