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The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs Rita Lau, today (May 30) congratulated the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA) and the project partner of the SCHSA's Mobile Link Service on winning the grand prize of the Digital Opportunity Award in the World Information Technology Services Alliance (WITSA) Global ICT Excellence Awards 2010. The award was presented at the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in Amsterdam.
"The award is an international recognition of SCHSA's successful application of information and communications technology (ICT) in providing a caring social service for the elderly," Mrs Lau said.
Mobile Link Service is a project jointly developed by the SCHSA and CSL Limited. It is a 24-hour innovative emergency support and elderly care service using a specially designed one-button Mobile Link Device via GSM mobile technology. The system was nominated by the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation for the WITSA award, after winning the Best Ubiquitous Networking Grand Award in the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2008 and the Asia Pacific ICT Awards 2009 (e-Inclusions and e-Community).
"It is an excellent example of collaboration joining the social service and ICT sectors in the provision of community services through the innovative application of technology. It also reinforces the promotion of wider ICT application in the community in accord with the Government¡¦s Digital 21 Strategy," Mrs Lau said during a visit to the SCHSA's 24-hour Call and Care Service Centre today.
WITSA is a consortium of over 70 ICT organisations around the world. The WITSA Global ICT Excellence Awards honour achievements in the use of information technology around the globe in three categories: public sector excellence, private sector excellence and digital opportunity.
Ends/Sunday, May 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:45
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