European Outsourcing Association shortlists IBA Group and Belarus for European Outsourcing Association Awards OREANDA-NEWS. On August 19, the European Outsourcing Association (EOA) announced the names of the 2016 EOA Awards shortlist. The EOA Awards recognize and celebrate the significant achievements of companies who have demonstrated innovation, excellence, and best practice in pan–European outsourcing.

IBA Group was shortlisted in the categories Outsourcing Destination of the Year (Belarus) and Award for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

IBA Group submitted Belarus for an EOA award because the Belarusian IT outsourcing industry contributes significantly to the national economy and serves as a foundation of information society and knowledge economy in the country. The Government of Belarus declared IT a foundation of information society and included outsourcing services in the National Strategy of Sustainable Economic Development. With a population of 9.5 million people, Belarus hosts the largest IT outsourcing companies in Eastern Europe.

As for the CSR award, IBA Group submitted the project Promotion of IT in Belarus among People with Disabilities. Implemented by the IBA Institute, a member of IBA Group, it was the first IT education project for disabled people in Belarus. In total, 120 disabled were trained, including 89 remotely. Following the course, IBA Group organized a national contest in system administration for people with disabilities with 45 course graduates joining the competition and ten qualifying for the final. After the project was completed, former students volunteered transfer of their competencies to peers and six graduates, including the contest winner, were offered IT jobs.

Commenting on this year's EOA Awards, Kerry Hallard, CEO of the NOA and Director of the EOA, said: “This year we've had an unprecedented number of entries of excellent quality, which really is indicative of the high standard of outsourcing programmes being implemented across Europe. The shortlist is truly representative of the best and brightest that European outsourcing has to offer, with innovation, collaboration and customer–centricity inherently featured throughout. The award winners will be announced in Sofia on 6th October and we're very excited to see which partnerships and organisations will be crowned as the best of Europe's outsourcing elite.”

About EOA

The European Outsourcing Association is the centre of excellence for outsourcing in Europe. The EOA is the leading association serving both the outsourcing professional and the global outsourcing industry. It is a membership organisation, representing the interests of companies and individuals which span the breadth of the outsourcing industry: buyers, suppliers and advisors. The EOA is committed to advancing the outsourcing profession and improving and growing the outsourcing industry by driving awareness, education, standards and thought leadership.