The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has launched the Kuza ICT Awards, which have been expanded to cover the wider ICT sector.
CA Director General (DG) David Mugonyi said that the awards are meant to celebrate the achievements and contributions of individuals and organizations driving excellence and innovation in the broadcasting and ICT sectors.
Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday during the launch, Mugonyi said they believe that their role is bigger than rule-setting and enforcement. “We are equally responsible for creating an environment that allows our stakeholders to grow, explore opportunities, and make a difference in our country through the products and services they offer,” said Mugonyi.
The DG said that the ICT Week and Kuza Awards are platforms designed to maximise the Authority’s engagement with the ICT sector as well as being important channels for powering the Digital and Creative Economy pillars of the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
“Over the last decade, the platform has evolved into an authoritative forum for the careful dissection of emerging issues, the thoughtful deconstruction of issues, and the clear articulation of the way forward for Kenya’s ICT sector,” said Mugonyi.
He explained that the ICT week has helped them improve relationships with sector players, increase collaboration, and hasten innovation, all of which helps to move the sector and the country’s economic agenda forward.
“About seven years ago, CA initiated the Kuza broadcasting awards to recognise excellence in the subsector. After careful reflection and feedback from the industry, we realised we could add more value to the 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,” said Mugonyi.
He said that this union allows them to energise the ICT week, create broad-based industry awards, and benefit from the synergies of having an all-inclusive event.
Mugonyi explained that under this new arrangement, ICT Week 2024 will culminate in the first edition of the Kuza ICT Awards, adding that this expansion broadens the scope of awards to recognise excellence across various regulated services in the ICT industry.
CA Corporate Communication Director Christopher Wambua said that the 2024 Kuza ICT Awards will have additional award categories, and they will include Broadcasting, Postal and Courier, Cybersecurity, Telecommunications, Green ICT, Lifetime achievement, Child Online Protection and Women in Tech.
Wambua explained that voting for the various categories will be open to the public from April 22 to May 22, 2024. For the people’s choice category, there are two methods of voting, which include SMS via the number 15601, which is free of charge, and through the website www.kuzaawards.co.ke .
“The ICT Week 2024 will run from June 5 to June 6, 2024, while the Kuza ICT Awards will be the highlight of the week, which is on June 7, 2024,” said Wambua.
“The theme for this year is ‘Innovation for Sustainable Digital Future’ and the reason for this theme is cognizant of the fact that technologies are evolving and, as regulators, we need to move into these new areas,” said Wambua, adding that as they issue the awards, they want to recognise compliance with the authority’s regulations.
African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Secretary-General John Omo said that the broadening of the Kuza Awards scope from broadcasters to the general ICT sector is a commendable move.
“As captains of industry, we have a great responsibility to make a positive impact in the various sectors that we are in, so let us do it,” said Omo.
ICT Authority CEO Stanley Kamanguya said that technological disruptions have gone beyond the ICT sector, and data indicates that the digital economies are outpacing the traditional economies by 2.5 times in terms of growth.
“In government, we have clear plans for our digital economy, and we have been calling on our colleagues in the private sector to work with us so that together we can advance the sector, and we really appreciate the support that is coming from the private sector,” said Kamanguya.
He called on the private sector to collaborate and work together to share infrastructure in the spirit of Ubuntu, which will reduce duplication and thus reduce the cost of connectivity.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a
