Five lucky contestants walked away with the top prizes at the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (URCA) Inaugural ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Awards Ceremony held last Friday.

The flagship competition was open to students in three categories: Primary (4th to 6th Grade students), Secondary (7th to 12th Grade students) and Young Adult (individuals age 18 to 30).
The winners included: Avante Knowles for the Primary Essay Category; Thalya Maksyhung for the Primary Illustration Category; Andre Rolle for the Primary Video Category; Ryan Farquharson for the Secondary Category and Jasmine Williams for the Young Adult Category.

Prizes included: cash, tablets, smartphones, an internship with URCA and an all-expense-paid trip to an ITU event.

Since the competition was launched in September, there were more than 180 entries submitted – 136 from New Providence and 25 from Grand Bahama , as well as, other Bahamian Islands.

In the primary category, students were asked to imagine their school without chalkboards and books and create an essay, illustration or video that captured what their school would like with technology at its core.
In the secondary category, students were asked to create a video that depicts how ICT can improve one of seven areas of national development.
These areas included: recreation, island life, disaster preparedness and recovery, education, cyber security and privacy, health and the Internet of things.
Similarly, the young adult entrants were challenged to create a concept that used ICT to improve one of the same seven areas of national development.
URCA Board Member J.P.Morgan said he was proud that the mandate of the competition was accomplished.

URCA’s Corporate & Consumer Relations Manager, Mavis Johnson Collie expressed excitement regarding the overall execution and end result of the competition, expressing thanks to the panel of judges and parents of the contestants.
“They knew exactly what they were looking for and we know that this process was one that was executed with the utmost integrity for all of the participants and all of the entries.”
“Thank you for allowing them to have a view of your children’s and your work and I know that you will be pleased as we are with the results.”
“It is said that youth is the future of every culture,” he said. “It is also said that ICT is now an essential ingredient – an essential delivery, an essential path, an essential infrastructure – even for economical and national development.

“The goal with this competition was to spark the imagination and curiosity of our young people and to consider how ICT can be used to improve the nation that we all live in.”

URCA’S Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stephen Bereaux described the response to the competition as “amazing” and “absolutely overwhelming”.
“All it takes is the effort – the incentive and the encouragement to get our people especially our young people, jumping on the bandwagon and really digging deep, deep into their intellect to find amazing ways that technology can enhance our lives,” he said.
“We at URCA are firm believers that a country like the Bahamas with all our islands could not exist without technology, and the most clearly visible path to a bigger and brighter future for our country, lies through the adoption and development of technology.”
Organizers said although here was a lot of effort and hard work put into refining the competition to pull off its debut, it was a wonderful accomplishment that the institution looks forward to expanding in years to come.