Submissions are open for Uganda’s ACIA awards, with the initiative hoping to foster innovation through the recognition and rewarding of outstanding ICT innovations.
The awards feature four categories, namely, young ICT innovators, ICT for development, business excellence, and digital content.
The young ICT innovators award is broken into three subcategories, recognising Uganda’s primary school students, secondary school students, and ICT Visionaries for youth aged 18 to 28 years.
The third subcategory, the ICT Visionaries award, recognises innovative ICT research projects improving the daily lives of Ugandans, with the first prize winner to receive US$1,500 in cash, US$2,500 in seed funding, and business incubation.
The ICT for development award will acknowledge the best ICT solution in the areas of education, health, agriculture, environment sustainability, government services, ICTs for the disadvantaged, and the advancement of women. The first prize winner will receive US$2,000 in cash, and US$8,000 to implement their solution.
The business excellence prize rewards a company using ICT to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of small, medium and large businesses in Uganda; and the first prize winner will receive a sponsored trip to the GSM Mobile World Congress 2016.
The final category focusing on digital content recognises the most innovative approaches to the compilation of local text, images and sound into a product or service that enhances the value and utpake of communications platforms in Uganda. The first prize winner takes home US$2,000 in cash, and will receive US$8,000 to implement the solution.
Submissions can be made online, and close on April 10, while for primary and secondary schools the deadline is March 15. Winners will be announced at the ACIA gala dinner on May 22.
The ACIA awards – this year marking the fifth edition – are an initiative of the Uganda Communications Commission.
