Eleven companies and organisations have been awarded this year's National IT Awards. The premier IT Awards in Singapore, organised biennially by the National Computer Board (NCB), seek to recognise and honour companies ...
Singapore, 5 November 1998 | For Immediate Release
Eleven companies and organisations have been awarded this year's National IT Awards. The premier IT Awards in Singapore, organised biennially by the National Computer Board (NCB), seek to recognise and honour companies and organisations which have achieved business excellence and higher levels of success through their outstanding development and use of IT.
The winners of the 1998 National IT Awards are:
Innovative Use of IT (Private Sector) Category:
- ABACUS International Pte Ltd
- Comfort Transportation Pte Ltd
Innovative Use of IT (Public Sector) Category:
- Land Transport Authority
- National Library Board
Innovative Use of IT (Local Enterprise) Category:
- BizArts Creative Pte Ltd
- Plant Engineering Construction Pte Ltd
Innovative IT Product Category:
- Star+Globe Technologies Pte Ltd
- System Access Pte Ltd
Innovative IT Service Category:
- CalendarONE Pte Ltd
- Health Online Pte Ltd
Excellence in IT Training Category:
- Kranji Secondary School
(Please refer to Annex 1: Citations for more details)
The Awards presentation ceremony will be held at the IT Awards gala dinner on 5 Nov 98, 7:00pm, at the Westin Stamford Hotel. Guest-of-Honour RAdm(NS) Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Education, Second Minister for Defence and Chairman, National IT Committee, will present the trophies to the winning organisations.
Using the IT Awards as reference points to trace how the IT scene has developed over the years and also how it will take shape in future, Minister said, "Between 1990 and 1998 our IT industry grew from S$2 billion to S$12 billion. These have been eight years of astounding growth, dramatic innovation and dynamic changes."
He continued, "The IT scene will continue to bring new shifts. Four of these changes can be identified -government exploiting IT to provide better service to public instead of only improving internal efficiencies and cost savings; businesses using IT and the Internet to provide new services unavailable beforehand, and to tap global markets; the emergence of knowledge workers who continually pick up new skills; and local IT companies focusing on tapping global funds, global talent and global markets."
Stephen Yeo, Chief Executive Officer, NCB, said, "The outstanding quality of entries have resulted in joint winners in five out of the six categories. We feel that it is important to encourage and give due recognition to deserving companies and organisations that are committed to developing and using IT to achieve excellence and business success, and better serve their customers and the general public."
"It is this forward thinking among the winners and nominees in exploiting IT for business gains that's sharpening Singapore's business competitiveness in next century. It will also support and complement Singapore's goal of becoming an IT innovation hub," he added.
The NCB received 316 nominations this year, an overwhelming 50% more than the 1996 awards. There were 50 nominations in the Private Sector category, 36 in the Public Sector category, 38 in the Local Enterprise category, 99 in the Innovative IT Product category, 74 in the Innovative IT Service category and 19 in the Excellence in IT Training category.
Under the Innovative IT Product and Innovative IT Service categories, each nominee was evaluated for its innovativeness, product recognition, development capability, and its impact on the users and organisation. For the Innovative Use of IT category (Private, Public and Local Enterprise), the emphasis was on the organisation's innovative translation of IT applications to achieve organisation goals. Elements such as innovativeness, technology, scope of IT usage, impact on organisation and business processes were evaluated. Organisations under the Excellence in IT Training category were examined by their training objectives, process, effectiveness and expenditure. (see Annex 2 for full criteria list)
The IT Awards evaluation committee was chaired by Lim Swee Say, Deputy Secretary-General for NTUC and former Chairman, NCB. The committee members comprised of senior government officials, leading representatives from industry, media and higher institutions.
The award winners will each receive a sculptured trophy, specially designed by local sculptor Sun Yu-Li for the awards. Winners can expect publicity in Singapore and selected overseas markets, plus potential international exposure through various NCB-driven programmes. Past winners have gained from the higher profile they received, furthering their organisational and business goals, with a number going on to win international awards for their innovative use and development of IT.
Annex 2: National IT Awards Evaluation Criteria
Category: Innovative Use of IT (Private, Public, Local Enterprise)
- Innovativeness
- Technology
- Level of System Integration
- Scope of IT
- IT Investment
- Impact on Organisation
- Impact on Business
Category: Innovative IT Product, Innovative IT Service
- Innovativeness
- Technology
- Product Recognition
- Impact on Organisation
- Capability Development
- Impact on User
Category: Excellence in IT Training
- IT Training Objectives
- IT Training Process
- IT Training Effectiveness
- IT Training Expenditure
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