The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for individuals, companies, and local institutions who wish to nominate their best digital projects and applications for participation at the World Summit Awards (WSA 2023) competition for 2023. To contribute to representing Qatar’s projects globally, interested parties can submit their applications until August 30, 2023, by sending their information and business details to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) via the MCIT’s competition email: wsa@mcit.gov.qa.

The World Summit Awards 2023 includes eight categories: Government and citizen engagement, health and well-being, environment and green energy, business and commerce, learning and education, culture and heritage, smart settlements and urbanization, and inclusion and empowerment. Applicants can submit their work in these categories if their submissions comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which prohibits any content that incites war, violence, or racial discrimination, and does not violate internationally recognized copyright and intellectual property rights. The judging committee reserves the right to reject any submissions that contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Once applications are received, a local judging committee consisting of experts and leaders from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology will review and evaluate the submitted works and projects. The committee will then select one qualified candidate from each of the eight award categories to represent Qatar internationally.

HE Mrs Reem Mohammed Al Mansoori, Assistant Undersecretary of Digital Society Development at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said, “We are pleased to announce the opening of the application process for the World Summit Awards 2023. This prestigious competition encourages the power of digital innovation and its transformative impact on society. Based on this, we encourage companies, institutions, and individuals across Qatar to seize this important opportunity and submit their projects to be showcased and shared as Qatari projects and talents on the global stage. This is to inspire the world with our digital achievements and propel the digital landscape in the country to new heights.”

The competition includes representatives from 168 countries from different continents around the world and consists of four stages:

1. The first stage is pre-selection in each country, where a national committee from the participating countries selects the top eight projects in each competition category - one from each category.
2. The second stage is the evaluation of applications and projects and a nomination for the selection stage through an online judging committee that works on this.
3. The third stage: The final evaluation of applications and projects submitted by all participating countries takes place through the Grand Jury, which consists of prominent experts in this field. They evaluate the projects submitted by all participating countries and select the top 40 projects - five from each category.
4. The fourth and final stage: The World Summit Awards events are held, where the winners of the World Summit Awards gather to showcase their projects, celebrate international digital innovation, and meet with business leaders, experts, and specialists in the field of information technology.

The World Summit Awards (WSA) aims to reduce the digital gap among countries worldwide by promoting the best emerging digital companies and innovative applications that effectively and creatively impact cultural, scientific, and educational content digitization. The World Summit Awards strives to increase awareness and recognition of impactful digital content within society by creating continuous forums of international events and activities that bring together a global network of startups, social entrepreneurs, directors, jurors, speakers, experts, government leaders, academics, and civil society. This competition is one of the accompanying activities of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum. To learn more about the World Summit Awards 2023 and the application requirements, please visit the following link: https://wsa-global.org/contest.