INDIA and Singapore won two individual awards each, while India won the overall gold medal for their entry “Unified Agriculture Market” at the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) International Innovation Awards (IIA).
The awards were held at the CAPAM Banquet on Wednesday night at the Marriott Hotel here in Guyana.

The awards are held biennially, alongside the CAPAM Biennial Conference. This year, the conference was held in Guyana from October 22 – 24 under the theme “Transforming the Public Sector for Climate Governance”.

Celebrating the spirit of innovation in the public service, the CAPAM IIA bestowed awards in four categories, while there was also an overall winner, which went to India.
Each category had three finalists, selected from a long list of semi-finalists. Guyana was a semi-finalist in the “Innovation in Public Service Management” category.
India’s “Unified Agriculture Market” also prevailed as the winning entry in the “Innovation in Public Service Management”.

India’s entry “Unnayan Banka – Reinventing Education using Technology” won the “Innovation Incubation” category. India has been a longstanding winner at the awards prevailing as the overall winner of the biennial awards since 2010.

Singapore’s entry “Helping Elderly Singaporeans Plan for Retirement in a Digital World” won the “Citizen-focused Innovation” category, while their entry “InNEAvation (NEA´s Innovation DNA)” won the “Innovation DNA” category.

Presenting the awards, Margaret Saner, chair of the IIA Assessment Panel, noted that the projects represent what is best about the public service and show what is possible even in the face of long-standing, deep-rooted problems.

“Many of the finalists’ innovations speak to the resilience, determination and leadership of those involved, and often understate the challenges and obstacles faced. These people have demonstrated vision, ingenuity and sensitivity to citizens and colleagues needs,” she remarked.

Also presenting awards was Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who also made the feature address at the ceremony on behalf of Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, who could not make it.

During his address, Harmon reaffirmed Guyana’s commitment to proper climate governance.

“As a low lying coastal state we have no choice. We are witnessing the increasingly devastating effects of global warming change. We feel a sense of deep responsibility to the preservation and promotion of a healthy global environment,” Harmon said.
Harmon reminded the gathering of public service ministers that they all have an individual as well as a collective responsibility to climate governance.
He also congratulated the winners of the awards and noted the great opportunity that the award provides.

“This awards ceremony provides a fitting end to the conference’s programme with the high note on innovation that emphasises a resolve to explore new frontiers and the pursuit of constant improvement in public administration and management within the commonwealth family of nations,” Harmon said.