Online nominations for 9th ICT Awards open from today

KATHMANDU, JULY 17: Online nominations (applications) for the 9th edition of the ICT Awards have been open from today.

Living with ICT, which organizes the 'ICT Awards' annually, has opened nominations in 14 categories this year including the newly added one-  'Social Innovation ICT Award 2024.

The award encompasses technology sector startups, innovations, products, digital services of government and private organizations, and digital education. Individual contributions, individuals from various fields will be nominated and selected under different award categories.

The South Asia Startup Award has also been included in the ICT Award for the past two years, targeting South Asian countries.

Winners of the ICT Awards will be selected through dozens of pre-events, over 30 meetings of selection processes, and various other procedures. Organizer Razan Lamsal mentioned that the organization has spent six months preparing for this award with more than 15 jury members and over 10 jury advisors.

Started in 2016 A.D., the ICT Awards has been organized in a refined and expanded manner each year. Since last year, the organizers have started the 'Provincial ICT Startup Recognition' to honour the best startups in all seven provinces. This year, a startup fest will be organized to include startups and innovations from all provinces and the best startups from each province will be honored.

Category A includes startups, innovations, and products. Under this category, there are the Startup ICT Award, Product ICT Award, Rising Star Innovation ICT Award, and Social Innovation ICT Award. Competitors must register their applications in these categories themselves.

Category B accepts nominations based on contributions to society and the nation through ICT. Under this category, there are the Professional Excellence ICT Award, Pioneer ICT Award, Entrepreneurs ICT Award, Woman Icon ICT Award, and Nepali Diaspora ICT Award. In these categories, individuals can nominate themselves or be nominated by others.

Similarly, Category C includes nominations based on the efforts and practices of government and private organizations in digital transformation. Under this category, there are the Digital Education ICT Award (Public Sector), Digital Education ICT Award (Private Sector), Digital Governance ICT Award, and Digital Services ICT Award.

The South Asia Startup ICT Award, as an international award, is also being conducted. Startups from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal can apply for this award, which has been conducted for the past two years.

An international jury committee has been formed for the selection. Online applications for all these award categories are open from today. The official website of the award, www.ictaward.org, allows online nomination registration. The deadline for nomination registration is until 15th Bhadra.