Future Leaders Competition 2025

IIC Future Leaders Competition 2025

“The IIC is a prestigious organisation shaping global policy, but even as a telecommunications engineer, I found it incredibly welcoming through the Future Leaders Competition. Last year’s theme, sustainability, was a passion of mine, and with encouragement from an industry leader, I took the leap and entered. That decision changed everything. It strengthened my bond with a senior mentor, helped me refine my ideas on sustainability, and connected me with the policy side of my industry that I care deeply about. If you’re thinking about entering, do it—you won’t regret it. And if you know someone who’d be a great fit, guide and coach them. Those conversations make an impact in both directions.” Nathan Stathis, IIC Future Leaders Competition 2024 winner

What do you need to do?

This year entrants are asked to produce an essay, submitted electronically, on the following topic:

‘Grabbing your attention’: media plurality and the digital ecosystem

In an age of increasing choice and with fierce competition for attention, what are the issues that regulators face as they consider the production and distribution of content (user-generated and curated) from a variety of sources? Much regulatory policy has come from a desire to reduce risk to the viewer or user, but how potent are the risks from areas such as concentration of media ownership in a world where algorithms increasingly hold sway? And has the dynamic nature of content production and distribution led to a burgeoning of overlapping regulatory remits (and a consequent drag on innovation) as the digital environment intersects areas that traditionally sat in one sector?

In your essay for this year’s Future Leaders Competition, we invite you to consider whether there still is a need for national regulatory policies for media pluralism (and its attendant issues) or are they obsolete in a global digital world? Does it matter where you get your information from?

You should:

• Develop a sustained and well-structured response, addressing the questions asked
• Show evidence and justification for your position
• Show an awareness & understanding of contending viewpoints
• Show commercial awareness & understanding of competitive market forces

Key dates for your diary:

Competition open for entries – from Wednesday 26 March 2025

Competition closing date – Wednesday 16 July 2025, 16:00 BST

Winner announced – Wednesday 20 August 2025

What are the rules?

The IIC 2025 Competition for Future Leaders is a competition run by the International Institute of Communications. By entering the competition, entrants agree to comply with the rules set out below.

Eligibility

• The Competition is open to individuals aged 35 and under, on competition closing date – Wednesday 16 July 2025 (16:00 BST)
• Entries must be the original work of the author and previously unpublished
• Collaboration with colleagues is permitted, however, there must be one lead author

Submission requirements

• An essay word length of 2500 – 3000 words (to include an abstract of no more than 150 words); references, footnotes and figures are not included in the word limit
• Entries will be evaluated on criteria including original thought and analysis – all submissions will be reviewed anonymously (see below note on the use of generative AI)
• We do not stipulate any special format for footnotes and referencing but you must acknowledge your sources and we ask that you be consistent in your style
  • In particular, the use of generative AI must be acknowledged, with the name and version of the generative AI system used and the context in which it is used
• Please submit your essay directly to enquiries@iicom.org
• Only 1 submission per person may be made (if collaborating with colleagues – the lead author will need to submit the entry)
• Entries must be submitted in English
• The judges may determine not to award some or all the prizes and the judges determinations will be final

Awards

The overall winner will receive:

• An invitation to present their winning entry at the IIC’s Annual Conference (22-23 October 2025) with travel and accommodation paid and £250 subsistence
• Their winning entry to be published in Intermedia, the IIC’s quarterly journal, online and on our social media channels
• One year’s complimentary membership to the IIC Future Leaders Network, which includes access to the IIC’s networks and resources

The winner and runners up will have:

• Their abstract published in Intermedia
• Their entry published online
• One year’s complimentary membership to the IIC Future Leaders Network – which includes access to the IIC’s networks and resources

Back to main competition page

Hear from the Chair of the judging panel, Andrea Millwood Hargrave, for a further explanation
of this year’s topic:

Hear from our 2024 competition winner Nathan Stathis, interviewed by Andrea Millwood Hargrave: