Telecom-firm; MTN Uganda has today announced the launch of its 2nd annual MTN Innovation Awards; a platform through which MTN Uganda recognizes some of the most outstanding locally developed mobile and desktop applications, as well as individuals and organisations that have been at the forefront of enabling the innovation ecosystem in the country. The awards are in line with the firm’s mission to make the lives of Ugandans brighter.
Olivier Prentout, the Chief Marketing Officer MTN Uganda said that the awards stressed that recognizing and promoting local innovations is critical to MTN’s vision to lead the delivery of a bold, new digital world for MTN customers and the communities where we operate.
“Technology is becoming an enabler in almost every sector of Uganda’s economy. In health, technology is leading to solutions on prevention. In education, people are coming up with ideas to ease the learning process. In financial services, technology is improving financial inclusion,” he said in a press statement.
The categories to apply for include: Best Health application, Best Education application, Best Financial Services application, Best SME application, Best Agriculture application, and Best Media and Entertainment application. The choice of categories like Finance, Agriculture and Health lays emphasis on MTN Uganda’s commitment to scale sectors critical to the improvement of lives and communities through digital innovations.[related-posts]
Below is the detailed information on each category to help you prepare well your submission and increase your chances of winning:
Best Health App
This Award will recognize Applications that aim to extend reach, accessibility and efficiency in delivering health services. The app must address both consumers of health services & providers of health services & demonstrate enabling business intelligence features to enhance reach, accessibility and efficiency.
Best Agriculture App
The award seeks to recognize applications that driving digitization for efficiency and productivity in the agricultural sector.
Best Education App
This Award will recognize Applications that are transforming the Experience and Reach of Education to ordinary Ugandans. The app must address both consumers of education services & providers of education services and demonstrate enabling business intelligence to enhance reach, accessibility and efficiency.
Best Financial Services Application
This Award will recognize Applications that are enabling any financial Inclusion. The app must address both consumers of financial services & providers of financial services & demonstrate enabling business intelligence to enhance reach, accessibility and efficiency
Best SME App
This award seeks to recognize Applications that aim to deliver improved productivity in the SME sector. The app must address both consumers of services & providers of services & demonstrate enabling business intelligence to enhance reach, accessibility and efficiency.
Best Media & Entertainment App
As the world of entertainment becomes more digitized globally, this award recognizes local efforts to adapt to global trends.
Most Innovative Mobile App
The Mobile phone has been central to the transformation of Uganda and the region as a whole. Today the mobile phone is not just a tool of Communication but rather a channel to Transfer Money, Buy and Sell goods, access Entertainment, etc.: This award seeks to recognize mobile applications that drive transformation, innovation and development. The application may or may not be from any of the categories indicated above.
Outstanding Woman in Innovation
This is award seeks to recognize Women that are demonstrating a leading role in defining innovations in Uganda, including Mobile Application Innovations that they have developed or other initiatives using technology that they are leading to contribute towards building the eco-system.
Innovation Achiever of the Year
This is a special Award to recognize an Individual or private Entity that has had significant impact in defining, enabling and influencing the Innovation Eco-system in Uganda through local initiatives and activities aimed at driving innovation using technology.
To be eligible for the Outstanding Woman in Innovation and Innovation Achiever of the Year categories, the individual or organization has been active in the innovation space of Uganda for at least 4 years and must have implemented initiatives that are:
- Of pioneering impact in Uganda.
- Still actively running or completed with positive results.
- Implemented in Uganda or internationally with direct benefits for Uganda.
- Have or will have a long term positive and sustainable impact for innovation in Uganda.
- Have or will have potential for a Mass market.
- Have or will result in positioning Uganda in the global innovation space regionally or internationally.
Therefore, interested applicants should submit (FOLLOW THIS LINK) in their applications not later than 6th October 2017 and should be at least 4 years old. Winners will be selected by a panel of judges who will be announced at the Awards Gala on 8th November 2017 and a cash prize of USD$1000 (approx 3,605,000 UGX) given to each category winner in 2015 has been increased to USD$3000 (approx 10,815,000 UGX).
