2019 WITSA ICT Global Excellence Awards

Σας ενημερώνουμε ότι ο WITSA (World Information Technology and Services Alliance/Παγκόσμιος Σύνδεσμος Πληροφορικής και Υπηρεσιών), στο πλαίσιο των εργασιών του, έχει θεσμοθετήσει τα “WITSA Global ICT Excellence Awards”. Τα βραβεία απονέμονται με στόχο να αναδειχθούν οι καλύτερες επιχειρήσεις και οι καλύτεροι χρήστες του κλάδου Τεχνολογιών Πληροφορικής και Επικοινωνιών, οι οποίοι ξεχωρίζουν για τα επιτεύγματά τους σε ό,τι αφορά τις εφαρμογές ΤΠΕ για το Δημόσιο Τομέα, τον Ιδιωτικό Τομέα, τη Δημιουργία Ψηφιακών Ευκαιριών και την Αειφόρο Ανάπτυξη.

Ο WITSA ιδρύθηκε το 1978 και αποτελεί μια κοινοπραξία 80 συνδέσμων πληροφορικής απ' όλο τον κόσμο, που σήμερα αντιπροσωπεύουν περισσότερο από το 90% της παγκόσμιας αγοράς πληροφορικής.

Ο ΣΕΠΕ, ως μέλος του WITSA (από το 1996), έχει προσκληθεί να υποβάλει την πρόταση του για ελληνικές υποψηφιότητες στο πλαίσιο των “2019 WITSA ICT Global Excellence Awards”, τα οποία θα ανακοινωθούν στο πλαίσιο του Παγκόσμιου Συνεδρίου Πληροφορικής “WCIT 2019”, στις 6-9 Οκτωβρίου 2019 στο Γερεβάν, στην Αρμενία.

Ως εκ τούτου, καλούνται οι επιχειρήσεις - μέλη του ΣΕΠΕ, που ενδιαφέρονται να υποβάλουν υποψηφιότητα, σύμφωνα με τις κατηγορίες και τα δεδομένα που θέτει ο WITSA, να στείλουν την πρόταση τους μέχρι την  Δευτέρα 10 Ιουνίου 2019.

Οι προτάσεις, που θα υποβληθούν στον ΣΕΠΕ θα αξιολογηθούν, προκειμένου να γίνει η τελική επιλογή και υποβολή των ελληνικών υποψηφιοτήτων προς τον WITSA.

AWARD CATEGORIES

1. PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AWARD
Award Criteria: This award recognizes successful partnerships between government and private sector entities in ICT. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a mechanism for government to procure and implement public infrastructure and/or services using the resources and expertise of the private sector. Where governments are facing ageing or lack of infrastructure and require more efficient services, a partnership with the private sector can help foster new solutions and bring finance. PPPs combine the skills and resources of both the public and private sectors through sharing of risks and responsibilities. This enables governments to benefit from the expertise of the private sector, and allows them to focus instead on policy, planning and regulation by delegating day-to-day operations.

PPPs can also help address longstanding barriers to the inclusion of persons with disabilities and the intersection with technological advancements, mitigate the negative effects from trade and technology change, as well as combatting cybercrime by leveraging multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive durable solutions and improve cooperation with industry and other stakeholders through information sharing initiatives, capacity-building programs, by employing responsible and equitable security vulnerability disclosure and remediation practices, and by jointly fostering technology innovations and investments that address global security challenges.

Other areas of private-public partnerships include new partnership opportunities with the ICT sector to deliver the technological transportation breakthroughs of tomorrow. PPPs can also help develop Local Innovation Ecosystems: The success of innovations often depends on the strength and development of the local innovation ecosystem, and public-private partnerships as government tools can effectively build ecosystems in a short period of time.

2. DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY/INCLUSION AWARD
Award Criteria: Individuals, academic institutions, corporations, NGOs or government authorities that have made a remarkable and successful effort at providing digital opportunities to those in need are eligible for this award. In order for the Digital Age to fulfill its promise, it must consider the unique challenges faced by diverse populations. Examples could include deployment of ICTs and Internet access among inner city populations, or in towns, rural areas or cities in developing and least-developed countries. This award also includes programs and initiatives that aid people with disabilities and others who face longstanding barriers to social inclusion. Digital Inclusion is defined as the “ability of individuals and groups to access and use information and communication technologies (ICTs). Digital inclusion encompasses not only access to the Internet but also the availability of hardware and software; relevant content and services; and training for the digital literacy skills required for effective use of ICTs.”

This award recognizes solutions enabling accessibility for those individuals who have traditionally not benefited from ICT. This award also seeks innovative solutions that create meaningful employment through ICT for those who have traditionally been underrepresented in the labor force. Of particular interest to WITSA are applications that embed inclusion and accessibility in the original design as opposed to retrofitting existing applications.

3. SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AWARD
Award Criteria: Individuals, academic institutions, corporations, NGOs or governments that have made a remarkable and successful effort at using ICTs as a tool to promote sustainable economic growth. Sustainable economic growth shall be defined as the ability to improve the financial and social well-being without compromising the prosperity or well-being of future generations; a sustainable economy is therefore one in which economic growth is decoupled from environmental impacts. Three key challenges are climate change, resource degradation and pollution.  At the heart of all three is energy efficiency and the role that ICTs may have. 

4. INNOVATIVE EHEALTH SOLUTIONS AWARD
Award Criteria: This Award recognizes Individuals, healthcare institutions, academic institutions, corporations, NGOs or governments that have made remarkable and successful efforts at utilizing ICTs as a tool to promote health and health care such as telehealth, mHealth (mobile health), eHealth or through eLearning, electronic health records, big data, legal frameworks, or social media. Solutions utilized may range from provision of information to keep citizens healthy, to support for public health in communities, care and support systems in health facilities, and from all the above the data needed to inform management and policy-makers.

5. DIGITAL INNOVATION AWARD
Disruption is changing the way we work, demanding businesses to move with speed and confidence, and continually innovate. The Digital Innovation Awards recognize businesses and entrepreneurs that have introduced noteworthy innovations in technology that advance business and IT. The Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications as well as technology that contributes significantly to improved efficiency, productivity and the performance of an organization, or more broadly helps Fulfilling the Promise of the Digital Age for everyone.

6. E-EDUCATION & LEARNING AWARD
The Digital Age is requiring new sets of skills, and adoption of new models of public education that emphasize coding, programming and computer science must be adopted. Contrary to popular belief, the digital gap is widening, putting pressure on countries to catch up. Public education must adopt new approaches to lifelong learning.  This award will be given to the best electronic learning project. We seek any innovative new technological tool, or any project that uses existing electronic learning tools in an innovative way. Such projects should facilitate and support learning through the use of information and communications technology.