For Immediate
Release Contact:
Bob Cohen
February 28, 2002 +1(703)
284-5301
Tinabeth
Burton
+1(703)
284-5305
Adelaide,
Australia – The World Information Technology and Services Alliance
(WITSA) today announced seven winners of its Information Technology Excellence Awards 2002 at the World Congress on
Information Technology 2002 in Adelaide, Australia. The awards honor
exceptional achievements in the application of information technology around
the globe and were presented to winners in three broad categories: Public Sector
Excellence, Private Sector Excellence, and Digital Opportunity. A special Chairman’s Award was also
presented.
“Candidates
for the IT Excellence awards were hand-picked by IT experts from around the
world who are part of our 41-country WITSA industry network,” said Harris N.
Miller, President of WITSA and the Information Technology Association of
America (ITAA). “Each of the winners has demonstrated world-class achievements
in their use of the latest IT products and services, and it was a natural
choice to honor the winners here in Adelaide at the World Congress on
Information Technology - the
preeminent global IT executive conference.”
“WITSA was able
to select some of the very best applications of IT from around the globe, based
on a large pool of highly qualified candidates,” said WITSA Chairman George
Newstrom. “It was a particular honor
for me to select New York City as the winner of our special Chairman’s
Award. The NYC.gov portal is a model of
public service, meeting New Yorkers’ needs for government services, even in the
face of ever changing challenges,” Newstrom added.
Candidates
for Information Technology
Excellence Awards 2002 were nominated by IT experts from WITSA’s network of
41 global IT associations, then voted on by the executives of WITSA member
associations.
CHAIRMAN’S
AWARD
City of New York for their
new portal - NYC.gov.
Citizens of one of the
biggest cities on earth can conduct more than 100 service transactions and
access 50,000 pages of content on this intuitive, user-friendly portal. An intention-based design allows citizens
who know what they want to do, but don’t know where to go within the government,
to easily perform their municipal transactions. From viewing live traffic cameras to ordering birth certificates
to paying parking tickets, NYC.gov is truly a one-stop government portal for
all New Yorkers. NYC.gov embodies bold
and innovative ways for government to effectively meet citizen needs and
improve access to vital City services.
PUBLIC
SECTOR EXCELLENCE
Taipei City Government:
Taipei CyberCity Initiative.
Under its current
administration, Taipei has become a true CyberCity. Leveraging its three
cornerstones of e-Government, e-Schools and e-Community, Taipei’s initiative
has developed an environment where all personal computers, servers and websites
are connected to a backbone communications infrastructure. Behind the vast technological infrastructure
laid down in Taipei, there is the critical leadership and support from Mayor
Ying-jeou Ma for the Taipei CyberCity Initiative.
ONCE – Blind and Disabled
Spanish National Organization.
ONCE
has created a program to offer Microsoft technologies to disabled and blind
citizens of Spain, with assistance from Microsoft Corporation. This program was
started after an agreement was signed between Bill Gates and ONCE General
Management in 1997 in Madrid (Spain). Using accessible information and user interface
technologies, ONCE has been able to develop products such as ONCE-Reader
(Screen Reader) and ONCE-Mega (Screen Magnifying Module) to allow blind
employees to work on equal terms as sighted employees in Spain.
Bank of Singapore Ltd. (BOS).
Bank of Singapore (BOS) last
year transformed itself into Singapore’s first pure Internet Bank. At its
launch, BOS was the first in market to launch on-line loan and account opening
applications; and first in market to put together a comprehensive suite of ASP
services through alliance partnerships.
FINNAIR.
Finnair offers to its
frequent flyer passengers the eGate boarding solution, allowing them to pass through
a crowded airport and board an airplane without any waiting in line while
maintaining the confidence that unauthorized persons cannot board that plane.
Once at the airport, a FINNAIR passenger can check in and board the airplane by
walking through a special gate that will remotely read his or her frequent
flyer card and verify his or her identity, allowing immediate boarding with no
hassles.
DIGITAL
OPPORTUNITY
Connectivity Agenda: The leap
to Internet in Colombia.
The Connectivity Agenda is
the set of strategies developed through specific programs and projects to allow
Colombia to profit from the use of information technologies for its economic,
social and political development. The development of the Connectivity Agenda
was led by the President of the Republic, with active participation from the
remaining governmental agencies and the private sector.
HP Digital Village Program
Communities.
The HP Digital Village
Program combines technology, brainpower and collaborative energy to help underserved
communities invent and realize their own visions for the future. Each of three
Digital Villages is a vision of what technology can achieve with imagination
and optimism. Each Digital Village
receives approximately $5 million worth of HP products, services, consulting
and social venture capital over three years to implement their technology
partnerships with community partners, such as schools and universities, local
government, community services, churches, nonprofits and small businesses.
The World
Information Technology and Services Alliance is a consortium of 41 information
technology (IT) industry associations from economies around the world. As the
global voice of the IT industry, WITSA is dedicated to advocating policies that
advance the industry's growth and development; facilitating international trade
and investment in IT products and services; strengthening WITSA's national
industry associations through the sharing of knowledge, experience, and
critical information; providing members with a vast network of contacts in
nearly every geographic region of the world; and hosting the World Congress on
IT, the only industry sponsored global IT event. Founded in 1978 and originally
known as the World Computing Services Industry Association, WITSA has
increasingly assumed an active advocacy role in international public policy
issues affecting the creation of a robust global information
infrastructure. For additional
information about WITSA and its activities, go to www.witsa.org.
The WITSA
Secretariat is currently hosted by the Information Technology Association of
America (ITAA). For more information about ITAA, please visit its web site at www.ITAA.org.
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