The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, presented the Award of the Year for the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2019 to Redspots Creative (Hong Kong) Co Ltd at the presentation ceremony tonight (April 4). The company, which is also the Grand Award Winner of the Digital Entertainment Grand Award, outclassed seven other Grand Award category winners with its winning entry Virtual Idol System and achieved the highest accolade.
 
     Mrs Lam said that the ICT Awards reflect Hong Kong's business and community life with award categories ranging from digital entertainment, FinTech, start-ups and smart business to smart living, smart mobility, smart people and student innovation. Noting that ICT is also a core component in many smart city applications, Mrs Lam encouraged the winners to continue their commitment to innovation and technology excellence and create a better future for the community.
 
     Since its debut in 2006, the Awards have been recognising and promoting outstanding information and communications technology inventions and applications. It is also a springboard for award winners to excel further and extend their market presence in the international arena. During the past year, a total of 16 winning entries from the last Hong Kong ICT Awards have won further awards at the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards.
 
     Steered by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and with the concerted efforts of all Leading Organisers, the Steering Committee and Standards Assurance Sub-committee, the Grand Judging Panel, judges and supporting organisations, the Hong Kong ICT Awards attracted over 800 entries this year. The Chairman of the Grand Judging Panel, Professor Rocky Tuan, praised the high standard of entries and said, "The outstanding quality of this year's entries convincingly testifies to the creativity and capability of Hong Kong's information and communications technology talent, proving that Hong Kong has what it takes and the competitive edge to develop into a world-leading smart city."
 
     At the ceremony, the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, presented Grand Awards to the winners of the eight categories to celebrate their remarkable achievements. The winners are:
 

Award category (Leading Organiser)	Grand Award winner (winning entry)
Digital Entertainment Grand Award (Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association)	Redspots Creative (Hong Kong) Co Ltd (Virtual Idol System)
FinTech Grand Award (The Hong Kong Institute of Bankers)	CoverGo Limited (CoverGo)
ICT Startup Grand Award (Rotary Club of the HUB Hong Kong)	Roborn Dynamics Ltd (Motion Control Humanoid Robot)
Smart Business Grand Award (Hong Kong Computer Society)	Hong Kong Observatory (From detection of rain to safeguarding of the community against hazardous weather)
Smart Living Grand Award (Hong Kong Information Technology Federation)	ACE VR Ltd (Evaluation of Visual Disability in a Virtual Reality Environment)
Smart Mobility Grand Award (GS1 Hong Kong)	Airport Authority Hong Kong/Center of Cyber Logistics, Asian Institute of Supply Chains & Logistics, the Chinese University of Hong Kong/ubiZense Ltd (IoT-Augmented Airfield Service System (AS2))
Smart People Grand Award (The Hong Kong Council of Social Service)	iCare Edutainment Ltd (iCare Creator)
Student Innovation Grand Award (Hong Kong Innovative Technology Development Association)	City University of Hong Kong (Kwong Hau-shing/Chung Wing-lam/Lam Nga-wai) (Talktag - NFC Audio Labeler for Visually Impaired)

 
     Detailed information of the winners and the event are available on the website of the Hong Kong ICT Awards (www.hkictawards.hk).

Ends/Thursday, April 4, 2019
Issued at HKT 19:23

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