The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, the advocacy body for the telecommunications industry in Ghana, has launched a new awards program known as the Multimedia Excellence in Technology Awards.
This was announced in Accra during the Chamber’s annual media dialogue.
The awards ceremony, which will be held annually, will reward eligible journalists with recognized media houses as well as independent journalists for their contribution to the advancement of the industry.
Areas of focus for the awards will include reporting issues affecting Tower Companies, Mobile Network Operators, Fiber Infrastructure Companies, Original Equipment Manufacturers, Electronic Money issuers, among others.
Awardees will receive cash prizes, certificates, mementos and an educational tour of industry member businesses in Ghana.
Recognition of the role of the media
The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, said the initiative of the awards was to encourage the Fourth Estate of the kingdom to take on some of the key issues within the technology ecosystem in the country.
He explained that the new awards program will ultimately seek to reward deserving journalists who have contributed to the development of the telecom ecosystem and the technology ecosystem as a whole, through the insightful stories and reports they have produced.
judges
Media professionals are expected to submit as many stories and reports as they wish to be shortlisted for an award with the final winners determined by three prominent figures in Ghana’s telecommunications and media — Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, Cynthia Lumor and Gayheart Mensah. who would serve as final judges of the Technology Industry Multimedia Excellence Awards.
The current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Minerals Development Fund and former CEO of the Chamber, Mr. Sakyi-Addo, speaking at the event, highlighted the important and transformative role that telecommunications and technology have played in driving economic growth in the country and beyond country. people said it was important that the stories told be simple for ordinary Ghanaians.
Tullow Ghana Deputy Managing Director Mrs Lumor also said she expected the stories awarded to be relevant, accurate, have correct style and grammar.
He added that stories and reports must be objective, independent and informative among others.
A Media and Communications Consultant, Gayheart Mensah, on his part, said the media has an important role to play when it comes to the cooperation of the telecommunications and technology ecosystem as a whole to perform their functions well to improve lives of the common Ghanaian.