27 December 2020, Kathmandu
The grand finale of Huawei ICT Awards 2020 was organized on Saturday at Soaltee Crown Plaza. The prestigious award honored the winners in 12 different categories. The program was organized with limited participation of contestants and guests. The event was sponsored by Huawei Nepal in association with Nepal Telecom and Genese Solution, supported by Nepal Telecommunications Authority, and powered by Fonepay.
Parbat Gurung, Honorable Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Ganesh Shah, Former Minister of Science, and Technology, Hari Bashyal – Secretary, MoCIT, and other special guests added charm to the event. Honorable minister Parbat Gurung said, “We need to formulate strategies and framework, and all the sectors including private and public needs to work together to build and grow the ICT sector.” He also added that the government wants to expand the technology and make the Digital Nepal campaign a success by creating a roster of technology experts. Ganesh Shah said, “Nepal Government has passed the framework for Digital Nepal, and an event like ICT Awards is a good platform as a step towards reaching the reaching that goal.” Hari Bashyal – Secretary, MoCIT also expressed his gratitude towards the organizing team for making this event happen and the participants for their effort to contribute to the ICT sector.
The Huawei ICT Awards 2020 was presented in 12 different categories. The Huawei ICT Awards 2020 received more than 350 online nominations this year, as well as nominations from jury advisors. The Huawei ICT Awards 2020 had 14 jury members and equal jury advisors.
Among the categories at the Huawei ICT Awards 2020, Startup ICT Awards, Product ICT Awards, Rising Student ICT Awards, and Ncell Innovation ICT Awards were announced after being selected in various categories. The winners of Digital Education, Digital Governance ICT Awards Pioneer ICT Award, Entrepreneur ICT Award, Nepali Diaspora ICT Award, Woman Icon ICT Award, and Media Person ICT Award 2020 have also been announced.
The organizing committee, jury, and advisory committee have worked tirelessly to make the event a success. Three times more nominations were received for the award than last year and four months were spent for the selection process. More than 25 jury meetings have been held. Most jury selection processes and meetings were conducted virtually using information technology to the maximum.
“This is the first time in Nepal that technology has been used to make the selection process fair, transparent, and credible, and it is exemplary for all,” said jury coordinator Sushil Pokharel.
The winners for different categories were as follows:
Name of the Award Award winner
Startup ICT Award – Cryptogen Nepal Pvt. Ltd.
Product ICT Award – CPFDS
Rising Student ICT Award – Sanchai Chau
Ncell Innovation ICT Award – Paaila Emergency Resuscitator
Digital Education Award – Budhanilkantha School
Digital Governance ICT Award – Inland Rand Revenue
Pioneer ICT Award – Mr. Nilkantha Uprety
Entrepreneur ICT Award – Mr. Binay Bohora
Nepali Diaspora ICT Award – Mr. Gaurav Raj Upadhaya
Women Icon ICT Award – Mrs. Timila Yami Thapa
Media Person ICT Award – Mr. Kiran Acharya
Jury Mention ICT Award – Hamro Swasthya
Among the winners, there were some notable ones to attract huge applause and prizes. Cryptogen Nepal Pvt. Ltd. won the Startup ICT Award for their work on information security, by equipping many companies with cybersecurity. CPFDS took the title of Product ICT Award for their Anti Money Laundering Solution. A total of 18 banking and financial institutions in Nepal have been using this solution. Sanchai Chau won the Rising Student award for developing a health consulting app to improve the daily lifestyle. Paaila Emergency Resuscitator was awarded the Ncell Innovation Driven Crisis Response Award for bringing innovation to the Nepali market to provide critical ventilators to hospitals during the chaos of COVID 19. Woman ICT Award was a newly added category this year which was awarded to Mrs. Timila Yami Thapa. She requested the government to invest in education and giving loans, and also focused on the importance of ICT by stating that an investment of Rs.1 will generate millions.
As a major sponsor of this event, Huawei received some good remarks from the guests and the participants. Ganesh Shah showed appreciation to Huawei for not only being a globally leading ICT solutions provider but also for its dedication to contribute to the ICT sector of Nepal for more than 20 years. Hari Bashyal also thanked Huawei for helping to organize such an event that paves a path towards building technologies to improve the ICT sector. A special token was awarded to Huawei Nepal by Honorable minister Parbat Gurung for supporting this event and Nepal’s ICT sector, altogether being a responsible corporate citizen. Mr. Willian Zhang, CEO of Huawei Nepal also shared his delight to collaborate with ICT Award. He added that Huawei being the leading tech company of the world is glad to contribute to honoring the best ones in the ICT sector and strengthen the tech sector of Nepal. He also shared Huawei’s experience in different countries of the world regarding helping to develop ICT sectors. And, he expressed Huawei Nepal’s commitment to bring digital to Nepal with all ICT stakeholders and making everyone in Nepal benefit from the digital world.
What do award winners get?
Winners of the Huawei ICT Awards 2020 will receive special honors, shields, and more.
This year, the winners of Startup ICT Award, Product ICT Award, Rising Student ICT Award, and Innovation Driven Crisis Response ICT Award 2020 will have the opportunity to be included in the concessional loan facility up to Rs. 5 million under the Startup Fund of the Government of Nepal.
Banking partner Rashtriya Banijya Bank will provide unauthorized concessional loan facility up to Rs. 1 million. The winner of the Innovation-Driven Crisis Response ICT Award will receive special prize money (300,000) through Ncell.
Nepal Telecom, which is in the association, will provide high-speed fiber to the home service to all the winners for one year. Huawei Nepal – the title sponsor will provide free Huawei Cloud Services to the top 5 and Genese Solutions will provide the winners with Amazon web hosting service worth $5,000. E-Sewa will help the best in their business integration and promotion free of cost. Cybersecurity partner Eminence Wise will provide the necessary support packages for cybersecurity. In addition, the winner will receive other services and facilities.
