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The innovative information technology (IT) applications and services developed by Hong Kong's small and medium IT companies have received recognition from the international IT community at the Asia Pacific Information & Communications Technology Awards (APICTA) 2003.

A total of seven awards were won by six local IT companies and the Hong Kong Observatory in this year's contest held in Thailand in early December.

The Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (Communications and Technology), Mr Francis Ho, said today (December 19) that the Government had been encouraging and sponsoring the industry to organise and participate in local and international award schemes, such as the IT Excellence Awards and the APICTA, so as to foster a culture of innovation and to enhance the quality of the local IT industry and its international image.

"The awards won by Hong Kong in APICTA 2003 are a recognition of Hong Kong's outstanding achievements in the development of IT applications and e-Government services. They also prove that the level of the local IT applications has reached international standard. The awards will not only enhance the international image of the local IT industry, but also help our IT industry explore overseas markets," Mr Ho said.

The APICTA is an international award programme founded in 2001 in Malaysia. It aims to encourage IT innovation in SMEs and individuals in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry and to provide a platform to showcase the latest ICT products and services from the Asia-Pacific region. The awards also aim to stimulate economic and trade relations, technology transfer, and provide business-matching opportunities for the participants.

More than 120 projects from 10 Asia-Pacific economies took part in this year's contest. The Hong Kong Computer Society nominated seven entries from Hong Kong to contest the seven categories. Four of them won the grand prize and the other three won the Certificate of Merit.

The seven winning entries are:

Best of Health

Organisation: SoftEnable Technology Limited

Project: CASSOS Computer - Assisted Simulation System for Orthognathic Surgery

Best of Business Applications - Finance

Organisation: 2GoTrade Limited

Project: Go.ExchangeVS - Real Time Brokerage Application Platform/ASP

Best of Communications Applications

Organisation: Outblaze Limited

Project: Outblaze Messaging System

Best of Research and Development

Organisation: ShaoLin Microsystems Limited

Project: ShaoLin Aptus 2.0

Certificate of Merit of E-Government and Services

Organisation: Hong Kong Observatory, HKSARG

Project: World Weather Information Service (WWIS) and Severe Weather Information Centre (SWIC)

Certificate of Merit of Industrial Applications

Organisation: e-commerce Logistics Limited

Project: The Warehouse Management System for the Logistics Industry (WMS)

Certificate of Merit of E-Commerce

Organisation: Global e-Business Services Limited

Project: Tendering Application Service (e-TAS)

The next APICTA will be hosted in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Computer Society in December 2004, with funding support from the Innovation and Technology Fund.

Ends/Friday, December 18, 2003

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