Guyanese ICT youths cop top prize in Webby awards
A four-member Guyanese team including a former intern at the CARICOM Secretariat, has won the coveted 5G for Change Webby Award.
Former intern at the CARICOM Secretariat, Andrew Garnett and his team mates Shomari Williams, Malik Williams, and Jun Leung of Team FramePerfect won the 5G for Change Hackathon for their project tackling illegal logging in Guyana’s rainforests, using 5G and AI-powered sound monitoring devices.
Verizon’s Chief Creative Officer, Andrew McKechnie, presented the US$50 000 award to the young men on 17 May 2022 in New York City. They won from among teams from 150 countries.
According to the Webby Awards website, the FramePerfect members came together while attending the University of Guyana over their shared love for computer science. Together, they founded Unity GY, a non-profit organisation that “leverages technology to narrow the education gap in Guyana.”
Shomari Williams, who is currently pursuing a Masters in Global Technology and Development, while working full time.
Malik Williams, who is an Information Communication Technology Engineer, and has worked with the Lands and Survey Commission of Guyana.
Jun Leung, who comes from one of Guyana’s hinterlands regions, and is passionate about the issue of deforestation.
Andrew Garnett, who is a huge proponent of information communication technology for development, and recently presented a project to modernise X-ray analysis in hospitals. As a third-year University of Guyana Computer Science student, Andrew interned at the CARICOM Secretariat in 2018 in the ICT4D Unit.
Listen to an edited version of an interview the Secretariat’s Communications Unit conducted with Andrew where he spoke of his internship; how it would prepare him for the world of work; the benefits of the CARICOM Single ICT Space; and his dreams of establishing a start-up company in Guyana.
Source: CARICOM TODAY