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Technology for Good Photo Competition: Meet the winners

News 7 Oct 2022

By ITU News

In the run-up to its 2022 Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-22), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held a photography contest for both amateur and professional contributors from around the world.

Contributing photographers were invited to send images showing the impact of technology, with a focus on the green, gender-responsive, and inclusive spirit of the conference. In two months, the “Technology for Good” Photo Contribution attracted more than 270 contributors from 50 countries.

From personal stories to projects run by governments or the United Nations, each photo opened a window into the importance of technology in someone’s daily life.

Meet the winners

In the Green and Tech category, photographers depicted a range of scenarios, from using common information and communication technology (ICT) to make their work more sustainable, to the recycling of tech components to create new tools. The participants captured what “green” means for them in the context of technology.

Ap(p)iculture – by Natálie Tercova
The Beehive Monitoring app helps a Czech beekeeper sustain a healthy population of pollinators. Smartphone applications and other technologies can help today’s beekeepers protect bee populations that are vital to ecosystems globally.
Solar-powered connectivity – by M Joko Apriyo
The power grid has yet to reach this rural home in Sendangbiru Beach, in the Malang Regency, Indonesia, but other technologies can provide electricity. An older man installs a set of solar panels on the roof of a wooden house, as his wife takes a mobile phone call in the background.
Sorting and salvaging for a sustainable world – by Sudip Maiti
At an e-waste recycling facility in West Bengal, India, a young man sorts through hundreds of circuit boards from discarded electronics. Salvaging valuable components such as rare earth metals from e-waste is turning into a lucrative business model on the subcontinent.

In the Gender and Tech category, photographers showed how technology can empower women and girls. By helping women and girls reach their full potential, innovative devices and new skills can narrow the gender divide.

Intergenerational digital learning – by Kuntal Kumar Roy
A group of women and a young child from the remote village of Sundarban in West Bengal, India, learn using technology. In this intergenerational lesson, a college student uses her laptop to teach her mother and grandmother in the rural community while a younger girl looks on.
Sustainable solar cooking – Nimai Chandra Ghosh
A woman in the rural Himalayas uses a solar cooker to prepare a meal for her family. Low-cost, affordable technologies like these avoid unhealthy environmental pollution and help developing communities cope with the challenges of energy supply.
Learning by smartphone light – Amadou Diadie Samassekou
Anta Kadio, a young woman in Bamako, Mali, studies by the light of her smartphone during a power cut. Anta is enrolled in the Baliku Kalan school for mature students who did not have access to education as children. Power outages sometimes last for days, but access to mobile technologies enables Anta and other young students to keep learning.

Finally, the Youth, Inclusion and Tech category shows how technology can help people overcome barriers. For persons with disabilities, young people, older persons, indigenous people, and persons with specific needs, technologies can open opportunities, enhancing inclusion and equality and ultimately improving people’s lives.

Remote families rely on radio – by Sukhbat Ochirbat
Three young children listen to an educational broadcast on Mongolian national public radio during a lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Herder families like theirs often lack television or Internet connectivity, resulting in a heavy reliance on radio transmissions. The girl holds an emergency radio, which uses multiple off-grid charging methods.
From pupil to technology teacher – by Supriya Biswas
A schoolgirl presents a laptop to some of the older women from her village, some of whom raise a hand to actively partake in the lesson. As digital technologies reach rural and remote areas, intergenerational knowledge exchange takes centre-stage.
Uniting traditional knowledge and technologies – by Hellen Vanessa de Carvalho Silva
Technology, combined with the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, can help observe climate change. Contributor Hellen Vanessa, from the Pankararu people in Brazil, explains howa drone allows continual observation of the entire indigenous territory. Shifting patterns of vegetation confirm the impact of climate change for the indigenous peoples of Brazil’s northeast region.

The nine winning photographers will each receive a prize equivalent to CHF 500 donated by ITU Sector Member Meta.

In all, contest participants submitted more than 700 pictures. Around 70 per cent of entrants were amateur photographers, and about 35 per cent were between 18 and 25 years of age.

The countries with the most entries were Afghanistan (34), India (29), and Brazil (21). More than 70 women entered in the competition.

Due to the high quality of submissions, ITU decided to acknowledge nine other photographers with honourable mentions.

ITU thanks jury member Photographers without Borders for sharing valuable expertise.

Digital divide Digital inclusion Digital infrastructure Digital skills Diversity and inclusion ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP) PP-22

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