Announcing the call for nominations which will be open to all government and private entities in Latin America and the Caribbean
Today the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched Innovatic Awards. The goal of the Innovatic Awards program is to elevate awareness about the importance of using information and communication technologies (ICT) for innovation and productivity. The launch targets public and private institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The call for nominations came during the "The digitization of business: an imperative for competitiveness" session at the Competitiveness Forum of the Americas, being held from October 24th to the 25th in Cali, Colombia.
The IDB’s Competitiveness and Innovation Division is promoting the awards as an instrument for identifying and disseminating good policy practices and innovative uses of ICT for business development in the region, with emphasis on the use of broadband as an essential resource for increasing competitiveness.
The awards are divided into five categories:
- The best program for promoting ICT in businesses. This award will recognize the public or public-private (national or subnational) institution that has achieved the best results in terms of promoting ICT in firms.
- The e-Government service that contributes the most to increasing firm productivity. This award will be given to the public or public-private (national or subnational) institution where services provided electronically had the greatest effect on firm productivity. This award will consider e-Government services that include, but are not limited to those that simplify and shorten procedures, improve firms’access to new business opportunities, contribute to the digitization of corporations, and improve the business climate.
- The most innovative use of broadband connectivity in a business. This award will honor the business (with no more than 250 employees) that presents the most innovative use of broadband connectivity for business development.
- The best use of e-commerce for business development. This award will recognize the company that presents the most innovative use of e-commerce for business development.
- The best use of social networks for business. This award will be given to the firm that demonstrates the best use of online social networks from the point of view of innovation and impact on brand image, recruitment and customer loyalty.
The awards will be judged by a panel made up of specialists from the IDB and other organizations that work to promote ICT and broadband penetration in firms.
The deadline for nominations is December 3, 2012. Nominations can be submitted through the following website: www.bidinnovacion.org/innovatic