The total of 383 nominees competing for the 10th MSC Malaysia Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) 2009 awards at the Putra World Trade Centre on 8 October is the largest number so far in its nine year history.

The nominations for APICTA 2009, which were submitted on-line at www.mscapicta.com.my  closed on 20th of July.

These numbers are up from the 359 nominees last year and this also is the first time when the annual MSC Malaysia APICTA awards is jointly organised by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (PIKOM – The National ICT Association of Malaysia).

“Over the years, we found that most winners of PIKOM's awards also won the APICTA awards, so instead of duplication, we decided to hold the APICTA awards jointly with MDeC),” said Wei Chuan Beng, PIKOM deputy chairman at the announcements held in conjunction with the MSC Malaysia Aidilfitri Open House Celebration at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on 29 September.

The nominees, comprising individuals, students, entrepreneurs, small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and organisations are competing in 18 categories – namely Best of e-Learning, Best of e-Government & Services, Best of e-Inclusion & e-Community, Best of e-Health, Best of Security, Best of Communications Applications, Best of Industrial Applications, Best of e-Logistics, Best of Financial Applications, Best of Media & Entertainment, Best of Tourism & Hospitality, Best of Applications & Infrastructure Tools, Best of Research & Development, Best of Start-Up Companies, Best of Tertiary Student Project – Software/Hardware, Best of Tertiary Student Project – Creative Multimedia, Best of Secondary Student Project, Best of Primary Student Project.

That same day, the overall winner from among the non-student categories will walk away with the Prime Minister’s “Best of the Best” Award.

The Prime Minister's “Best of the Best’ award winner will also be eligible to attend a week-long Entrepreneurship Development  Programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.

With the exception of the winners of the Best of Student Projects-Primary category, each of the other category winners and some of the merit award recipients will be sponsored to represent Malaysia at the International APICTA awards which will be held in Melbourne, Australia as part of the Asia Pacific Digital Innovation Summit from 14 to 17 December 2009.

Two students from the winning team of the Best of Secondary Students Project will be given scholarships to undertake ICT related courses at the Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation (UCTI).

The APICTA competition aims to provide recognition to the outstanding achievements of individuals, students, entrepreneurs, SMEs and organisations in the local ICT industry.

The awards are also to recognise those who have contributed towards the development of the MSC Malaysia initiatives or in building applications and services which have benefitted the nation.

“The competition has enabled many of the companies to attain greater success not only regionally but also at the global level,” said MDeC chief executive officer, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali.

For example, last year’s APICTA winners, Sarawak Information Systems (SAINS) and Les’ Copaque Productions  did the country proud when they emerged as winners at the United Nations World Summit Award (WSA) 2009 which was held in Monterrey, Mexico this month.

Les' Copaque told Comm & Tech Asia on the sidelines that their 3D animated movie Geng, had netted them a total of RM6.3 million from its Malaysian screenings this year alone, whilst prospective deals are in the pipeline with international movie distributors such as Walt Disney.

“These achievements by our local companies show that our country is capable of producing world class products, solutions and services,” said Badlisham.

At the same event, Badlisham also received contributions worth a total of RM1.7 million in cash from the sponsors for APICTA 2009 – namely, Telekom Malaysia, Huawei Technologies, Iris Corporation, eCosway.com, Microsoft, ASTRO, Cuzzy Media, Asia Pacific University College of Technology and Innovation (UCTI), Jobstreet.com and Asia Media.

Badlisham thanked the sponsors for their contributions, adding that their sponsorships have added further prestige to the competition.

For further enquiries and details, log on to www.mscapicta.com.my or e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or call 1-800-88-8338.