ICT STARTUP AWARDS 2022
Tanzania is an emerging market for tech and innovation with a size of the ICT Market of more than 1 Billion USD Dollars. Startups from Tanzania have started to champion Tanzania, regional, and world tech market entails being acknowledged for their contribution. The ICT awards are celebrated at the Tanzania Annual ICT Conference to support the spirit of entrepreneurship and provide a spotlight to those who dare to dream big and shape the future. Since last year, we have made these awards an annual event with the hope to act as a catalyst for the growth of the ICT sector. The focus of this year's award is ICT startups. Specifically, ICT startups that are building innovative products/solutions, scalable enterprises, with high potential for employment generation or wealth creation as well as demonstrating measurable social impact. The measure of success will not only be the financial gains for the investors but also the contribution to the social good.
This year, the award will be provided to ICT Startups that have incorporated and demonstrated growth within the organization, created ICT products, services, and/or a business model that can be successfully implemented in the long run and carries the prospect in the future market. The awards will be held in Zanzibar as a side event of the upcoming Tanzania Annual ICT Conference 2022. The ICT Awards 2022 aims to recognize and appreciate the contribution of startups in their effort to transform the face of ICT in Tanzania. ICT Award accelerates progress on the SDGs which is based on a framework based on building Infrastructure, securing Investment, promoting Innovation, and ensuring Inclusivity which serves to build the digital ecosystem. The goal of the Startup award is to honor and recognize the exceptional achievements and contributions of startups to the ICT sector. There are a total of 11 awards are expected to celebrate at this conference.
SELECTION CRITERIA
To ensure that the awards are as accurate as possible, we have based our algorithm on
objective, quantifiable data that can be comparatively measured across the ecosystem of startups in Tanzania. Every applicant for the Startup ICT Award goes through three different stages. The stages are as follows:
Stage 1:
To reach out to interested startups, we seek information on startups from incubators, accelerators, and Tanzania Startups Association. The incubators, accelerators, and Tanzania Startups Association will evaluate the documents, the jury shortlists the startups that have met the criteria.
Stage 2:
The submitted documents of the shortlisted startups that have met the criteria will be verified by the internal team.
Stage 3:
Based on the above three stages and the internal evaluation team, the winner is decided by the ICT Professionals through the process of voting. Hence this award is the ICT Professional Choice Award.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
The 5 criteria used in the review are:
1. The startup must be incorporated in Tanzania
2. Evidence of ICT-related service or product
3. Evidence of outcome of the ICT product/service in enriching and empowering the lives of Tanzanians and others
4. Contribution to employment either primarily or as a secondary outcome
5. Growth metrics: Evidence of increased revenue or sales or users, or downloads in case of software from inception to date
6. Relevance to the respective awards nominated theme
CATEGORIES
1. Rising Star ICT Startup Award 2022
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the technology sector by ICT startups run by Youths and Students. Anyone who is a full-time student or a youth below 30 years can participate in this category.
2. Rising Star Girls ICT Startup Award 2022
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the technology sector by ICT startups run by girls. Any startup run by a girl(s) below 30 years can participate in this category.
3. Agritech
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the agriculture sector by ICT startups.
4. Blue Economy
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the blue economy by ICT startups.
5. Edutech
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the education sector by ICT startups.
6. Fintech
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the area of payment, financial inclusion, and insurance by ICT startups.
7. HealthTech
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the area of the health sector by ICT startups.
8. TourTech
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the area of the tourism sector by ICT startups.
9. Digital inclusion
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the area of digital inclusion by ICT startups run by people with disabilities.
10. e-Commerce
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the area of eCommerce by ICT startups.
11. Digital Security
This award aims to recognize the contribution and innovation made in the area of digital security by ICT startups.
BENEFITS FOR THE WINNERS OF THE AWARD
Besides the recognition, the winners will receive multiple services and facilities with special honors including the visibility of their logos on the website of the ICT Commission for one year. The Startup winners will also receive investment opportunities. At the same time, the winners and the best in the categories will have a chance to participate in international events.
