Five distinguished Ghanaian Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Information Technology (IT) professionals have made entries into the 2020 edition of the World CIO 200 Awards, another milestone for the country since joining the network in 2018.
Due to COVID-19, the African CIO roadshow was hosted by Ghana through Strategic Plus Solutions where over 20 African CIOs were celebrated for being a catalyst in bringing about change in this challenging year, out of which five were Ghanaians.
The five CIOs bringing honour to the country included Head of IT, Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation, Samuel Senyo Okoe; Divisional Head Digital Banking and Alliance, Guaranty Trust Bank Ghana, Leopold Armah; President & Founder Ghana-India Trade Advisory Chamber, Dominic Oduro-Antwi; Chief Enabling Officer, Halges Financial Technologies (Trading as Korba), Nelson Da-Seglah; and Head of IT, Universal Merchant Bank, Sylvester Apedoe.
After being inducted to the CIO 200, they were put in a pool of global CIOs based on the projects and the best narrations presented. The best tech-led projects CIOs were then selected for the Book of Titans (BoT) and again for the first time, all five were selected into the BoT.
Every year, The World CIO 200 Summit’s global 200 BOTians are chosen after a deep dive into the mega projects and accomplishments of the CIOs based on the nominations submitted for the CIO 200 awards.
The World CIO 200 Summit is an annual event that brings together hundreds of top Information Technology (IT) leaders and global technology influencers who are championing the digital transformation agenda in their respective countries of origin.
In 2018, Ghana joined the global network but could not partake in the awards, however, Kwaku Asare Ofosuhene, Head of Operations, GEC Media Group-West Africa, was on the global planning team. Subsequently in 2019, the nation made 15 representations in the national roadshow out of which six were nominated for the global awards but unfortunately only one person made entry to the world CIO 200.
It is worth noting that the CIO 200 Awards is not a competition but a celebration that honours the amazing lives of the CIOs and their career span.
Adjudged as one of the most important events for digital transformation champions, the event received over 2113 nominations this year from 26 countries globally and was attended by over 14,920 people.
In an address, Founder of Global CIO Forum, Tushar Sahoo, emphasized that there is a beauty in tech leaders from all industries coming together cross border to work for betterment of their community, adding that 2020 is that year of the CIO, technology leaders and IT industry
“Who knew that a few months ago, globally, technology leaders would be at the forefront of delivering expertise to enable life on this earth to move forward during this COVID-19 pandemic.
This very talented group of CIOs and IT leaders quickly enabled employers to figure safely from their homes that allowed them to continue to support our economy while innovating and delivering essential services. We couldn’t be prouder of how our colleagues continue to enhance business continuation and support digital transformation in their organizations globally,” he said.
