Kathmandu, Dec 25: In the eighth edition of ICT Awards 2023, awards were given in 14 categories and startups from all seven provinces were honored 8th of Poush, 2080, Kathmandu.
The eighth edition of the ‘Upgrade ICT Award 2023 in association with Indrive’, organized by Living with ICT, was concluded with grandeur at The Soaltee Kathmandu on Friday. After a dozen pre-events, a 5-month long selection process and a month-long television program, the grand finale was held with awards in 14 categories and the best startups from all seven provinces were honored.
The award was given by choosing the winners after 5 different stages of selection from more than 700 online applications. The winner of the South Asia Startup ICT Award 2023, organized as an international award, was also announced at the ceremony. More than 800 professionals participated in the event, which was organized to honor the pioneers of the technology sector and encourage newcomers. The program was also broadcast live by Kantipur Television and other media.
Minister of Finance Dr Rekha Sharma inaugurated the event. Prakash Sharan Mahat gave the closing speech. In the program, Minister of Karnali Province Krishna Bahadur G.C, members of the House of Representatives, former ministers and secretaries, and government and private sector officials presented awards to the winners. Indrive’s Asia Pacific PR Head Pavit Nanda was also present at the event. Participants came from Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the UK.
Balkrishna Joshi, the first e-commerce director, received this year’s Pioneer ICT Award 2023. Sunaina Ghimire Pandey has received the Ncell Woman Icon ICT Award 2023. Likewise, the Professional Excellence ICT Award 2023 has been received by Lochan lal Amatya, President of Enren. Similarly, Anoop Serchan;’CEO of Inficare, received the Entrepreneur’s ICT Award this year. Nepali Diaspora ICT Award 2023 has been received by Prof Dr. Suresh Manandhar.
In institutional award categories, Digital Governance Award was received by Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) while the Digital Services ICT Award 2023 was received by Tilganga Akha Foundation. The Digital Education ICT Award (Public Sector) was received by Tanahu’s Satyadevi Secondary School and the Digital Education ICT Award (Private Sector) was received by the Addhyan School of Kathmandu.
In the startup and innovation categories, Yarsa Tech received the ‘InDrive Startup ICT Award 2023’ this year, while the Product ICT Award was received by Quick RPA. Rising Star Innovation ICT Award 2023 was won by Blanxer. ‘Money Mitra’ has won the title of Hamro Pay Public Choice ICT Award 2023. Bhutan’s group Mediatech has received the title of South Asia Startup ICT Award 2023 aimed at South Asian countries.
Apart from this, Living with ICT also honored the seven best startups from all seven provinces with the IFN Province Startup ICT Recognition 2023. For this, a startup meetup and interaction program was conducted in all seven provinces a few months ago. Those startups were brought to Kathmandu and given mentoring sessions, bootcamp and industry visits.
This year, Track On Nepal from Koshi Province, Ads Bee Media from Madhesh Province, Heartson Technology from Bagmati Province, Restro X from Gandaki Province, Tuna Technology from Lumbini Province, Bio Karnali Aroma Pvt. and Neem Infosys won the Province Startup Recognition 2023.
Likewise, Minister Rekha Sharma handed over the World Summit Award (WSA) that Nagarik App received some time ago. In the competition of governance citizen service application, Nagarik app won the WSA award, beating more than 40 countries. Razan Lamsal: Chairman of ICT Award and national expert of WSA, said that ICT Award has also collaborated with various prestigious awards in the world.
The chief guest of the inaugural session of the award, the Minister of Communication, and Information Technology; Rekha Sharma, while addressing the award program, said that the Nepal government will participate in the campaign of Digital Nepal by making startups and digital champions compete. Minister Sharma said that the work done by the ICT Award from the non-governmental sector in digital transformation and digital ecosystem development is commendable.
Addressing the closing program, Finance Minister Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the IT sector should be promoted for the digital economy. The efforts made by ICT Award will contribute to the development of the digital ecosystem and the government will always be a supporter. Mahat said. Founder of Living with ICT and chairman of the program; Razan Lamsal, while addressing the event, said that the ICT Award is working on startup ecosystem development and digital transformation.
The ICT Award Program, organized by Living with ICT every year since 2016 A.D., is known as the largest and most prestigious award program in the field of information and communication technology.
The award winners were also given various prizes. Ncell has given a cash prize of 3 lakhs nepali rupees to the winner of Woman Icon ICT Award. School Management Software Veda will provide its software completely free of charge to the winners of the Digital Education ICT Award 2023 (Public Sector). Similarly, BugV will provide free cyber security service for one year to all the winners, while the Lord Buddha Education Foundation has given a scholarship of 7 lakhs to the Rising Star Innovation ICT Award winner for Masters in IT. In addition to this, Dishhome has also provided free 200 Mbps internet to the winner.
A jury team of 14 native and 3 international experts conducted more than 25 meetings for 4 months and completed the selection process of ICT Award 2023. Likewise, a 13-member special Advisory Committee was also formed.
As a pre-event campaign of ICT Award, more than half a dozen programs including startup meetup and interaction, startup and idea fest, bootcamp and mentoring, industry visit, field visit, speed dating and presentation, special program series from Kantipur TV were conducted in all seven provinces. UpGrad ICT Award 2023 was organized in association with Indrive. Ncell was the Connected Partner and there was a collaboration with Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Department of Information Technology, Nepal Telecommunication Authority, National Information Technology Center, NAST, Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, NAS IT and others.
Similar collaborations include Nepal Pay as a Digital Payment Partner, Hamro Pay as Voting Partner, Lord Buddha Education Foundation as an Education Partner, Broadway Infosys as Training Partner, BugV as Cyber Security Partner, Global College as a Knowledge Partner, Veda as Edtech Partner, Infodevelopers as Ecosystem Partner, Dishhome Fibernet as Internet Partner, etc. Apart from this, the program was supported by Global IME Bank, TechSpire College, Fuse Machines, Eminence Ways, Kohili and Code Himalaya.
These are the winners of the ICT Awards 2023
• InDrive Startup ICT Award: Yarsa Tech Pvt. Ltd
• Product ICT Award: Quick RPA
• Rising Star ICT Award: Blanxer
• Hamro Pay Public Choice Award: Money Mitra
• Ncell Woman Icon ICT Award: Sunaina Ghimire Pandey
• Pioneer ICT Award: Balkrishna Joshi
• Entrepreneur ICT Award: Anoop Sherchan
• Nepali Diaspora ICT Award: Prof.Dr. Suresh Manandhar
• Digital Governance ICT Award: Nepal Stock Exchange Limited
• Digital Services ICT Award: Tilganga Aakha Pratisthan
• Digital Education ICT Award (Public Sector): Satyavati Secondary School, Tanahun
• South Asia Startup ICT Award: Samuh Mediatech of Bhutan
• Best startups from seven provinces honored (from Koshi to Sudurpaschim respectively): Track on Nepal, Ads Bee Media, Heartson Technology, Restro X, Tuna Technology, Bio Karnali Aroma and Neem Infosys
