Irish businesses, individuals and community organisations were awarded for digital excellence at the 20th annual eir Spider Awards.

The Grand Prix Award went to NewsWhip, a social media monitoring company that uses a technology platform called Spike to determine which online news stories spark the most discussion.

Joanne O'Riordan received the Oustanding Contribution to Technological Empowerment Award for her digital rights activism efforts. O'Riordan, born without arms or legs, is one of seven people currently living with Tetra-amelia syndrome. She spoke at the awards about how technology impacts her life, noting Trinity College's progress in creating a robot to assist her in daily activities.

A total of 20 awards were presented to Irish companies for their online and digital achievements in e-retail, business-to-business, creative technology, financial services and education.

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