Global Recognition: The Institute for Information Industry wins the first prize in the WITSA 2010 ICT Excellence Awards
Date: 2010/05/27
The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) is popularly known as the “ICT Olympics” hold its meeting every other year. This year, 2010, the Institute for Information Industry (III) competed at WITSA Public Sector ICT Excellence Award and Digital Opportunity Award with the recommendation from the Information Service Industry Association of R.O.C. (known as CISA), on the achievements in promoting the growth of the information society in Taiwan, and in supporting the activities of the APEC Digital Opportunity Center (ADOC) to help reduce the international digital divide among APEC countries. Following the vigorous voting by the WCIT’s 70 member nations, yesterday (May 26) it was formally announced that the III of Taiwan had achieved the ultimate honor of winning a first prize-Chairman Award in the WITSA ICT Excellence Awards!
Dr. Chintay Shih, Chairman of the III, led an III delegation to Amsterdam to receive the award in person. Dr. Shih thanked the WCIT for this recognition of the III’s efforts in promoting informationsociety development in Taiwan and in working to reduce the digital divide among APEC nations. However, he also noted modestly that the award should belonged to the people of Taiwan, and III is accepting it on behalf of Taiwan! In the past 10 years, the Chairman Award in the ICT Excellence Awards has won by U.S. , Hong Kong and Greece ; and this is the first time that Taiwan wins this honorable prize, and it represents global recognition of the contribution that Taiwan has been making in the area of ICT applications achievement. Taiwan had previously won the ICT Excellence Award in 2000 and 2002, by the National Information Infrastructure (NII) initiative and by Taipei City Government in the Digital Opportunity and Public Sector categories and received by Minister Yang Shih-Chien and Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-Jeou , who is now the President of R.O.C., respectively.
Chairman of III, Dr. Chintay Shih, noted that, over the past 30 years, the III has played a vital role in promoting the development of the information society in Taiwan, and that the Chairman’s Award is the best recognition of the III’s efforts. He noted that, looking ahead to the future, III will continue in its organizational motto of “Innovation, Compassion, Effectiveness,” and aim at “promoting the development of the knowledge economy, advocating the adoption of innovative IT applications, and working to create equality of digital opportunity.” The III will keep moving forwards to strengthen its core competencies, promoting innovative IT-related R&D and application development, cultivating new start-ups, working with business enterprises to help them develop international markets, with the aim of creating a prosperous industry as a whole.
Notes:
1. Institute for Information Industry
Institute for Information Industry (III) was incorporated in 1979, through the joint efforts of public, private sectors, and vision of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, as a Non-Government Organization (NGO) to support the development and applications of information industry as well as information society in Taiwan. The institute consists of 1,800 highly educated professionals, generated around 117 to 130 million US dollars of revenue each year. http://www,iii,org,tw/
2. The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a consortium of nearly 70 information technology (IT) industry associations from economies around the world (which between them account for over 90% of the global ICT market). WITSA is an extremely influential organization which works to strengthen the overall capabilities of the IT sector by building platforms for fair competition and making the international IT community’s voice heard in international multilateral organizations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), the OECD, the G8, and other international forums whose decisions may have a significant impact on industry. http://www.wcit2010.org/WCIT%202010/WITSA
3. The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) is a biennial event which brings together leading figures from government, industry, the university sector and research institutes to discuss new opportunities and the development of new applications in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Since it was first held in 1978, the WCIT has developed into one of the most prestigious events in the global ICT calendar; many noted figures have spoken at past WCITs, including Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Bill Clinton, Colin Powell and Mikhail Gorbachev. http://www.wcit2010.org/
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