Rwandan firms have been urged to diversify the role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in order to excel in their projects executions.

Speaking during the CIO 100’s third annual symposium and awards ceremony at the Kigali Serena Hotel on Friday, Rosemary Mbabazi, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Youth and ICT (MYICT), said firms ought to be exemplary in the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) projects.

The competition where two out of 10 Rwandan companies won awards featured the most successful companies in information and technology, innovations from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. 

The two local companies were Byose.com Limited and Commercial Bank of Rwanda (BCR).

Meanwhile, the Rwanda Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration scooped the CIO leadership award.

Harry Hare, the director CIO East Africa, had earlier on said the award also provides a networking platform for IT buyers and industry leaders.  

"This is all about using information technology in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantage, optimising business processes, enabling growth or improving relationships with customers,” Hare said. 

He added that the committee decided to host the event in Rwanda because of the country’s iconic regional IT status and rapid growth in ICT and economic development. 

 "Today, Rwanda is the fastest-growing economy in East Africa anchored on an exponential growth in ICT and strong infrastructure,” he said.

David Domo, one of the judges, said that it doesn’t matter how sophisticated the technicalities are as long as the IT solution solves the business problems.

"Place your submission and explain why it makes customers do business easily with you. There are provisions for both small and large companies to be fairly judged,” Domo said.

This was the second time Rwanda was hosting the event.