CIO100 Is Back!

• To be selected, applications must demonstrate measurable business value and transformation and not limit it to just IT benefits.
• There is no nomination fee, and a potential awardee can nominate themselves, their customer, their organisation, or a partner.
• Hosted by dx⁵ (formerly CIO Africa), a CIO100 Award is an acknowledged mark of enterprise excellence in business transformation enabled by IT, enhancing your organisation’s reputation as a leader in its sector.
• A CIO100 Award generates positive PR and provides tangible, industrywide recognition of leadership, innovation, and engagement.
• The event will be held on 22 – 24 November 2023. Leadership, innovation, and business strategy conversations will dominate the event. Executives from the winning companies will be recognised by their peers and colleagues at the CIO100 Awards ceremony in Diani, Kenya.

The 15th edition of the CIO100 Awards has been launched.

The annual CIO100 Awards programme celebrates 100 organisations, and the people within them, using IT in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantage, optimising business processes, enabling growth, improving relationships with customers, or digitally transforming the business.

Hosted by dx⁵ (formerly CIO Africa), a CIO100 Award is an acknowledged mark of enterprise excellence in business technology, enhancing your organisation’s reputation as a leader in its sector. It generates positive PR and provides tangible, company wide recognition of the IT organisation’s hard work and accomplishments.

Applications that focus on the business goals and results of the project or use of technology have a better chance of winning. Applicants must provide data and examples that support their claims of innovation and show exactly how the business value was delivered.

The theme for this year’s awards is Future Proofing For Business Excellence. Kelly Bentley, CEO, dx⁵, said the CIO100 Awards is an indispensable event for business and IT leaders across the continent. “In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, future proofing isn’t just a strategy, it’s a necessity. At dx⁵, we’re dedicated to empowering businesses to navigate uncertainty and embrace innovation, ensuring business excellence for the long haul.”

She added, “Future proofing means embracing change as a constant. As CEO of dx⁵, I’m excited to delve into discussions at CIO100, sharing insights on how businesses can harness technology to thrive in ever-shifting tides.”

Winning applications should include narrative examples or anecdotes that illustrate the results of the project, such as descriptions of how employees work differently, how customers interact with the company in new ways or the impact the project has had on the market. Nominations are now open. There is no nomination fee, and a potential awardee can nominate themselves, their organisation, a customer, or a partner. To be selected, applications must demonstrate measurable business value, not just IT benefits.

Organisations with innovative projects may be invited to present at the CIO100 Awards Symposium & Awards Ceremony. Harry Hare, the Chairman at dx⁵, shared a brief history of the awards while encouraging top business and IT leaders in Africa to apply for the prestigious awards.

“We have been recognising CIOs and the community we have built over the past 15 years, paying attention to the great work they have been doing in the adoption of technology. We move forward this year with an even better understanding of that community and are now delving deeper and wider and recognising C-Suite leaders involved in innovative digital transformation projects across multiple industries.” He added, “Last year we acknowledged CISOs and CXO executives. We encourage organisations, big and small, and executives all across Africa, to take part in this year’s edition of the awards.”

Anyone may nominate a company or organisation. Applications should be technology-based, focusing on how the organisation has utilised technology to drive business transformation and value. Technology vendors and their PR representatives are also invited to submit nominations, which can be a great way to recognise their customers. “Technology isn’t just a tool; it’s the bridge to business excellence. Innovation is the currency of the future, and at dx5, we’re committed to investing in its limitless potential. CIO100 in Diani is where leaders unite to share the blueprint for business excellence,” stated Bentley.

Following the nominations will be an initial review by the CIO100 team. The finalists will be chosen, evaluated, and scored by four regional external judges chosen from our panel of judges who include industry experts, academics, business executives, and former CIOs. The judging is based solely on the information submitted in the online application.

To be selected for a CIO100 Award, you must demonstrate excellence in:

Digital Innovation: The extent to which your organisation is using IT in a new way or enabling new ways of doing business, whether internally or externally.

Business Value: The measurable impact backed up by supporting data, that your project or initiative has had on your organisation’s business results.

CIO100 judges rate each application on the criteria measuring innovation and business value. All individual scores are kept confidential and will not be released publicly, nor will they be discussed with any applicants. The Award categories include Plus One Award, Industry Awards, and Main Awards.

Here are some of the awards:

– CIO100 CIO of the Year: This is a peer award where CIOs and the judges nominate a CIO or equivalent, one they think has excelled in managing the IT leadership function in an organisation.

Notable winners have included Jaine Mwai, Country Technology Manager, Kenya and East Africa, Standard Chartered Bank; the first and only female winner to date, Moses Okundi, CTO/CIO, Absa Bank, George Njuguna, Director, Information Technology (CIO), Safaricom PLC, Kenneth Ogwang’, Head of Digital and Technology – Eastern and Southern Africa at Diageo, and Tom Mboya Opiyo, then CIO at Unga Group and now CIO, Unilever.

– CIO100 CISO of the Year: This is a peer award where CISOs and the judges nominate a CISO or equivalent, one they think has excelled in leadership, cyber safety, and risk management in an organisation. This was the first of its kind with Thelma Kganakga, Group CISO, Equity Bank (K) Ltd. winning the crown.

-CIO100 CxO: This is a peer award where the CEO, COO, CMO, CHRO, and CFOs are nominated by their IT counterparts and the judges nominate the most influential executive based on involvement, process engagement, and team inclusion. Hector Tamez, then Head of Manufacturing, BAT Kenya; now Regional Head of Sustainability – Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa (APMEA), BAT, Bangladesh.

– CIO100 Infrastructure Award: CIO100 honours leaders who made their mark with an imposing repertoire of frameworks built to excel. The infrastructure special award will facilitate top IT implementation aimed at maximising returns from their IT infrastructure. In 2022, this went to the inimitable Absa Bank.

– CIO100 Green Edge Award: This award will acknowledge the Master of Technology practices that are sound, sustainable, and eco-friendly. The green edge award will recognize the topmost eco-friendly IT initiative in Africa. Previous winners have included Davis & Shirtliff, BAT and South Africa’s Uku’hamba Prosthetics and Orthotics (Pty) Ltd.

– CIO100 Plus One Awards/Industry Awards: These are given to the leading company within a specific industry.

Organisations with innovative projects may be invited to present at the CIO Symposium.

To apply, click on this link and complete the form following the instructions in each question. Give details regarding the project, why it started – the need, what technology was used- the solution, and always highlight the impact.

The CIO100 Awards ceremony comes at the tail end of the CIO100 Symposium & Awards, a three-day event that is the most powerful pan-African gathering of C-Suite executives. The event will be held from 22 – 24 November 2023.

Leadership, innovation, and business strategy conversations will dominate the event. Executives from the winning companies will be recognised by their peers and colleagues at the dx100 Awards ceremony in Diani, Kwale County, Kenya.

“CIO100 isn’t just an event; it’s a convergence of minds shaping the destiny of business. Let’s unlock the code to future proofing together, in the picturesque canvas of Diani, Kwale,” Hare concluded.

For more information on nominations and applications, talk to Melissa Dorsilla at melissa.dorsilla@cioafrica.co or call +254 717 535 307.

For more information, go to CIO100.