13 Civil Servants Honoured for Winning FG’s ‘Innovation Challenge’

13 Civil Servants Honoured for Winning FG’s ‘Innovation Challenge’

The Federal Government has rewarded 13 individuals who emerged winners in the ‘3rd Annual Federal Civil Service Innovation Challenge”, it organized for federal civil servants.

The competition’s award ceremony, held on Thursday in Abuja, saw the overall winner going home with N3,000,000; while the first and second runner-ups got N1,750,000 and N1 million, respectively.

10 others, who emerged as consolation prize winners, received N200,000 each.

The innovation challenge was centered around three thematic areas – First is securing work environment for civil servants; Second is identify new methods of promoting Public Private Partnerships (PPP); and Thirdly is cost saving measures using modern technology.

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, at the ceremony, said that all the ideas that were pitched for the competition are highly ingenious, providing solutions that were centered around advanced digital technologies.

She said that her office ensured that the process met the highest possible standard of transparency resulting in the emergence of excellent ideas that are both technically feasible, economically viable, and ready for implementation and scale up.

Dr. Yemi-Esan noted: “Recent global events such as the Covid – 19 pandemic, the regional war in Ukraine with its disruptive effect on supply chains, and the devastations caused by climate change has made it more urgent for government, and particularly the Civil Service, to think out-of-the-box and embrace the culture of innovation along with the adoption of advanced technologies”.

In his welcome address, Engr. Faruk Yusuf, Permanent Secretary, Special Duties Office, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, said that many developing countries, including Nigeria, have now realized the need for Innovation to provide customer-focused, cost effective, and updated methods to improve public service performance.

“Innovation in the Public Sector has become increasingly popular around the world as a strategy for improving governance and scaling up service quality,” he said.

By PRNigeria