Technology Industry Media Excellence Awards launched in Accra By Samuel Dowuona –

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, the advocacy body for the telecoms industry in Ghana, has launched a new awards scheme known as the Technology Industry Media Excellence Awards.

The announcement was made during the annual media dialogue engagement of the Chamber on Thursday, December 7, 2023, in Accra.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the institution, Ing. Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, the awards initiative would seek to encourage the 4^th estate of the realm to take on some of the key issues within the technology ecosystem in the country. The new awards scheme would, at the end of the day, seek to reward deserving journalists who are contributing to the development of the telecommunications ecosystem and the technology ecosystem as a whole through the insightful stories and reports they produce.

Adding their voices to the launch of the awards scheme were three eminent personalities within Ghana’s telecommunications and media landscape, Mr. Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, Mrs. Cynthia Lumor, and Mr. Gayheart Mensah, all of whom will serve as the final judges of the Technology Industry Media Excellence Awards.

On his part, the current Board Chairman of the Minerals Development Fund and former CEO of the Chamber, Mr. Sakyi-Addo, touched on the important and transformative role that telecommunications and technology have played in driving economic growth in Ghana and the rest of the world. For his expectations regarding the awards scheme, Mr. Sakyi-Addo noted that it was important that the stories that will be told are made simple for ordinary Ghanaians.

Relevance, accuracy, correct style, and grammar were a few of the many expectations of the Deputy Managing Director of Tullow Ghana, Mrs. Cynthia Lumor, when it came to the awards scheme. The others were stories and reports that were objective, independent, and informative, among others.

For renowned Media and Communications Consultant, Mr. Gayheart Mensah, the media has an important role to play when it comes to partnering with the telecommunications and technology ecosystem as a whole to help deliver the needed value to the ordinary Ghanaian. He also touched on the need for the media to give hope and optimism to readers to better understand and use technology as the country seeks to close its broadband usage gap.

Meeting with leading editors

In order to ensure the active participation of all media houses in this awards program and get their insights into ways to make the awards a success, the Chamber will be holding post-launch engagements with the leading news editors in the country in the coming weeks. Some editors applauded the awards scheme and called for increased support in the form of direct funding for some specialized stories and reports as well as capacity building for media practitioners.

Number of entries

The CEO of the Chamber clarified that media practitioners can submit as many stories and reports as they want in order to qualify for an award. He, however, spoke of the emerging era of convergence in media reporting and highlighted the inherent advantage for journalists who tell their stories using multiple channels.

Categorization

Dr. Ing. Ashigbey spoke of the plan of the award scheme organizers to create awards for different categories within the telecommunications and technology ecosystem as a whole. At present, the awards scheme will look at reports and stories that look into issues affecting;

1. Tower companies
2. Mobile Network Operators
3. Fibre infrastructure companies
4. Original Equipment Manufacturers
5. Electronic Money Issuers, among others

Timelines

The awards ceremony is to be held on a yearly basis. In the event that no strong entries are received in a particular year, the awards scheme will be postponed to the following year. The exact timelines for the inaugural Technology Industry Media Excellence Awards will be communicated in due time.

Prizes

• Study tour to an industry member’s operations in Ghana (Internships)
• Cash
• Certificates
• Plaques
• etc

Eligibility

• All journalists with recognized media houses
• Recognized independent journalists