The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), has after careful reflection and invaluable feedback from the industry, decided to merge the ICT Week and Kuza ICT Awards.
Speaking during the launch of the ICT Week and Kuza ICT Awards 2024 on April 17, 2024 at the Sarova Stanley Hotel, Nairobi, David Mugonyi, the Director General, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), announced that the CA and industry realized they could add more value to the two events by merging them and expanding the Awards to incorporate the fullness of the ICT sector.
The ICT Week is a platform designed to maximize the Authority’s public engagement with the ICT sector. Over the last decade, it has evolved into an authoritative forum for the careful dissection of emerging issues, the thoughtful deconstruction of constraints and the clear articulation of the way forward for Kenya’s ICT sector.
“The ICT Week has allowed us to improve relationships with sector players, increase collaboration and hasten innovation, all of which help to move this important sector and the country’s socio-economic agenda forward. During this Week, we listen, we learn, we improve and we grow,” said Mugonyi.
“About seven years ago, the Authority initiated the Kuza Broadcasting Awards, to recognize excellence in this sub-sector. After careful reflection and invaluable feedback from the industry, we realized we could add more value to the two events by merging them and expanding the Awards to incorporate the fullness of the ICT sector. The Awards shall now be called The Kuza ICT Awards.”
The merging of the two events is aimed to allows the CA and industry stakeholders to energize ICT Week, create broad-based industry awards and benefit from the synergies of having an all-inclusive event.
Under this new arrangement, ICT Week 2024 will culminate with the first edition of the Kuza ICT Awards.
“We realized we could add more value to the two events by merging them and expanding the Awards to incorporate the fullness of the ICT sector. The Awards shall now be called The Kuza ICT Awards,” added Mugonyi.
The inaugural edition of the Kuza Broadcasting Awards, which recognize and celebrate excellence in broadcasting, were held about seven years ago.
Under the new arrangement, ICT Week 2024 will culminate with the first edition of the Kuza ICT Awards. The expansion broadens the scope of the awards to recognize excellence across the various regulated services in the ICT sector.
“Kuza means to ‘nurture’ which is exactly what we hope to achieve. It is our belief that recognizing exceptional performance and impact will spur excellence across the sector,” noted the CA boss.
“The goodwill and success that ICT Week has enjoyed over the last 19 years is a reason to invest in an industry event that will showcase the exceptional achievement in our sector, provide the insights to unlock the potential of ICT in Kenya and advance our vision of digital access for all.”
The theme for 2024 Kuza ICT Awards is, “Innovation for a sustainable digital future”, a challenge to the ICT sector to own its leading role in the social and economic transformation of Kenya.
Overall, the ICT Week and the Kuza ICT Awards are pivotal channels for powering the digital and creative economy pillars of the government’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
The 2024 ICT Week and Kuza ICT Awards will be structured as outlined below:
- ICT Week will run across two days, featuring discussions on diverse emerging issues in the ICT sector. On the third day, the Authority will host the Kuza ICT Awards, which will now include other sectors such as telecommunications, postal and courier services.
- The 2024 Kuza ICT Awards will have 9 categories:
1. Broadcasting Award
2. Postal and Courier Award
3. Telecommunications Award
4. Green ICT Award
5. Cyber Security Excellence Award
6. Child Online Protection and Safety Award
7. Women in Tech Award
8. Lifetime Achievement Award
9. People’s Choice Award
Kenyans can vote for the People’s Choice Award, through SMS short code 15601 at no cost and also online at the Kuza Awards portal. The voting period runs from April 17 to May 17, 2024, after which a jury will retreat to assess the outcome and list of final winners.
The ICT Week 2024 will take place from June 5 to 6, 2024 with the Kuza ICT Awards on June 7, 2024.
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