By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., November 29, 2023 – I got up early this morning after a very restful night and as usual the first item on my agenda was my morning devotion, during which I thank my Lord and Savior for being in the driver’s seat of my life and for granting me another day on his earth.
I have stopped worrying about matters over which I have no control, hence the reason for my restful night, and being a slave to the lure of the advancement in Internet technology, once I have completed my morning devotion, I devote considerable time to checking up on what’s happening in The Bahamas and events around the world.
When I saw a post on Facebook by my good friend Leon Williams, who has been invited by Conecta Latam to be the Master of Ceremonies for the 2023 Conecta Latam Awards ceremony that will take place at the Conecta Latam summit November 29-30 at Hilton Hotel in Panama City, I reflected on the excellent job Leon did when he was head of the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BATELCO) in Grand Bahama.
I was editor of The Freeport News at the time (2003 to 2009) and Leon and I frequently interacted professionally. So, it does not come as a surprise to me that he is held in such high esteem by his colleagues in the telecommunications industry.
The Conecta Latam, Caribbean and Central America Summit is a prestigious conference that aims to bring together industry leaders and experts from across Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean to share insights, foster collaboration, and explore the latest market trends.
As Leon notes in his post Facebook on the summit, it is a “C-level meeting focused on the Caribbean, Central America and Latin America markets and it will be a great opportunity to network, share experiences and interact with peers.”
FOLLOWING ARE THE AWARDS CATEGORIES:
1) TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR — (Individual Award) – By public vote.
This award recognizes the telecom industry executive with a minimum of 10 consecutive years of role and has demonstrated outstanding business success, leadership qualities, disruptive initiatives & community service throughout his/her career.
2) MOST CONNECTED WOMAN OF THE YEAR (Individual Award) – By public vote_
This award distinguishes woman that is driving innovation, and had truly made a difference in their company, telecom industry and community.
3) BEST DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PROJECT_ (Applicable for SERVICE PROVIDER)
This award will be won by the project that has done most to bring about digital transformation in an organization and can best demonstrate the resulting benefits.
4) BEST OPERATOR INNOVATION OF THE YEAR (Applicable for SERVICE PROVIDER)*The winner will be the operator that can best demonstrate significant achievement over the past couple of years in innovation by whichever KPIs you want it to be judged. These could include business growth, technological achievement or product innovation.
5) TELECOM REGULATOR OF THE YEAR (Applicable for REGULATOR)
This award recognizes a new or innovative policy and regulatory approaches. Recognizes an outstanding contribution and achievement by a REGULATOR advancing efficient and effective telecoms policy.
6) BEST VENDOR 5G INNOVATION OF THE YEAR (Applicable for VENDOR)
The winner will be the VENDOR with the product or initiative that is judged to have done the most to develop the business case for 5G. That could take the form of a technological or business innovation, so long as the entry clearly demonstrates a significant contribution to the 5G ecosystem.
7) TOP VENDOR DIGITAL INNOVATION OF THE OF THE YEAR (Applicable for VENDOR)
The winner will be the technology vendor that best exemplifies innovation in the technologies that support any or all of the following areas: Big Data, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Machine Learning or Mobile Technology.
BEST SECURITY PROJECT Best (Applicable for VENDOR and SERVICE PROVIDER)
This category will award the project that has excellence in cyber threat mitigation for telecoms operators. Entries will demonstrate excellence in fields such as security, protection against fraudulent activity, mitigation, data protection, cloud security and everything in between. Judges will be looking to understand the threats prevented, the impact to business and the technologies utilized to defend networks.
