Innovation PNG 2026 Awards shortlist announced

From left to right: Mackhenly Kaiok, Chief of Staff, Kina Bank, James Inglis, Chief Executive Officer, NiuPay, Winifred Kula, co-founder and President for the PNG Digital ICT Cluster, and Bernadette Caleb, cybersecurity expert, at a breakfast event in Port Moresby on 6 May celebrating innovation in PNG. The event included the announcement of the shortlist for the 2026 Innovation PNG Awards. Credit: BAI

The Innovation PNG Awards are designed to reward and encourage innovation – defined as creative problem-solving using new ideas – in PNG.

The award winners, selected from the shortlists below, will be announced at a special awards breakfast on 3 June at the Hilton Hotel, Port Moresby.

These are the shortlists:

The Innovation PNG Award for Small Business (sponsored by Kina Bank)

• Central Dakis Mamina Trading: This successful Central Province coffee roaster and marketer deploys an innovative approach to supporting its coffee farmers in order to ensure a reliable and quality supply of coffee beans. 

• Gotronical Engineering: Based in Jiwaka Province, Gotronical has created Kastom PNG, a website which not only helps to preserve and promote PNG’s cultural heritage but also deploys a business model that generates funds to support it. 

• Homes Purse Clean Energy: This innovative SME in Port Moresby has created and taken to market an alternative fuel sourced from local waste. 

• Pinpoint Consulting: Port Moresby’s Pinpoint Consulting has created Decipher, an AI-powered news intelligence platform designed specifically for PNG’s media landscape. 

• Valana Poultry BSF Integrated Agro Farm: This small poultry farm in Central Province has devised a novel way of producing its poultry feed using the proven powers of the amazing Black Soldier Fly. 

• Yaung Organics: This small manufacturer in Lae, Morobe Province, uses a diverse range of organically grown local produce in the manufacture of its cosmetics/wellness products. 

The Innovation PNG Award for Corporate Innovation (sponsored by Vodafone PNG)

• Coffee Industry Corporation – Green Gold Card project: The CIC’s Green Gold Card initiative for coffee growers is designed to help make PNG’s important coffee sector more efficient. 

• Coffee Industry Corporation – Coffee Export Management and Facilitation System: The CIC’s Coffee Export Management and Facilitation System is a digital platform aimed at improving exports of this important rural commodity. 

• NCSL Savings and Loans: NCSL has introduced a breakthrough digital solution that simplifies how members remit funds into their accounts without having to queue in bank branches. 

• NiuPay: NiuPay’s Digital Strata Title Platform is a locally devised response to the recently launched strata title system in PNG and has the potential to revolutionise the management of land titles in PNG. 

• TISA Bank: The bank has integrated a QR payment capability into its Yumi Pei mobile wallet, enabling small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to accept cashless payments instantly using QR codes. 

The Innovation PNG Award for Young Innovator (sponsored by Moni Plus)

• Debbiealishia Kuamba, Areca Fluffy Pulp Project: The use of the fibres of the betel nut to make textiles has already been demonstrated, but Debbiealishia Kuamba’s innovative project in Goroka involves using the fibres to address a major challenge for PNG women: the production of affordable sanitary products. 

• Anthony Tutmulai, e-Skul PNG: Anthony Tutmulai in the NCD has devised a student management system for schools, aimed at helping teachers spend less time on administration and more on teaching. 

Record number of entries

“This is the fourth time the Innovation PNG Awards have been run and we had a record number of entries this year,” said Chair of the awards judging panel, Peter Williams, who is Chief Edge Officer at Deloitte’s Centre for the Edge in Australia. “Of these, around half were from small businesses, which shows that a lot of innovation is happening at grass roots level in PNG.”

“The quality of the entries was very high and the judges would like to congratulate all those who entered the awards. We look forward to announcing the winners on 3 June.”

The actual award winners, selected from the shortlists above, will be announced at a special awards breakfast on 3 June at the Hilton Hotel, Port Moresby. Peter Williams will be the keynote speaker at the awards ceremony on the topic: “Innovation for everyone: how anyone can be an innovator in PNG.”

The Innovation PNG Awards are an initiative of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Business Advantage International.

Media enquiries
Representatives from the above entrants are available for interview.
Please contact Flavie Sauve, Business Advantage International

• Email fs@businessadvantageinternational.com
• WhatsApp: +61 468 557 641