Event Overview

The inaugural Deputy Governor’s Award Programme Team Awards event will reveal the winner of the CIG Team of the Year – 2020 and will recognise the remarkable efforts of Civil Service teams during that year, when COVID-19 compelled team-working and dramatically changed the approach and pace at which internal and national projects had to be delivered.

The categories in which nominations were submitted, and the teams shortlisted, are:

1) Building a Strong Economy and Achieving Employment Opportunities for Caymanians

• Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise COVID-19 Relief Programmes
• PWD Construction Trades Training Programme

2) Improving, Expanding and Enhancing Education Opportunities

• Sir John A Cumber School Lunch and Grocery Delivery Team and Department of Education Services Continuation of Education Excellence (combined submission)

3) Reducing Crime and the Fear of Crime

• Curfew Time
• Family Support Unit – Child Sexual Investigation Team & Domestic Violence Team

4) Promoting and Protecting the Health and Welfare of our People, Communities or Environment

• Bring Um Home, Travel Time, Travel Cayman (combined submission)
• National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) Response to COVID-19 and Hazard Management National Response to Emergencies in 2020 (combined submission)
• Department of Environmental Health Solid Waste Unit Response

5) Continuity of Public Services and Good Governance

• Manual Applications – General Registry
• “Ain’t No Stopping Us” and Lands and Survey COVID 2020 Continuity Challenge (combined submission) In addition to the award in each category, recognition will be given for “Moments of Magic”. Moments of Magic recipients will be those teams that created “Wow!” moments in carrying out their work and delivering services to customers, in many cases leaving their clients amazed.

Awards Background

The Deputy Governor’s Awards Programme (DGAP), launched in 2012, highlights excellence and awards civil servants who have made exceptional contributions to the Cayman Islands Government.

Under the current criteria, nominees (civil servants) are put forward if they exemplify the Civil Service’s Core Values, have contributed to our Strategic Goals, to their entity’s mission and to Government’s Broad Outcomes. Winners serve as role models to their peers, perpetuating the high standards expected from all Cayman Islands civil servants.

The DGAP has historically highlighted the outstanding efforts of individual civil servants across core Government. However, to recognise the remarkable and valiant efforts and outcomes of teams in 2020, the Deputy Governor shifted the focus of the awards programme for 2020 from individual awards to team awards.

The 2020 Team Awards will highlight how civil servants worked across ministries, departments, Statuary Authorities and Government Companies (SAGCs), and with the private sector and nonprofits to keep our community as functional and as safe as possible during the global pandemic.

The CIG’s main priorities were to preserve life, to ensure the health and safety of all residents and to continue to deliver essential services such as education and health care. Garbage still had to be collected, the elderly and vulnerable had to be fed, and social services had to be available to those who lost jobs, and Civil Service teams collaborated to ensure these services were provided.

Although it is not always about winning, giving recognition for a job well done goes a long way in thanking civil servants for putting their best foot forward – which is what these awards are all about.