www.menamikeaward.com | www.globalmikeaward.com
Apply Now — Applications for the 2026 MENA MIKE Awards are open.
Organizations are assessed using eight globally recognized MIKE criteria, forming a strategic roadmap for building resilient, high-performing, future-ready institutions.
| Criteria | Intellectual Capital Element |
|---|---|
| Criteria 1: Empowering knowledge workers for innovation | Human Capital (HC) |
| Criteria 2: Strategic, visionary, and transformative leadership | Human Capital (HC) |
| Criteria 3: Living up to customer and stakeholder expectations and needs | Relational Capital (RC) |
| Criteria 4: Developing internal & external networks and connectivity | Relational Capital (RC) |
| Criteria 5: Cultivating an organizational innovation culture | Structural Capital (SC) – Innovation Capital |
| Criteria 6: Investing in and delivering knowledge-based products/services/solutions | Structural Capital (SC) – Innovation Capital |
| Criteria 7: Enforcing knowledge practices and systems for knowledge creation | Structural Capital (SC) – Process Capital |
| Criteria 8: Creating digital value | Structural Capital (SC) – Process Capital |
PMO & Knowledge-Enabled Value Delivery Excellence
This Category examines how PMOs activate knowledge, insights, governance, and digital enablement to drive effective project delivery, value realization, and innovation at scale —while continuously strengthening PMO practices themselves.
The PMO category of the MENA MIKE Award assesses the PMO's role as a value and integration engine, evaluating how it translates strategy into execution, enables informed decision-making, and sustains benefits across projects, programs, and portfolios.
This section focuses on how knowledge is activated across complex delivery ecosystems, enabling predictability, adaptability, and measurable value realization across the full lifecycle —from strategy and contracting through delivery and operations.
Applicants are expected to demonstrate concrete practices, mechanisms, and evidence showing how the PMO enables: value realization, cross-project and cross-portfolio integration, organizational learning, and innovation in project delivery.
| Part E Criteria | Focus |
|---|---|
| E1: Strategic Alignment & Value Realisation | Organizational impact & value Realisation |
| E2: Knowledge Activation across the project Life Cycle | Cross-project, enterprise learning, life cycle knowledge activation |
| E3: Governance & Decision Enablement & Adaptive Control | Adaptive governance |
| E4: Digital & AI Enablement for smarter delivery | Insight-driven delivery |
| E5: People, Capability & Knowledge-Sharing Culture | Collective capability |
| E6: Innovation Enablement Through Projects | Innovation to value |
Purpose of the ESG & Sustainability Category:
This category recognizes organizations that innovatively manage, apply, and evolve ESG and sustainability knowledge to drive measurable environmental, social, and governance outcomes, particularly through projects, programs, and operations.
The focus is on how knowledge is activated to enable action, learning, and impact — including the use of governance mechanisms, metrics, digital and ICT enablement — not on reporting volume or compliance alone.
| Part F Criteria | Focus |
|---|---|
| F1: ESG Strategic Alignment & Value Focus | ESG priorities clearly aligned with organizational strategy, investment decisions, and value creation |
| F2: ESG Metrics, KPIs & Impact Evidence | Measurable environmental, social, and governance outcomes supported by reliable data and evidence |
| F3: ESG Integration Across Delivery & Operations | ESG embedded across the full lifecycle — planning, delivery, operations, and benefits realization |
| F4: Innovation in Sustainability Knowledge & Practices | New methods, tools, and learning mechanisms that improve sustainability performance and scale impact |
| F5: Stakeholder, Community & Social Value Creation | Responsible value delivered to stakeholders, communities, workforce, and partners |
| F6: ESG Governance, Risk & Transparency | Clear accountability, risk management, ethical conduct, and credible ESG disclosure |
Purpose of the Academic Excellence Category:
This category recognizes academic institutions that innovatively manage, activate, and continuously evolve knowledge to enhance learning quality, market relevance, employability, entrepreneurship, leadership capability, adaptability, and positive societal impact.
The focus is on how knowledge innovation bridges academic and the real world—translating learning into practical capability, shaping adaptable graduates, future leaders, and entrepreneurial mindsets. It emphasizes outcomes and impact rather than academic volume, rankings, or compliance alone, highlighting how institutions prepare learners to thrive in dynamic workforce environments, navigate change, and create value beyond traditional academic pathways.
| Criteria | Focus |
|---|---|
| G1: Market & Workforce Relevance of Academic Knowledge | Alignment of academic knowledge, programs, and learning outcomes with market, industry, and workforce needs |
| G2: Curriculum & Learning Model Innovation | Innovation in curriculum design, applied learning, interdisciplinary approaches, and experiential education |
| G3: Student-Centric Learning, Mindset & Adaptability | Development of adaptable learners with professional, leadership, and future-ready mindsets beyond academic achievement |
| G4: Innovation in Assessment & Knowledge Evaluation | Modern assessment approaches that measure skills, application, critical thinking, and real-world capability |
| G5: Faculty Capability & Knowledge-Sharing Culture | Faculty development, teaching innovation, mentoring, and institutional knowledge-sharing practices |
| G6: Employability, Entrepreneurship & Leadership Impact | Translation of academic knowledge into employability, entrepreneurship, leadership readiness, and reduced time-to-employment |
Purpose MENA MIKE AWARD Technology Excellence:
This category recognizes technology providers whose solutions innovatively activate knowledge to align strategy, talent, operations, and ecosystems, enabling organizations to make better decisions, build future-ready capabilities, and deliver sustainable, trusted, and measurable value.
The focus is on technology as a strategic and human enabler—turning data, experience, and insights into actionable knowledge that supports talent strategy, productivity, trust, and purpose-driven outcomes, not technology adoption alone without compromising data protection, ethics, or user trust.
| Technology Excellence Criteria | Focus |
|---|---|
| H1: Strategy, Purpose & Value Chain Alignment | Alignment of technology with organizational strategy, workforce needs, and long-term value creation across the value chain |
| H2: Human Capability, Learning & Talent Enablement | Technology enabling learning, upskilling, leadership development, and effective human–AI collaboration |
| H3: Knowledge Activation & Decision Enablement | Converting data, experience, and insights into timely, actionable knowledge that supports better decision-making |
| H4: Governance, Trust, Security & Responsible Use | Trustworthy, ethical, and secure use of technology, including governance, data protection, and responsible AI adoption |
| H5: Ecosystem Integration & Scalable Impact | Technology enabling cross-organizational integration, ecosystem learning, and scalable impact across sectors and markets |
For detailed assessment criteria and application forms, please contact:
info@menamikeaward.com
