Huawei ICT Awards 2020 Grand Finale concludes, winners announced

Kathmandu, 27 December (2020) - The grand finale of the fifth edition of the ICT Awards, the most prestigious award in the field of information technology in Nepal, was held on Saturday at Hotel Soaltee Crown Plaza.

The Huawei ICT Awards 2020, organized by Living with ICT, has been presented by Presented by the global ICT solution provider, Huawei.

At the Huawei ICT Awards 2020, awards have been given to 12 competitors, including 11 different categories and Jury Mansion.

Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung, Secretary to the Ministry Hari Basyal, former Minister Ganesh Shah, Member of the Planning Commission Dr. Ram Kumar Phuyal and CEO of Huawei Nepal Zhang Xiaojing presented the award to the winner.

International telecommunication and information technology company Huawei Nepal has been working remarkably in the field of telecommunication and information technology in Nepal for the past two decades. The company has been providing the latest and innovative technology, devices and services in the telecommunications sector, different vertical industries and consumer market. Huawei will be dedicated to continue to build a digital Nepal with all ICT stakeholders, making everyone in Nepal to benefit from the digital world.

At the ICT Awards 2020, the Rising Student Project from Sanchai Chou to the best institution of digital governance, the Inland Revenue Department, received the award. Nilkantha Upreti won the Pioneer ICT Award while Binay Vohora won the Entrepreneur Award. Similarly, Timila Yami received the Women in ICT Award while Gaurav Raj Upadhyay won the Nepali Diaspora ICT Award. The Ncell Innovation Driven Crisis Response ICT Award was received by Paila Resister while the Startup ICT Award was received by Cryptogen Nepal. Our Health has received the Product ICT Award CPFDS and the Jury Mansion ICT Award.

In addition to being the main sponsor of the Huawei ICT Awards 2020, Huawei Nepal will provide Huawei Cloud to the top five winners of 4 major Startup ICT Awards, Product ICT Awards, Rising Student ICT Awards and Ncell Innovation ICT Awards. Along with this, Ncell has also provided Rs 300,000 t the winners of the innovation category. Nepal Telecom has given Fiber to all the winners, Genus Solutions has given a credit of 5,000 dollars and E-sewa has given free business promotion.

Addressing the award function, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung said that the government wants to expand the technology and make the Digital Nepal campaign a success by creating a roster of technology experts. Stating that now is the time for information technology to clean up politics, Minister Gurung said that the award has encouraged the Nepali government to move forward from Nepali innovation. Similarly, Secretary Hari Basyal said that the dream of digital Nepal can be fulfilled with the cooperation and investment of world renowned companies like Huawei. Former Minister Ganesh Shah, Planning Commission member Ram Kumar Phuyal and Huawei's CEO Zhang also addressed the gathering. Huawei CEO Zhang expressed Huawei’s commitment to contribute high quality, wide coverage and affordable broadband connectivity to Nepal with all ICT stakeholders in Nepal

The Huawei ICT Awards 2020 has been awarded in 11 different categories, this time by adding one category to the Jury Mansion ICT Award 2020. 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 jurors and an equal number of 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, the top five were announced after various rounds of selection. The top three in the Digital Education and Digital Governance ICT Awards have been announced. The winners of 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 best award winners have been announced in the grand finale. The list of award winners is as follows.

Startup ICT Award - Cryptogen Nepal Pvt
Product ICT Award – CPFDS and KYC mamagement system
Rising Student ICT Award – Sanchai Chau
Ncell Innovation Driven Crisis ICT Award - Paila Emergency Resuscitator
Digital Education Award - Budhanilkantha School
Digital Governance ICT Award - Inland Revenue Department
Pioneer ICT Award - Nilkantha Upreti
Entrepreneur ICT Award - Vinay Bohora
Nepali Diaspora ICT Award - Gaurav Raj Upadhyay
Woman Icon ICT Award - Timila Yami Thapa
Media Person ICT Award - Kiran Acharya
Jury Mention ICT Award – Hamro Swasthya

In the program, the program was concluded between the contestants of the award and the limited number of guests by adopting all the criteria of health security as per the instructions of the Government of Nepal. Although this year's Huawei ICT Awards 2020 was delayed due to the Corona epidemic, due to the tireless efforts of sponsors, partners and the jury, the awards were organized in a more sophisticated way.

The organizing committee, jury, and advisory committee had worked tirelessly to make the event a grand success. This year, three times more nominations were received for the award compared to last year, and four months were spent on the selection process. More than 25 jury meetings were held. Most jury selection processes and meetings were conducted virtually using information technology to the maximum.

"We think that the use of technology in various ways to make the award selection process so fair, transparent, and credible is such a great example for Nepal," said jury coordinator Sushil Pokharel.

The grand finale of the Huawei ICT Awards 2020 organized by Living with ICT was telecasted live on Himalaya Television, Dish Home's channel, online portals, Hamro Patro app, Facebook, and YouTube.

More than 30 national and international organizations had worked together to make the Huawei ICT Awards 2020 a grand success. On behalf of the Government of Nepal, the ICT Ministry, Department of Information Technology, Nepal Telecommunication Authority, NAST, and other organizations had collaborated in this award.

In the Huawei ICT Awards 2020 presented by Huawei, Nepal Telecom and Genese had collaborated as associated partners. Fonepay was powered by partner. Likewise, Ncell, Rastriya Banijya Bank, eSewa, NAST, National Information Technology Center, Presidential Business School, Neema Academy, Eminence Ways, Dish Home, TDO Nepal, and other organizations had also collaborated. The Technology Journalist Forum (TJF) was also an acclaimed partner of the program.

Having a special collaboration with world-renowned tech company Huawei will help expand the award internationally.

The participation of Sophie Alcorn of Silicon Valley USA in the jury advisor of the award will help Nepali startups that want to expand their company internationally.

What will award winners receive?

The winners of the ICT Awards 2020 have received 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 get an 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 Rastriya Banijya Bank will provide an unrestricted concessional loan facility up to Rs. 1 million. The winner of the Innovation Driven Crisis Response ICT Award has received special prize money (three lakh rupees) from Ncell.

Nepal Telecom, which is in the association, will provide high speed Fiber to the Home (FTTH) service to all the winners for one year. Huawei Nepal – the title sponsor will provide free Huawei Cloud Services to the top 5 in four categories. Genese Solution will provide the winners with the Amazon Cloud Service. eSewa will help the best in their business integration and promotion free of cost. Cybersecurity partner Eminence Ways will provide the necessary support packages for cybersecurity. Besides, the winners will also receive other services and facilities.