Kathmandu: Genese Solution, a UK-based IT consulting and cybersecurity company, and Zoom—a global communications technology company—have sponsored the highly successful ICT Award ceremony in Kathmandu.
The grand finale of the 9th edition of the InDrive ICT Award 2024, supported by Ncell Foundation, took place at Hyatt Regency Kathmandu last week.
“The InDrive ICT Award 2024 provided a common platform to bring together industry leaders, entrepreneurs, officials, and academics to discuss prospects and challenges the ICT industry is facing in Nepal,” said Niranjan Kunwar, Chief Technical and Cybersecurity Officer of Genese Solution. “We are so happy to have joined forces with this year’s ICT Award.”
Living with ICT, the organizers called for nominations in 14 categories this year, including the ‘Social Innovation ICT Award 2024’—the’ newly added category this year. The award encompassed technology sector startups, innovations, products, digital services offered by government and private organizations, and digital education.
The awards were presented by the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Hon’ble Prithvi Subba Gurung, Chief Minister of Karnali Province, and Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Prof. Dr. Shivaraj Adhikari, among others. This year’s Pioneer ICT Award was conferred upon Prof. Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma, the founder of Kathmandu University.
The Ncell Women Icon ICT Award went to Bandana Sharma, head of the Digital Banking and Cards Department at Nepal Bank. The Professional Excellence ICT Award was awarded to Dr. Bishesh Khanal, founder of Namica. The Entrepreneur ICT Award was presented to Manohar Adhikari, founder of Foodmandu, while the Nepali Diaspora ICT Award was won by Nami Baral, co-founder of Neural Company.
This year’s Indrive Startup ICT Award was won by Crimson Tech Company, while the Asia Foundation Social Innovation ICT Award 2024 was awarded to GeoKrishi. The Product ICT Award was received by the API Management System, and the Rising Star Innovation ICT Award was won by SpeakUp.
Similarly, the HamroPay Public Choice ICT Award, which received the highest number of votes, was won by Jyaap Services. The South Asia Startup ICT Award 2024, targeted at startups from all seven countries, was won by India’s Hyphen Associates. Startups from other countries that made it to the top five were also honored.
In the institutional award categories, this year’s Digital Governance Award was received by the Supreme Court, while the Digital Services Award was won by IME Pay. The Digital Education ICT Award was conferred on Sukuna Secondary School in Morang (public sector) and LRI Kalanki (private sector).
In addition, the best startups from all seven provinces were recognized with the Province Startup ICT Recognition 2024. The awardees included Delta Tech Pvt. Ltd. (Koshi Province), Tejas Tech Pvt. Ltd. (Madhesh Province), AbhiyantrikKarmashalaPvt. Ltd. (Bagmati Province), Akash Digital Pvt. Ltd. (Gandaki Province), Ninja Infosys Pvt. Ltd. (Lumbini Province), Business Online Service Pvt. Ltd. (Karnali Province), and Far West Infotech and Research Center (Sudurpashchim Province).
The event was further enhanced by musical performances by popular singers Mahesh Kafle and Asmita Adhikari.
Since 2016, the ICT Awards program, organized annually by Living with ICT, has been recognized as the largest and most prestigious awards program in the information and communication technology sector. The ICT Awards are also official partners of international awards like the WSA Awards and Aurora Tech Awards.
This year’s ICT Awards 2024 received over 800 online nominations across 14 categories. The selection process was completed after more than 25 meetings conducted by a jury comprising 14 national and 3 international experts.
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