World Summit Award (WSA) promotes and recognises the uniqueness of digital innovation with social impact
Icelandic software company Meniga has won the award for the best technical solution in the category of business & commerce at the World Summit Award (WSA), an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations (UN). Meniga was the only company from Scandinavia to receive the award this year. The purpose of the conference is to reward companies that have excelled in the development of new technologies that show social responsibility and help people around the world. Each year, UN member states nominate products for the WSA, and this year Iceland’s contribution was from Meniga.
Tremendous honour for Meniga as a socially responsible company
The WSA received around 400 nominees from 86 countries around the world, and the WSA winners were selected by a jury of international information and communication technology (ICT) experts in two democratic rounds. Meniga will receive the award in front of UN representatives, ICT ministries and the private sector at the World Summit Global Congress in Shenzhen, China in February 2016.
Georg Lúðvíksson, CEO of Meniga, says the award is a tremendous honour. “Better financial literacy and prudent financial behaviour of individuals and households is one of the largest contemporary opportunities to improve the quality of life around the world. It is a pleasure to receive this distinguished encouragement from the United Nations through the World Summit Award, which is first and foremost about a positive social impact in business. It has been the goal of Meniga from the beginning to create solutions that help individuals and families around the world with their finances and therefore this award has a special significance for us. “
“To drive meaningful and relevant digital innovation, you have to connect people. With the WSA we recognise innovation of tomorrow already today. This year’s winners are an excellent selection of this momentum, matching local solutions to local needs. Shenzhen will offer the special stage to highlight these masters of innovation”, WSA Chairman Peter A. Bruck states.
Great recognition for Icelandic entrepreneurship in the field of innovation
Johann P. Malmquist, a professor of computer science at the University of Iceland, is the official representative for Iceland at the WSA and selects the nomination from Iceland each year. He was the first Icelander to defend a doctoral thesis in computer science in 1979 and has been involved in educating thousands of computer scientists. Johann has created several start-up companies and has also been an international consultant for companies such as Apple Inc. Johann has placed great emphasis on educating students in innovation with courses such as From Concept to Reality. Hundreds of students have attended the course and many of them managed to establish their first start-ups, some of which have attained international success.
“This is great recognition for Icelandic entrepreneurship in the software industry, and especially for Meniga where these are prestigious international awards and Meniga was competing with solutions from 86 countries,” says Johann.
Johann goes on to say, “My dream is for other Icelandic companies to reach this far, and that we can continue to create more high income jobs in the software industry in Iceland. It makes me very happy to see when my students do well. It is especially valuable when Icelandic ingenuity is used for value creation and returns foreign income, which is the basis for the standard of living in Iceland.”
Meniga makes finance fun
Meniga is a global leader in the development and sale of financial and market solutions, doing business with over 25 financial institutions in 16 countries. The company has over 100 employees in Reykjavik, Stockholm and London, and helps more than 25 million people worldwide understand and manage their finances. For more information visit www.meniga.com
About the WSA
The World Summit Award is a global initiative within the framework of, and in cooperation with, the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), in collaboration with UNESCO, UNIDO and UN GAID. WSA is the only ICT event worldwide, that reaches the mobile community in over 178 countries.
For more information visit www.worldsummitawards.org, facebook.com/WorldSummitAward and twitter.com/WSAoffice, #WSA15
Media Contact for Meniga:
Ómar Þór Ómarsson
Business Development Manager
Meniga
omar@meniga.is
+354 6936247
Media Contact for World Summit Award:
Manuela Wagner
Network Development & Communications,
World Summit Awards (WSA, WSA-mobile, World Summit Youth Award)
manuela@worldsummitawards.org
+43.660.630408.7