Brunei partakes in Apicta contest in Melbourne

WINNERS of the recent Brunei ICT Awards (Bicta) left the Sultanate to take part in the international level competition, the 9th Asia-Pacific ICT Alliance (Apicta), in Melbourne, Australia yesterday.

Coordinated and led by AiTi (Authority for Info-communications Technology) officials, the Brunei delegation of 23 people consisted of nominated Apicta judges together with winners of the Bicta 2009 competition which was held last August.

The delegation departed from Brunei International Airport yesterday to attend the competition, which will run for four days, starting today, marking another historical milestone for the Ministry of Communications in its initiative to boost the development of the ICT industry in the Sultanate.

Two schools and two ICT companies from this year's Bicta winners are nominated to represent Brunei in the international competition. They are the Kuala Belait Chung Hwa Middle School for Secondary Student Project Category; the Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College (MTSSR) for Tertiary Student Project Category; Teleconsult and GisCom for the Tools and Infrastructure Category; and Mars Enterprise for e-Logistics and Supply Chain Management Category.

Nominated Apicta judges who were also previously Bicta judges are represented by Dr Yong Chee Tuan from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Yaakup Minudin and Osman Ladis from Brunei Shell, Hj Rahim Hj Derus from the Ministry of Education, Dr Sophiana Chua from Insitut Teknologi Brunei (ITB) and Pg Sarimah Pg Hj Abdul Latiff from BAG Networks Sdn Bhd and InfoCom Federation Brunei (IFB).

Deputy Chairman of IFB Pg Abdul Ghani Pg Hj Metusin along with AiTi officers are the Apicta's Executive Committee members who will also be attending the annual Apicta General Meeting.

According to Pg Sarimah, Brunei has been participating in the Apicta Awards Competition since 2002. "This year, the two ICT companies' representatives who have won special mention awards previously are better prepared and coached, and hopefully with their past experiences, they will be able to achieve better results," said Pg Sarimah.

"The two schools' representatives are also well-coached in advance and hopefully that they too will show their youthful competitive spirit and knowledge to achieve their goals," she added.

One of the winners, Mohd Farhan Hj Ismail, a student from MTSSR, expressed his excitement in participating the international event. "I am aware that it will be very challenging as we will be competing against the best teams from other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, but the spirit of winning is instilled in our hearts," said the 22-year-old.

The Apicta is an international awards programme which aims to increase ICT awareness in the community and assist in bridging the digital divide.

By providing networking and product benchmarking opportunities to ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in the region, the programme is designed to stimulate ICT innovation and creativity, promote economic and trade relations, facilitate technology transfer, and offer business matching opportunities via exposure to venture capitalists and investors.

Participants of the awards programme comprise members of the Apicta Alliance.

They are guided by the Framework of Cooperation identifying how member economies can work together in support of the awards programme as well as other programmes that foster development and growth of the ICT industry in the region.

The Brunei Times