Best Use of Technology:
(We want the one person who has done a lot of quality work in the area of Technology, preferably Information Technology. This must be major work, and he/she should have had some recognition for that work. The award is also for a technology entrepreneur or one who has advanced innovation in the area: essentially, this award is for that person most symbolic of the stride young Nigerians have made in the IT industry.)

Full name: Bola Olowu
Age:
Job: Works with M-TECH, the leading Valued Added Service Provider, managing the Vibeweekly (E-Zine) brand, and is the editor of Nigeria ’s #1 online weekly entertainment magazine.

Achievement in past one year: Establishing an innovative gateway for upwardly mobile Nigerian’s (on a global frontier) to be informed on entertainment related issues.

Challenges: “I wouldn’t call it difficulties just mere challenges. One in particular is the lack of awareness of Nigerians on the benefits and use of the internet. The idea of an online magazine was considered a joke until now. Nigerian’s are starting to realize that the world is moving at an accelerated pace and the internet is fast becoming a real global village and the most ideal gateway to the world.”

How does he overcome them: “With perseverance I guess! I wouldn’t say I have fully conquered the issue yet, but I guess Nigerians have just caught the bug, or would I say the VIBE!”

Other info: Currently working on creating Nigeria ’s first personalised game for the GSM platform. Also provides entertainment related content for all the Major GSM operators via the Vibedownloads brand.

Why we chose him: Mtech and Vibedownloads are two brands that have heralded a new vista in GSM/internet technology and Bola is one of those who work that magic

Full name: Cygress

What do they do: Directors of Cygress, which utilizes the latest technologies in the industry to provide companies and individuals with web based and distributed application solutions: this involves writing intelligent programs using the latest and most powerful tools in the IT industry to simplify various tasks which would have been formidable without taking advantage of technology.

Jobs in past one year: 2005 – “The Face of Eva” an online application which supported user registration and screening and online voting
2005 – “WhoGoBuy” an online business portal which is made up of a very complex database structure and close to a hundred advanced code scripts
2006 – “The Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria” developed to support online registration and payment, voting and display of the contestants and much more
2006 – “The Future Nigeria” a site focused on being a steady source of detailed information about the awards and progress update on unfolding events
2006 – “Rufus Oil” a site designed to provide information about the company and provide a means for online order placement which is relayed via SMS to the verification and dispatch department
2006 – “E-Motion Advertising” the development of a simple solution for the cost effective availability of information about the company and it’s services.

Biggest achievement: WhoGoBuy - an extremely complex database system and close to a hundred independent scripts with the use of technologies such as XHTML, XML, CSS, Javascript, DHTML, AJAX, ASP, ASP.net, PHP, MySQL, Flash, Ms-SQL, HTTPS, SMS, SMTP… and some others that are more hardware dependent.

Challenges: “Technology wise there are no major constrain other than the awareness of the possibilities. The major difficulty so far has been financial, this is due to the fact that large companies take time to pay up the balance and in many cases offer barter while smaller companies can’t pay much and in some cases offer payment in barter as well. We have many expenses to cover and so far it’s been though. Cygress is a relatively young company (Under two years old) and we have strong belief that business will pick up so we are currently working on building up our portfolio and clientele.”

How do they overcome them: “We overcome financial constrains by working on many little projects to cover the cost of living and focus on the larger projects to develop a good portfolio and a strong client base. With the rapid development of the telecoms and internet access it’s only a matter of time before things go “boom!” in our favour.”

Why we chose them: Whilst a lot of young people are into websites, these young men have taken it to the next level, doing professional work that has attracted them to major brands

Full name: Lanre Lawal

Age:

What does he do: Uses computers to produce design; particularly in the field of product design where he makes prototypes of the lifestyle products before streamlining them for production.

Jobs in past one year:
Product Design for 100percent Design Show in London,
Visual Branding for Lagos State Government,
ProEducation Branding for British Council Abuja,
Branding for Glo,
Online Design for Adstrat, among others.

Biggest achievements:
The exhibition of two experimental chairs at 100percent Design Show in London.
September 2006.
Exhibition of an experimental shelf and chair at the Design Talent Show at the HongKong Design Centre in China (November 2006).
Exhibition of Graphic Design, Film and Animation Paradigms at The DesignIndaba in Capetown South Africa in February 2006.

Awards: Finalist, The Future… Award 2006 for Best Use of Technology

Challenges: “Working with artisans in Lagos to get my products to the exact finish you detailed in Computer 3D space.”

How has he overcome them: “Patience. They can't really be overcome except with training. Thus, I have had to help the artisans understand 3D Space and encouraging them to have a disciplined approach to working with the specified dimensions for manufacturing objects”

International highlights:
International Young Design Entrepreneur Award 2005 London
Design Indaba Exhibition, Capetown South Africa - Feb 2006
HongKongDesignCentre Exhibition China - November 2006

Other info: he writes prose and poems

Why we chose him: Self evident! Lanre almost has no competition in his field of work and in the international space, he is flying Nigeria’s flag high and higher!

Full name: Ify Eronini
What does she do: She is the technical consultant and webmaster for the Voice of Youth Media project.
Jobs: As an Information Technology and Web Design specialist, she has worked with organizations such as Oxfam (UK), the British Council, and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, maintaining their websites as well as acting as a technical advisor and logistics consultant.
Other info: Ms. Eronini has a diverse background in administration and finance to augment her technical capabilities. Based in Dakar, Senegal, she is also a certified English instructor. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Library Science from Abia State University in Nigeria and recently received a Cambridge English Language Teaching of Adults Certificate in the UK.
Why we chose her: Ify’s work with major international organizations is impressive

Full name: Gecko Multimedia
What they do: Gecko Multimedia uses the latest software technology to achieve innovative audio-visuals and state-of-the art music video, montages and special effects.
Jobs done: Mode 9’s latest video – Cry, Soul E’s latest video - Soul E Baba, D’banj’s latest video - Why me, Sunny Nneji’s latest video - Still the one
Biggest achievement: Winning the 2006 Channel O Music Video Award which held in South Africa in 3 categories for Mode 9’s video. And developing the visual and motion graphics template(s) of Soundcity and Global sounds
Awards: Best Director category at the 2006 Channel O Music Video Award.
Best Hip Hop Video
Video of the year
Challenges: :That video is actually the most challenging video we have shot considering the videos adaptation to the mood in the song. A major part of the video was shot in Ikoyi cemetery for about 20 hours. Shooting long to achieve a 5mm video is not much fun, trust me! Especially when looking into graves and standing on bones! Then the use of composite software technology and animation was a major challenge especially to achieve that video in that fashion.”
How have you overcome them: “By patiently re-inventing our knowledge of what was distinctive and achievable. It took over 90 days alone to edit that video, that’s a long time just to achieve a 5 minute video.”
International highlights: After the awards, artistes from Europe especially those in the UK have returned to Nigeria to request their service for videos and montages.
Other info: They just set-up the artiste management and consulting arm of Gecko Multimedia as well as media consulting, brand management and 35mm cinematic movies project which is in the works Gecko is going into TV programmes fully in 2007. They also worked on location with Jungle Films to achieve the 2006 success of the Guilder Ultimate Search especially the design of their motion graphics templates.
Why we chose them: What Gecko has achieved in terms of visual technology is simply ahead of its time!