WHIN was chosen by an independent judging panel for the award and honored April 26, 2024

WHIN announced today that it was honored with the Digital Transformation Award at the 25th annual Mira Awards gala on April 26.

WHIN received the Digital Transformation award for its works in systematizing and accelerating digital transformation in agriculture and manufacturing in 10 northwest-central Indiana counties. WHIN’s “Living Lab” model harnesses the forces of technological change on behalf of regional growth and prosperity.

The award recognizes teams from any industry that demonstrate outstanding vision and innovation for driving digital adoption and leveraging technology to revolutionize and elevate their operations and/or industry standards.

"The Mira Awards showcase the very best of Indiana's digital innovation community, and this year, we had the most competitive pool of applicants yet." said TechPoint President and CEO Ting Gootee.

“WHIN is honored and humbled to receive this award,” says WHIN CEO Johnny Park. “The real winner is the WHIN region and the farmers, manufacturers and WHIN tech partners like Solinftec who are leading the way in innovation and digital transformation.”

The awards gala was presented by TechPoint, Indiana’s industry-led growth initiative for the state's digital innovation economy, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Salesforce and a host of the state’s most innovative companies, universities and organizations.

The Mira judges said that WHIN earned the Digital Transformation award for transforming industries in Indiana, especially in rural areas, noting that “WHIN is having an outsized impact for its size and is working like a corporation as it systematizing and accelerates digital transformation in 10 north-central Indiana counties. Its ‘Living Lab’ works with farmers and manufacturers to form user communities interested in trying new technology. The strategy helped bring the first robotics plant dedicated to agriculture to Indiana. WHIN has also made other investments that support the region’s development into a tech powerhouse, completing in 2023 a $6 million investment in the region’s 28 school corporations to strengthen network-based access and learning for more than 50,000 K-12 students.” The judges were impressed that a small, non-profit could effectively bring multi-faceted groups together to work on common goals.

Winners in 18 award categories were chosen by a rigorous process that included 50 Mira Awards judges who narrowed down applications to finalists, who presented their cases in March. The Mira Awards are the state’s largest, best known, and most prestigious technology awards. The annual gala celebrates the “Best of Tech” in Indiana. Judging panels were comprised of founders, executives, community leaders and subject matter experts for the TechPoint Innovation and Talent categories. Seven other awards were awarded after deliberations by additional expert panels.

For more information, photos and information, visit: www.miraawards.com

ABOUT WHIN: WHIN is an innovative nonprofit organization devoted to making the 10-county Wabash Heartland region of north-central Indiana the global epicenter of digital agriculture and next-generation manufacturing empowered by smart IoT technology. WHIN is an innovative nonprofit organization devoted to making the 10-county Wabash Heartland region of north-central Indiana the global epicenter of digital agriculture and next-generation manufacturing empowered by smart IoT technology.

ABOUT TECHPOINT: TechPoint, is the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership’s branded initiative for Indiana’s digital innovation economy and overall tech ecosystem. The industry-led team is focused on working with public, private and industry partners to expand tech talent pipeline, enhance resource connectivity for enterprise organizations and startups alike, and elevate the industry by activating the community and amplifying stories of success. For more information about TechPoint or the Mira Awards, please visit www.techpoint.org.

Media contact: Cheryl Reed: cheryl@techpoint.org