In case you missed our live blog, here's the official press release following up on the BlackBerry EMEA Alliance Summit 2009 Innovation Awards. Over 150 apps/services competed over seven enterprise and consumer categories to fight for the top spot. The judges were independent of RIM (I was actually on the judging panel for both the Connect on BlackBerry and Entertainment on BlackBerry categories). Read on for the details and congrats to all the winners! 

Press Release

RIM announces winners of the BlackBerry Alliance Program's EMEA Innovation Awards 2009

Rome, Italy - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced the winners of the BlackBerry Alliance Program's EMEA Innovation Awards 2009. Running for the second consecutive year, the awards showcase innovative organisations in the EMEA region who are delivering compelling mobile applications and services to customers on the BlackBerry platform.

Tasked with identifying seven category winners whose apps demonstrated creativity, return on investment and popularity with users, an independent panel of 13 judges selected the winners, who were named last night at the awards ceremony at the BlackBerry EMEA Alliance Summit 2009.

CATEGORY WINNERS:

• Life On BlackBerry - Poynt from Multiplied Media, an all-in-one local search service for BlackBerry smartphones that enables users to discover what's around them and view searches on an interactive map, watch movie trailers and buy tickets
• Entertainment On BlackBerry - 7digital and DevelopIQ co-created a music app that allows BlackBerry smartphone users to easily discover and purchase music from a seven million strong catalogue of DRM-free MP3s
• Connect On BlackBerry - Nimbuzz enables BlackBerry smartphone users to enjoy free instant messaging, social networking and other rich communication features
• Driving Innovation in the Public Sector - Innova Telecom's solution for the Ayuntamiento de Sevilla (Seville City Hall) allows citizens to flag issues about public services and internally provides a workflow and approval solution for Ayuntamiento de Sevilla employees to address the issues
• Transforming Enterprise Business Performance - NTS developed a distribution and logistics solution that enables customers to strengthen their internal communication processes, increase efficiency and enhance customer service
• Accelerating Innovation for Entrepreneurs - Elondra's CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and SFA (Sales Force Automation) solution provides entrepreneurs, as well as small and medium size businesses, with easy access to key business information from their BlackBerry smartphone
• Delivering Service Excellence - e-office provides a range of mobile services that include its popular IT helpdesk outsourcing solution

"The EMEA Innovation Awards celebrates the success of our partners who are developing creative and compelling applications and services for the BlackBerry platform. The winners of this year's awards demonstrated particular innovation in their respective categories," said Tyler Lessard, Vice President of Global Alliances at RIM. "There are thousands of BlackBerry Alliance Members that are developing innovative applications and services for the BlackBerry platform and we applaud the positive impact they collectively deliver for our mutual customers. We also applaud the specific companies recognised at last night's awards ceremony for helping transform the mobile applications market and making a distinct difference in how customers use their BlackBerry smartphones."

Entertainment on BlackBerry Winner - 7digital and Develop IQ
from left: Mike Kirkup (RIM), Robert (Develop IQ), Ben Drury (7digital),
James Shannon (Develop IQ), and Tyler Lessard (RIM)

The winners were selected by an independent panel of 13 judges comprising of industry experts, media and representatives from organisations with large smartphone deployments. For further information on the judging panel, please visit http://blackberryalliancesummit.com/judges.html

For further information on the awards, please visit: www.blackberryalliancesummit.com/awards.html