2026 ADB President’s Innovation Awards

ADB's first institution-wide award for innovation.

ADB's first institution-wide award for innovation

If your team has changed how ADB delivers - a financing model, a partnership, a process, a platform - submit here.

The objective of the 2026 President’s Innovation Awards is to discover and recognize high-value innovations across ADB and help credible initiatives progress toward wider adoption, replication, or scale, while generating insights that can inform downstream reforms and catalyze broader innovation throughout ADB.  

Why it matters. . Client expectations, technology, and risk are moving faster than our default ways of working. But every innovation that stays local is capacity ADB has already paid for and cannot reuse. The cost of this invisibility is that the same problem must be solved again, from scratch, somewhere else in the Bank.

In scope. From innovative projects, programs, platforms, financing instruments, partnerships, operational processes, and institutional approaches, to bootstrapped but ingenious solutions to existing problems. Sovereign and non-sovereign. Operational and non-operational. Conceptual, piloted, or at scale.

Out of scope. Novelty or rebranding without material change; a technology tool with no demonstrated link to outcomes; a one-off pilot with no adoption pathway; routine process improvement; an approach that is new to one team but already standard elsewhere in ADB; complexity without better outcomes; and recognition of individuals for innovative behavior.

 

If your team has done something materially different and it’s working, this is the moment to put it on the President's desk.

 

For purposes of the Award, innovation would be understood as a materially different approach with the potential to improve ADB’s ability to deliver development or institutional results, with evidence appropriate to its stage of maturity and a credible pathway to further adoption and scale.

Award Tracks

 

Applicants will be asked to identify the maturity of their innovation from conceptual (Emerging Innovation) to
piloted (Innovation in Practice) to mature (Innovation at Scale).

EMERGING INNOVATION

A credible idea, prototype, or early application that addresses a validated problem and shows significant potential.

EVIDENCE EXPECTED: Credible evidence of the size and significance of the problem; desirability signals from clients, users, staff, markets, or operations; why existing approaches fall short; initial theory supporting feasibility; and measurable assumptions that can be tested.

INNOVATION IN PRACTICE

An innovation that has been implemented and has produced credible evidence of improved outcomes or institutional performance.

EVIDENCE EXPECTED: Implementation evidence; baseline and current performance; user, client, or counterpart feedback; lessons from testing and adaptation; credible attribution of the change to the innovation; and a pathway to further adoption or replication.

INNOVATION AT SCALE



An innovation with demonstrated results, adoption, or replication, and the potential to generate further institutional, market, operational, or development impact.

EVIDENCE EXPECTED: Verified results; evidence of adoption or replication; sustained performance or value; the resource and institutional implications of further expansion; evidence of development, market, or organizational impact; and a credible pathway to broader scale or institutionalization.

TIMELINE

  • IDENTIFY

    Until 1 November 2026 (23:59 UTC +8)

    An institution-wide call would invite teams to submit innovative initiatives. Submissions should specify the problem addressed, for whom the nature of the innovation, evidence of performance, expected development or institutional value, and a pathway to replication or scale.


  • ASSESS

    5 - 11 November, 2026

    A Shortlisting Committee reviews eligible submissions against an agreed rubric and recommend a shortlist. The assessment considers impact potential, demonstrated or expected performance, the innovation’s distinctiveness within ADB, and its potential for scalable impact.


  • SELECT

    12 - 20 November 2026

    Shortlisted teams are invited to provide clarifications or pitch their initiatives. The President will select the awardees following review of the shortlist and the Shortlisting Committee’s rationale.


  • RECOGNIZE

    9 December 2026

    Awardees to receive recognition from the President during the Staff Appreciation Event on December 9


  • ENABLE & SCALE

    2027 and beyond

    Each winning project will consult with DOCK to establish visibility through internal and appropriate external communication, publication of a case study, and opportunities to present the innovation through ADB and partner platforms.

 

WHAT IS THE AWARD?

    • Recognition from the President. The award is presented at the Staff Appreciation event on 9 December 2026, with internal and, where appropriate, external communication, and a published case study of your innovation.
    • Visibility even if you do not win. Every eligible submission can be considered for Innovation Hub spotlights, peer learning sessions, internal and external knowledge sharing. You choose what stays confidential.
 

JOIN THE INFORMATION SESSION


Thinking of applying?

 

Join the President's Innovation Awards 2026 Information Sessions to learn more about the awards, application process, eligibility requirements, and key timelines.

 

The session will also provide an opportunity to ask questions and clarify any aspects of the application.

Register here

Session 1: 6 October 2026, 3:30PM to 4:30PM (Manila time)

Venue: Innovation Hub and via Zoom

Register: https://adb-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h4VVA5CCTy2MDT_g4pB61A

 

Session 2: 14 October 2026, 10:00AM - 11:00AM (Manila time)

Venue: Innovation Hub and via Zoom

Register: https://adb-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hqaZAKhvS0q2Dcvx8ASh_g

Participate