Six local IT companies and the Hong Kong Observatory have been named winners in this year's Asia Pacific Information & Communications Technology Awards 2003 held in Thailand in early December.

More than 120 projects from 10 Asia-Pacific economies were entered in this year's contest.

The Hong Kong Computer Society nominated seven local entries to contest the seven categories.

Four of them won grand prizes and the rest took certificates of merit.

Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry & Technology Francis Ho said the awards recognise Hong Kong's outstanding achievements in the development of IT applications and e-Government services.

They also prove that the level of local IT applications has reached international standards, Mr Ho said

The awards will not only enhance the local IT industry's international image, but also help the sector gain a foothold in overseas markets, he said.

Background

The Asia Pacific Information & Communications Technology Awards is an international award programme founded in 2001 in Malaysia. It aims to encourage IT innovation in small and medium enterprises and individuals in the information and communications technology industry. It also provides a platform to showcase the latest information and communications technology from the Asia-Pacific region.

The awards serve to stimulate economic and trade relations, technology transfer, and provide business-matching opportunities for the participants.

Hong Kong's winning entries

The seven local winners are:

* Best of Health

Organisation: SoftEnable Technology Limited

Project: CASSOS Computer - Assisted Simulation System for Orthognathic (dental/facial) 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 & Development

Organisation: ShaoLin Microsystems Limited

Project: ShaoLin Aptus 2.0

* Certificate of Merit of E-Government and Services

Organisation: Hong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong Government

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 Asia Pacific Information & Communications Technology Awards  will be hosted in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Computer Society in December 2004, with funding support from the Innovation & Technology Fund.