Manthan Awards
Recognising and honouring ICT interventions for development since 2004
DEF in partnership with World Summit Awards, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the government of India, and other organisations interested in ICT for development launched the Manthan Awards in October 2004 to identify, reward and give recognition to significant contributions in the field of ICT for Development (ICTD). The specific objective was to bring to the attention of all stakeholders such as governments, businesses, industries and civil society organisations that are engaged in the development sector and employ significant ICTD initiatives and valuable digital content that are successfully serving underserved communities, especially in rural areas and urban slums. Most of these success stories go unheralded in the mainstream media as these ICT interventions often operate in media-blind areas and sectors. Consequently, there is little knowledge sharing among the progenitors of these initiatives which in turn hinders the emergence of an eco-system that feeds on this knowledge and enables scaling up of these initiatives and coordination among them for a much larger impact. The Manthan Awards sought to bridge this gap and create a platform that would not only highlight such ICTD initiatives but also help create a network and database of such players that would enable all stakeholders to contribute in a way that would enhance the overall impact of ICT interventions. Initially, the awards were limited to entries from India. In 2008, the scope of the awards was expanded to South Asia and in 2012 to the entire Asia Pacific region. Today, the awards invite entries from the following 36 countries: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, China, Cambodia, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Island, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor, Tonga, Vietnam.
This single project has helped DEF to create a knowledge database of more than 4,000 different and unique digital interventions that serve the developmental needs of underserved and marginalised communities.
Today, the Manthan Awards have become a platform for all innovators and practitioners of ICTD to network, forge partnerships, get mentoring and access funding to scale up for greater impact.
Read more about the project on www.manthanaward.org
Status:
Ongoing
Impact:
- 4,202+ on ground interventions database created from nominations received in 13 years
- 36+ nations across South Asia and the Asia Pacific region have participated
- 340+ ICT practioners honoured and felicitated