The grand finale of the ICT Awards 2021, a prestigious award in the field of information and communication technology, has been completed. In the award organized by Living with ICT, the best in 12 different categories was given ICT Award 2021. The selection process for the 6th edition of the ICT Awards has been going on for the past 5 months. This year's awards received more than 400 online nominations in 11 different categories.
Manohar Kumar Bhattarai, an ICT expert, has been honored with the Pioneer ICT Award 2021 under the F1 Soft ICT Award. Similarly, Gun Keshari Pradhan, Nepal's first female computer engineer, received the Ncell Woman ICT Award 2021. The Entrepreneur ICT Award was received by Dipesh Pradhan, Founder of Yomari Company. The Nepali Diaspora ICT Award was given to Prashant Dhungel, co-founder of GrowByData.
The ICT Award also includes awards in the fields of education and governance. The Digital Governance ICT Award has been received by the Department of Land Management and Records this year. The department has received awards in the competition of more than 30 different government organizations. Similarly, Digital Services ICT Award was received by Nepal Clearing House (NCHL). The Digital Education ICT Award has been received by Public and Private Sector Kalika Anthropology Butwal and Ratobangala School Patan respectively.
Kheti Venture has received the Huawei Startup ICT Award among the important and competitive public voting categories in the award. Similarly, Mikha Product received the Product ICT Award. Musur has received the Rising Star Innovation ICT Award prepared by the students of Pulchowk Engineering. Bugby has received the Public Choice ICT Award out of the top 10 and 10 out of 30 of these three categories.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, former Minister Parvat Gurung, Secretary Dr. Baikuntha Aryal, Secretary Shuresh Acharya, Honorable Members of National Planning Commission Dr. Pushpa Raman Wagle and Dr. Ram Kumar Phuyal presented the award to the winner. Senior Economic Adviser to the Finance Minister Dr. Surend «« Upreti and Nashtaka Vice Chancellor Dr. The winners have received various attractive prizes along with the award in the presence of distinguished personalities including Sunil Babu Shrestha.
The program was attended by various ministries, departments, government agencies, banks and corporates, IT, education sector as well as entrepreneurs and startups. The program, which was attended by more than 700 people, was aired live on Himalaya Television, Online and Hamropatro. Speaking on the occasion, Rajan Lamsal, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, said that the ICT Award is an important campaign aimed at developing Nepali startups, innovation and digital ecosystem with the cooperation of all.
Rastriya Banijya Bank has given concessional loan facility of up to Rs 1.5 million to 3 winners of Startup and Innovation, Ncell has given Rs 300,000 to Woman Icon, Huawei Cloud service of Rs 300,000 to 5 startups, Genus Solutions has given free consultant to all winners and 2 schools to Nepal for one year. The winners were given additional prizes by attractive data packages, Dishome Internet facility, ISEWA and other affiliates.
Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the ICT Award would help in the development of new thinking and technology. Karki said that the ICT Award has helped the youth working in the field in encouraging and developing their talents. Secretary of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Baikushtha Aryal, said that the ICT Award has given a message to the government to be more responsible as it is working in different ways for digital Nepal and digital transformation. Aryal says the award will inspire a new generation to work on innovation tomorrow.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sunil Babu Shrestha, Vice-Chancellor of NAST, said that the ICT Award is not only a place to distribute awards but also a good model of public-private partnership. Former Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung said that the ICT Award has made significant contribution for the development of information and communication technology sector.
Member of the National Planning Commission Dr. Pushpa Raman Wagle said that ICT should be used to maintain good governance in the country. He said that he was trying to transform technology through awards. Education, Science and Technology Secretary Shuresh Acharya, Advisor to the Finance Minister Dr Upreti and others said that the future would be driven by ICT.
This year's ICT Awards included Startup and Innovation Fest, mentoring sessions, story-sharing sessions, field visits, presentations and speed dating sessions for former winners and award contestants. Hemapal Shrestha, Jury Coordinator of ICT Awards, said that the winner was selected after 4 months of in-depth study and selection of 7 different stages.
There were 12 jury members and 15 advisory committees for the award selection. Jury Coordinator Shushil Pokhrel said the ICT Awards were not just an awards ceremony but an initiative to build a strong foundation for the digital ecosystem and economy.
More than 35 organizations have collaborated in the award program sponsored by F1Soft. The ICT Award 2021 is sponsored by F1Soft Soft, co-sponsored by Nepal Telecom and Janes Solutions.
Similarly, Huawei and Dishhome Fibernet are among the powered partners, Ncell is the category sponsor and Rastriya Banijya Bank is the banking partner. The award program has the support of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Information Technology Center, NAST, Federation of Nepali Chambers of Commerce and Industry and others.
Similarly, Presidential Business School, Rescue, Apply Job, eSewa Mentor Lab, Eminence Wage, Dynamic TechnoSoft, Texas International, Nepal Bank Limited, Fuse Machines, Barcode Nepal, Nepal Entrepreneurs Hub, Our Calendar and Plant de Nepal were some of the organizations.
List of winners of F1Soft ICT Award 2021:
1) Huawei Startup ICT Award - Kheti Venture
2) Product ICT Award - Mikha
3) Rising Star ICT Award - Mashur
4) Nepal Bank Pioneer ICT Award - Manohar Kumar Bhattarai
5) Ncell Woman Icon ICT Award - Gun Keshari Pradhan
6) Entrepreneur ICT Award - Dipesh Pradhan, Yomri
7) Nepali Diaspora ICT Award - Prashant Dhungel, GrowByData
8) Digital Services ICT Award - Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL)
9) Digital Services ICT Award (Public Sector) - Department of Land Management and Records
10) Digital Education ICT Award (Private Sector) - Rato Bangla School
11) Digital Education ICT Award (Public Sector) - Kalika Secondary School
12) Public Choice ICT Award - Bugv
