Innovation Management Awards (IMA)Submission Rules and Guidelines, 2024

Introduction
In 2005, as the world worked to improve the delivery of public services to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) introduced the Innovative Management Award (IMA) to promote and recognize innovations that improve performance in the public sector in African countries. The Award is a continent-wide award program, designed to encourage, promote and recognize creativity and innovations in public sector institutions, organizations and ministries at national and local levels.

In September 2015 World leaders met in New York at the Headquarters of the United Nations and adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development with its 17 Sustainable. Development Goals (SDGs)incorporating the MDGs. Prior to this, in the same year, the Africa Union leaders had on their part adopted the Africa 2063 Development Strategy with its seven aspirations. The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development document (the World we want) in paragraph 42 makes the Africa 2063 Development Strategy (the Africa we want) a component of the 2030 Agenda.

Implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Africa 2063 strategy to achieve the SDGs and the Africa Aspirations necessitates creativity and innovation in all fields especially in the delivery of public services. Therefore, in launching and sustaining the Innovation Management Awards, AAPAM is contributing to the promotion and encouragement of innovation to contribute to the achievement of SDGs and Africa’s Aspirations.

Purpose and objectives:

The purpose of AAPAM-IMA is to contribute to the innovative development of public administration and management practices in Africa through the effective realization of the African aspirations for the ‘Africa We Want’ as set in the African Agenda 2063 and transform our world with goals determined in the Global Agenda 2030, ‘Transformation of Our World’.

Specific objectives:
The specific objectives of the Award are the following:

1. To recognize and publicize innovations in the Public Sector that are worthy of emulation.
2. To enhance the image of the Public Sector in Africa through the promotion, recognition and dissemination of effective, innovative, and accountable service delivery approaches and practices.
3. To promote innovation in the Public Sector by encouraging and recognizing organizations and people for creative and effective ways of solving specific challenges of administration and management in the implementation of the 2030 agenda and Agenda 2063 to achieve the SDGs.
4. To facilitate the transfer of innovations and best practices, including digital transformation as a way of improving the quality of Public Administration and Management in Africa.
5. To encourage and promote the culture of Innovation in public sector governance and service delivery through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

With the above objectives the Award is also intended to serve as a platform for:

1. Advocacy for innovation and digital transformation for improving the delivery of public services and performance in general of public sector institutions.
2. Research and learning through identifying best practices in digital transformation and public service delivery in Africa.
3. Capacity development through sharing and replication of successful practices in digital transformation and service delivery.
4. Partnerships and exchanges for the effective performance of public sector institutions in Africa.

Hence through the Innovative Management Award, AAPAM promotes and rewards innovations and excellence in Public Service, in support of the realization of global and continental development Agenda including the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Award recognizes African initiatives in Public Administration and Management that demonstrate creativity and innovation in the improvement of service delivery to the citizens of the Continent.

Click HERE to submit your innovation