Self-taught web developer Benjamin Sheppard has been named RTS Young Technologist of the Year.
Sheppard – who works for the BBC and specialises in broadcast graphics – has been creating websites, web tools and digital services since the age of 12.
He started at the BBC in 2022 and his work has been used as the basis for innovative graphics on many sports programmes.
Sheppard said: “It is an honour and a privilege to win such a prestigious award. I would like to say a big thank you to my mentor at the BBC, Ryan McKenna.
“I look forward to continuing my work with complex web-based broadcast graphics and implementing new processes to help the industry to progress.”
As his prize, Sheppard wins an all-expenses-paid trip to the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC 2024) in Amsterdam this month. The runner-up and recipient of the Coffey Award for Excellence in Technology is Connor Webster, Lead Software Engineer at YouView.
Terry Marsh, Chair of the RTS Young Technologist of the Year Award Jury, said: “Benjamin is a highly impressive and inspiring young talent who, in just two years, has profoundly impacted the offering of one of the country’s leading broadcasters, the BBC.
“Both Benjamin and Connor have demonstrated remarkable technical skills and deep-rooted ambition, which I’m sure will see them flourish and have long, successful careers in our industry.”
The RTS Young Technologist of the Year Award was established by the Royal Television Society with funds from the family of the distinguished engineer AM Beresford-Cooke.
