Rachel Hakim emerged the winner of the Presidential Award for South Sudan in the East African Youth Innovation Forum with her innovation, GoGo Play, during the East African Youth Innovation Forum held in Kampala, Uganda from 8 to 9 November, a press statement.

According to the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), which organized the conference under the auspices of the East African Community (EAC), GoGo Play is a digital entertainment platform aimed at growing the entertainment industry in South Sudan through the promotion, exposure, and marketing of high-quality content.

The Presidential Awards seek to recognize outstanding applications developed by East African youth as well as outstanding youth innovators.

“Hakim, 25, is the CEO of the Juba-based company and the only female winner of a Presidential Award in the East African Community. She is among six winners-one each from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan -- were formally unveiled during the Forum,” the statement said. “GoGo Play is the first monetized platform for content creators in South Sudan. The platform seeks to influence a market of more than 5,000 content creators in South Sudan. It started as a free platform for four months, to be monetized thereafter.”

The firm has partnered with m-GURUSH, South Sudan's pioneer mobile money platform, to provide a payment gateway using South Sudanese pounds and U.S dollars.

The youth innovation program was advertised in the media in each partner state and on the EAC and EASTECO websites. Applications were accepted online from eligible young innovators below 35 years of age in eight priority categories- namely, agriculture, health, education, climate change and environment, ICT mobile applications, energy and infrastructure, industrialization and trade, and aeronautics and space technology.

“The East African youth innovators were selected competitively from the six EAC countries," the judges said. "The selection was based on the following criteria: Originality, marketability, scalability, social impact, and technical aspects."

According to EASTECO, the entries were evaluated by a national panel of experts comprising the ministries responsible for Science, Technology, and Innovation, the National Council of Science and Technology, and ministries responsible for EAC Affairs in each partner state, together with other stakeholders.

“Among other things, the Forum addressed itself to the challenges that the youth in the region face in advancing their talent in technological development, in addition to the opportunities available for innovation in the regional marketplace and globally,” EASTECO said. “This way, it is hoped that the Forum will have offered a platform to catalyze the effective engagement of young people in steering the course of future developments within the East African Community (EAC) through innovations.”

The organizers said that the forum aims to create a regional platform that will stimulate and support young innovators in generating scientific and technologically innovative solutions to social needs and meet market demands.