Get Ready For CIO100 Awards In 2024!

The 16th edition of the CIO100 Awards is here!

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. In a nutshell:

To be selected, applications must demonstrate measurable business value and transformation and not limit it to just IT benefits.
There is no nomination fee. 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 20 – 22 November 2024 at Enashipai, Naivasha.
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 Kenya.

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. Harry Hare, Chairman and Director, dx⁵, said the CIO100 Awards is a vital, irreplaceable event for business and IT leaders across the continent. “With such a dynamic tech landscape and the rise of artificial intelligence over the past four years, business leaders are at the forefront of transformation and exploration. Technology isn’t just a strategy, it’s a necessity. At dx⁵, we have dedicated ourselves to empowering businesses to navigate uncertainty and embrace innovation. We believe in ensuring business excellence over the long haul.”

He added, “Businesses need to embrace change as a constant and I am thrilled about the discussions we will have at CIO100, interacting with leadership that appreciates how to harness technology and thrive by being light-footed.”

Winning applications are always the ones with the best narratives or well-shared anecdotes that serve to illustrate project results. Incorporating descriptions about how employees have evolved their work to be different, how customers are now engaging with the company in interesting or new ways or how one’s project has impacted the market tell a tale of success.

With nominations open, tech leaders, their teams, business leaders and even vendors are encouraged to apply. There is no nomination fee. One can nominate themselves, their organisation, a customer, or a partner. Just as a heads up, to be selected, applications must demonstrate measurable business value, not just IT benefits. Organisations that engineer innovative projects may be invited to present at the CIO100 Awards Symposium, a two-and-a-half-day event brimming with ideas, innovation and surprises.

*Charles Washika, the reigning Africa CIO of the Year 2023.*

“For the past 15 years, we’ve celebrated CIOs at the forefront of Africa’s technology revolution. We’ve witnessed their incredible leadership in adopting new tools and transforming businesses. This year, we’re taking it a step further. Our understanding of the digital landscape has grown exponentially. We recognise that successful digital transformation is a collaborative effort, and that’s why we expanded the CIO100 Awards to acknowledge visionary C-Suite leaders across industries who are driving innovative projects,” said Hare, adding that “In the past, we’ve recognised CISOs and CXOs for their contributions. This year, we want to see even broader participation. We encourage organisations of all sizes, across all sectors in Africa, to nominate their brightest minds – the leaders embracing the shifts in digital transformation, using it to unlock exponential growth.”

Andrew Karanja, Co-Founder and Director of dx⁵ reiterated that “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.

*Tom Mboya Opiyo, CIO of the Year, 2021*

To be selected for a CIO100 Award, one needs to demonstrate excellence in:

Digital innovation: What is the extent to which your organisation is using IT in a new way, or enabling fresh ways of doing business be it internally or externally?

Business value: What is the measurable impact, backed by supporting data, that your project or initiative has had on your organisation’s business results?

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 and the newest winner, Charles Washika, Director ICT & Innovation at the Cooperative Bank of Kenya.

– 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. This was the first of its kind with Thelma Kganakga, Group CISO, Equity Bank (K) Ltd slaying the dragon.

-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, earned this.

– CIO100 Infrastructure Award: This Award spotlights IT leaders who turn infrastructure into a strategic advantage. It honours visionaries behind top IT implementations, helping organisations squeeze every drop of value from their tech stack.

– CIO100 Green Edge Award: Going green isn’t just a trend; it’s a necessity. This Award celebrates the most innovative and eco-friendly IT initiatives in Africa. It recognises organisations using technology not just to drive business success, but also to create a sustainable future. Follow in the footsteps of past winners like 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.

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 and is the most powerful pan-African gathering of C-Suite executives. “CIO100 is more than an event. It is, in essence, a confluence of events bringing together minds that shape the destinies of businesses,” concluded Hare.