Bright Simons, Director of Development Research at IMANI, and the Coordinator of the mPedigree Network has received an international award for his new invention. Simons was among seven most celebrated innovators for the year with his mPedigree software which was invented to check the upsurge of fake drugs around the world. The software enables consumers and patients to verify the authenticity of their medicines by sending a free text message of the unique, product-embossed codes. mPedigree Network came up against hundreds of innovative companies who showcased their materials to a panel of judges before a live audience of investors, industry, government, and peers. This was during the Global Security Challenge (GSC) Summit- a Dragons’ Den style for security companies held in London. The challenge is to award the best security start-up and best security SME across the world. mPedigree was awarded a prize package of $200,000 whilst iWebGate, an Australia and the UK-based outfit which developed an online security product which represents a virtual, highly-secure reception area between an organisations’ trusted network and volatile public networks like the Internet was given $300,000. Bright Simons, Founder of mPedigree Network in an interview said “This is a clear sign that African technology has come of age and also that innovators in Africa addressing complex, difficult and unique challenges can, notwithstanding limited resources, deliver world class results.”