The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) has announced the launch of the highly anticipated Digital Prosperity Awards to honor and celebrate the remarkable digital contributions that enable prosperity for all, particularly in advancing the digital economy, which has a critical role in boosting nations’ development and growth.

The Digital Prosperity Awards are structured around three core pillars and each pillar is bestowed in individual award categories, each representing a crucial aspect of digital advancement:

Digital Innovation:

• An award for recognizing outstanding initiatives that leveraged disruptive technology solutions to drive significant positive change and advancement.

Digital Transformation:

• An award for acknowledging exemplary efforts in utilizing digital technologies to enhance decision-making processes, fostering progress and prosperity.
• An award for celebrating exceptional cooperation endeavors leveraging digital solutions to drive progress and prosperity.

Empowering Society:

• An award for honoring exemplary initiatives that demonstrate ethical practices and principles in utilizing digital technologies for societal advancement and prosperity.
• An award recognizing outstanding contributions in leveraging digital innovations to address environmental challenges and promote sustainability for a prosperous future.

“The launch of the Digital Prosperity Awards is a significant milestone in recognizing outstanding digital contributions of the organizations that enable prosperity for all”, said Ms. Deemah AlYahya, the Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO). “We are looking forward to identifying the best digital innovators from the DCO’s Member States and worldwide that benefit humankind.”

Ms. AlYahya added, “The awards aim to acknowledge exceptional initiatives in adopting best practices, policies, and strategies to accelerate digital transformation in their respective countries. The objective is to accelerate digital economic advancement and lay the groundwork for constructive cooperation, cultivating shared vision and aspirations among all stakeholders. The awards reinforce the role of the DCO as an information provide, advocator, facilitator, and advisor, speeding up the sustainable growth of the digital economy and digital transformation of Member States, further strengthening the welfare, social stability, and cooperation to achieve digital prosperity for all.”

A large and varied technical committee and judging panel of impartial global leaders, innovators, and technical specialists will thoroughly assess the strongest entrants and nominees based on their initiatives tackling local, regional, or global challenges in all economic sectors, fostering a more inclusive and digitally advanced world through cooperation and innovation.

In each category, there will be a winner from the public sector and another from the private sector or civil society, both exclusively representing DCO Member States.

Those victorious from the private sector or civil society will be eligible for the DCO Member Prize for Digital Prosperity for All.

Additionally, there will be one finalist from global civil society for each category which is open to nominations from the public, and the ultimate recipient will be handed the DCO International Prize for Digital Prosperity for All.

To learn more about the award categories and the nomination process and submit or nominate a project, visit the official Digital Prosperity Awards website.

The 472-page page hardcover book is an experiential chronicles of Nigeria’s sojourn through the backwaters of IT and Telecoms to the revolution which inspires the present global reference of its institutions, corporate entities/brands and the individual skills sets.

Other high profile techies expected to grace the occasion among others include Dr Emmanuel Ekuwem, the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government and a former President of the Association of Telecommunications companies of Nigeria (ATCON) who has been a dogged advocate of ubiquitous broadband connectivity across the length and breadth of Nigeria 

The book public presentation will be preceded by the eworld Forum 2022 themed: 4G, 5G Broadband connectivity and the Economy.

The paper presentation session by the current Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta would be chaired by Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, Chairman MTN Nigeria who was the EVC/CEO of NCC when Nigeria recorded the landmark success with the award of the GSM licences.

Atiku was the head of the nation’s Economy management team during the two-term regime of former President Olusegun Obadanjo from 1999 to 2007.

It was the regime that berthed the celebrated accolades recorded with the Digital Mobile Licensing (DML) which introduced the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) technology to the nation’s telephone network.

As recorded in the book, for the posterity sake, Atiku also played a key role subverting the surreptitious plot by high ranking government officials who attempted to throw spanners in the works in order to scuttle the GSM auction processes when President Obasanjo was out of the country.

Details of the plot that could have denied Nigeria the globally acclaimed integrity and epoch making mobile revolution and how Atiku filled the leadership gap in the absence of his boss have been intricately narrated in the book.

The veteran journalists also gave incisive details of how and why it took Nigeria about a decade to successfully issue globally benchmark GSM licences.

Details of the interests of the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha and the connections of the Chagouri family were also lucidly narrated in the new book.

Also profiled in the book are the contributions of the celebrated and unsung Nigerians and corporate entities who sacrificed sweat and blood to endure the uncharted pathways to Nigeria’s noble contributions to the national and global IT, Telecoms and computing ecospheres. 

The role of the Surulere, the sprawling Lagos Mainland community in the computerise Nigeria is also revisited in the new book.

The book segmented into five sections avails Nigerians the tricks and trials that the pioneer players in the Technology, Telecoms and Computing business environment endured to translate to the powerful statements in the fintech, Creative Hubs, telecoms, technology, robotics and other generational expertise and milestones that Nigeria is now showcasing to the world.

The book, first of its kind to articulate Nigeria’s roadmap from the pre-independence analogue era to the present day digital connectivity will be useful not only to the industry enthusiasts, scholars, academia, researchers and students; avid readers will also find it very interesting as a worthy collection.