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The Hong Kong Smart Identity Card System (SMARTICS) has won the top prize in the category of e-Government & Service of the Asia Pacific Information and Communications Technology Awards (APICTA) 2004.

The Director of Immigration, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, on behalf of the Immigration Department, received the award yesterday (December 10).

This award is the third of its kind received by SMARTICS. The system won the award based on its uniqueness, value to public or government, features and quality.

APICTA is an international awards programme aimed at increasing information and communications technology (ICT) awareness and assisting in bridging the digital divide within different communities around the Asia-Pacific. It is designed to stimulate ICT innovation and creativity, promote economic and trade relations, facilitate technology transfer, offer business matching opportunities and foster development and growth of the ICT industry among 16 member economies.

This is the fourth award held so far.

The e-Government & Services award is presented to the most innovative nomination for developing ICT solutions that support e-Government initiatives and service delivery to the community. There were 10 nominees from eight economic regions -- Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Pakistan and Myanmar.

SMARTICS is a complicated system with state-of-the-art technology. It comprises a number of sub-systems integrated seamlessly to support the processing of application and personalisation of secure smart identity cards. It employs advanced technologies to provide one-stop services to applicants in a paperless environment.

The multi-application ID card is not only an identification document but lays a solid foundation for e-applications and e-commerce. With this card, Hong Kong people will enjoy a wide range of new services including the automated clearance system to be implemented soon.

SMARTICS won the Card Technology Breakthrough Award - Implementation in April 2004 at the Card Technology and Security Technology 14th Annual Conference and Exhibition held in Washington DC, US.

SMARTICS also won the Gold Award in the Application Category of the 6th IT Excellence Awards conferred by the Hong Kong Computer Society on August 27, 2004. The panel of judges commented that SMARTICS was comprehensive and included more than 20 innovative security features. It was impressive in its ability to smoothly integrate registration and backend operations -- a world first for complexity, innovation and transaction volumes.

Ends/Saturday, December 11, 2004

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