The first National Infocomm Awards went to five organisations who have achieved excellent results in developing and adopting infocomm technologies...
Singapore, 23 April 2002 | For Immediate Release
The first National Infocomm Awards went to five organisations who have achieved excellent results in developing and adopting infocomm technologies. The Awards were handed out by Acting Minister for Communications, Information and the Arts, Mr David Lim, at a Gala dinner tonight. After three rounds of evaluations and judging, the following companies/organisations (in no order of merit) have distinguished themselves to emerge as winners, ahead of the 347 nominations received.
Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service
-
FairEx International Financial Systems Pte Ltd
- For FairEx E-Trading Systems
-
InfoTalk Technology (Singapore) Pte Ltd
- For InfoTalk-Recognizer
-
muvee Technologies Pte Ltd
- For muvee autoProducer
Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology
-
Fuji Photo Film (Singapore) Pte Ltd
- For Print@FujiColor
-
The Supreme Court
- For E-Litigation
Citations for each winner are attached at Annex A. At the close of the nominations on December 15, 2001 (which started on 3 September 2001), the Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service received 229 nominations while the Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology category received 118.
The nominees and winners were primarily judged on their innovativeness in the use of Infocomm technologies or development of Infocomm product/service. Other determining factors include type of technology used, business impact created, scale of implementation and regional/international market presence.
"The National Infocomm Awards was created to promote the spirit of innovation amongst companies in Singapore. The submissions we received were all of the highest standards," said Mr Lam Chuan Leong, Chairman of the Main Panel of Judges for the National Infocomm Awards and Chairman of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, "I wish to congratulate the winners. They are the best examples of the innovative spirit."
Five other finalists also received plaques at tonight's Gala Dinner in recognition of their achievements :
Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service
-
GridNode Pte Ltd
- For GridTalk
-
Systems@Work Pte Ltd
- For TeleMoney Mobile Payments
Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology
-
Nanyang Polytechnic
- For e-Campus
-
Seagate Technology International
- For Integrated Pull System
-
Singapore Police Force
- For Automated Vehicle Screening System
The main panel of judges comprised a cross section of distinguished personalities from the Infocomm industry (see Annex B). The panel included international judges Mr Guy Kawasaki, CEO, Garage Technology Ventures and Dr Douglas Engelbart, Founder, Bootstrap Institute, both from the United States.
The National Infocomm Awards was established to stimulate and celebrate the spirit of innovation in the local Infocomm Industry. By recognising organisations who have created innovative Infocomm products, or put Infocomm technology to creative use, the awards aims to inspire others in the industry to embrace the spirit of innovation in their own companies.
ISSUED BY CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT
INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
About the National Infocomm Awards
The National Infocomm Awards is the highest industry accolade for Infocomm innovation in Singapore. Organised by the IDA, ec.Think and CommerceNet Singapore, the Awards are a joint effort between the government and industry to recognise innovative products or services, and use of Infocomm technology by organisations in Singapore. The Award winners will be the ambassadors for uniquely Singaporean innovation in the global Infocomm arena. It is hoped their brand names will become synonymous with outstanding Singapore Infocomm companies.
The awards are supported by major industry associations, such as the Association of the Telecommunications Industry of Singapore (ATIS), the Broadband Media Association (BMA), the Singapore IT Federation (SITF), and the Singapore Venture Capital Association (SVCA). The Awards are also supported by government agencies such as the Economic Development Board (EDB), the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and Spring Singapore (then the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board).
About the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is a dynamic organisation with an integrated perspective to developing, promoting and regulating info-communications in Singapore. In the fast-changing and converging spheres of telecommunications, information and media technologies, IDA will be the catalyst for change and growth in Singapore's evolution into a vibrant global info-communications technology centre. For more information, please visit www.ida.gov.sg.
About ec.Think
ec.Think is a private sector consortium comprising IT industry players and supported by the Singapore Government. ec.Think's mission is to help define and promote Singapore eEconomy. Its consortium members currently are industry leaders such as Accenture, Microsoft, Compaq Computer, Singtel and Ericsson.
About CommerceNet Singapore
CommerceNet Singapore Limited (CNSG) is a global partner of the CommerceNet consortium, which currently boasts a worldwide membership of about 600. CNSG is a not-for profit organisation promoting e-business, establishing global interoperability and common e-Commerce platform to enhance regional trade. Its primary mission is to make e-Commerce ubiquitous, easy and trusted. For membership and activities, please visit
www.cnsg.com.sg
For media clarification, please contact:
Kelvin Lee
Manager, Corporate Communication
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
Phone:+65 6211 1726
Fax: +65 6211 2227
Email: kelvin_lee@imda.gov.sg
Elliza RAHIM / YANG Sook Chin
Edelman Public Relations
Tel: +65 6733 1110 ext. 223/ 235
Fax: +65 6733 5550
Annex A
Category: Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service
FairEx International Financial Systems Pte Ltd
For FairEx E-Trading Systems
Launch Date: June 2001
Sample Customers: GK Goh Futures, Fimat Asia, N.M Rothschild & Sons, Pacific Asset Management, Deutsche Bank, iOCBCfx, Hantec International
Patents: (Pending) Method and System for Facilitating Foreign Currency Exchange Transactions Over a Network
FairEx's E-Trading Systems is a highly robust and innovative web-based proprietary trading and risk management systems. It comprises of a Streaming Forex B2B Exchange Platform and an independent Forex e-trading B2C platform, all of which can be interlinked, offering high speed straight through processing capabilities. It has successfully converted a traditionally phone based Over The Counter operation to an Exchange based operation.
The quality and elegance of this solution, its deployment with its wide base of established clients, and the ease of extension of this patent pending financial supply chain methodology to a wide variety of complex financial products has made it an outstanding contribution to the financial industry.
By partnering with the global banks and financial institutions, FairEx can efficiently distribute its products and solutions to a wide base of clientele in the worldwide financial community.
Value Impact
- Completely streamlines Forex trading and risk management functions, offering reliable and cost effective round the clock availability over the Internet for the Foreign Exchange market
- The business model and the technology, with slight modifications, can be applied to wide range of financial products.
- Revenue last year was approximately two million, shortly after the product debuted from R&D.
Press Contact:
Ms Felicia Yeo
Tel:+65 6222 3363
Category: Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service
InfoTalk Technology (Singapore) Pte Ltd
For InfoTalk-Recognizer
Launch Date: December 2001
Customers: - Taiwan Paging Networks
- Hong Kong and China Gas Company
- Beijing Tiananmen National Flag Raising Ceremony Information System
- a recent implementation in Singapore
Patent: InfoTalk-Recognizer
The Asian focus and its mixed-lingual capabilities as well as its commercial deployment in the China market have impressed the judges.
Its speech recognition engine can recognise different accents and conversational speech in mixed languages. The range of languages includes English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and others.
InfoTalk is unique in the sense that other speech companies focus more on the American and European languages.
The multi-lingual and mixed-lingual speech recognition technology was developed by the InfoTalk Technology R&D centre which is based in Singapore. InfoTalk-Recognizer is patent pending.
The company's founder and CEO, Dr Alex Leung, has more than 20 years of industry experience in speech understanding technology, and published over 40 papers in the US, Europe and Asia.
Value Impact
- Over 90% of the commercial voice-enabled deployments in the Greater China region is powered by InfoTalk.
Press Contact:
Ms Cheryl Foo
Tel:+65 6415 6800
Category: Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service
muvee Technologies Pte Ltd
For muvee autoProduceruvee autoProducer
Launch Date : 20 September 2001
Customers : Mass market, Videoediting firms - MGI and ROXIO
Patents : 3 patents pending, covering video editing based on automatic media and video analysis (technology: video analyser, music analyser, constructor)
The entry from muvee Technologies is the world's first fully automatic video editing software.
It radically speeds up the video editing process, in some cases making it up to a thousand times faster. The solution transforms the chore of editing video into a fun activity.
muvee Technologies was incorporated only in August last year, but its product has already been sold in over 35 countries worldwide.
The product relies on deep video processing technology on which muvee Technologies has three patents pending."
Value Impact
- Sold globally over the Internet. Key markets are the US, Europe and Japan.
Press Contact:
Mr Gerry Beauregard
Tel:+65 9847 8601
Category: Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology
Fuji Photo Film (Singapore) Pte Ltd
For Print@Fujicolor
Launch Date : 11 April 2001
Customers : Mass market
The company is innovative in the use of infocomm technology to revolutionise the traditional photo finishing business operations.
It leverages on its existing network of independently owned photofinishing outlets nation-wide to provide print services through the Internet, enabling convenient sharing and printing of colour photos.
It is an excellent e-lifestyle showcase that not only creates an additional sales channel for existing retailers, and also provides consumers with a new level of service.
Value Impact
- Over 20,000 members have used this service since its launch in April 2001.
The number of transactions and photos developed has increase by 50% monthly over the last 6 months.
Each of the participating photo outlets experienced more than 20% increase in sales revenue. There is reduction in handling direct customers at store level, enabling counter service staff to provide more value-added time with walk-in customers. With the additional Internet channel for feedback and more attention given to customers' needs, the outlets enjoy closer relationships with their customers.
Press contact:
Mr Tay Juay Hiong
Tel: +65 6383 9933
Category: Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology
Supreme Court
For E-Litigation
Launch Date : December 2001
Customers : Legal Profession, international business community
The Supreme Court has achieved great breakthrough in the deployment of innovative technologies to facilitate the administration of justice.
The Electronic Litigation System is the world's first comprehensive and integrated system, creating a virtually paperless environment for the entire litigation and judicial process.
The E-Filing System implemented by the Judiciary allows the legal profession to file court documents and obtain litigation information from the comfort of the lawyers' offices.
Using the Internet Videophones, lawyers can 'appear' in court without physically attending the court.
The Electronic Litigation System has created a tremendous impact on both the judiciary and the legal profession by transforming the legal services sector to become more effective, efficient and competitive, yet without compromising the quality of justice.
Value Impact
- More than 315 law firms now subscribe to EFS.
- More than 82% of court documents are e-filed.
- More than 780,000 documents have been e-filed.
Press Contact:
Ms Thian Yee Sze
Tel:+65 6332 3916
Annex B: Main Panel of Judges
Chairman Lam Chuan Leong Chairman, IDA
Vice Chairman Leong Keng Thai Ag CEO, IDA
1. Ho Meng Kit DS(Industry), MTI
2. BG(NS) Lam Joon Khoi DS(Services), MOF
3. Stephen Lee President, Singapore Business Federation
4. Willie Cheng Chairman, SITF
5. Natasha Kwan Representative, ec.Think
6. Chris Rogers Representative, BMA
7. Alain Vandenborre Vice Chairman, SVCA
8. Wendy Aw Immediate Past President, ATIS
9. Dr Toh See Kiat Chairman, CommerceNet Singapore
10. Chew Teck Soon Partner, PriceWaterHouseCoopers
11. Khoong Hock Yun Assistant Chief Executive (Infocomm Development), IDA
12. Guy Kawasaki International Judge (CEO, Garage Technology Ventures)
13. Dr Douglas Engelbart International Judge (Founder, Bootstrap Institute)
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