Established in 2002, The Index Project was initially proposed by designer Johan Adam Linneballe and then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs Jørgen Rosted [da] as a world design event in order to promote Denmark on a global scale,[1][2][3] as well as attract tourism and investments.
[7][8][9][10][11] The biennial Index Award was initiated in 2005, and originally financed by the state of Denmark with a total prize sum worth €500,000.
[39][40][41][42] The winners, announced at the award ceremony at the Copenhagen City Hall on 24 August, were:[43][44] In 2009, The Index Award received 720 entries from 54 countries, of which the Jury chaired by Designit co-founder Mikal Hallstrup selected 72 for nomination and exhibition on Kongens Nytorv as part of the first Copenhagen Design Week.
[97][98][99] The winners, announced at the award ceremony on 29 August at Kulturværftet in Elsinore under the attendance of Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, were:[100][101][102] The 2015 Index Award were presented at Kulturværftet in Elsinore on 27 August, honouring five winners among the 46 shortlisted finalists chosen from a pool of 1123 entries from 72 countries.
Senior Copywriter from AKQA Jean-Robert Saintil was the host and the show featured a keynote by co-founder of Airbnb Joe Gebbia – his first public talk in Denmark.
The five primary category winners each won a prize package worth more than worth over €250,000, including business development sessions with top-tier global consulting agency Boston Consulting Group, creative branding sparring from award-winning AKQA, a feature on the Google Arts and Culture platform, and bespoke design thinking and leadership workshops with The Index Project.