The second edition of the National ICT Achievement Awards (NICTAA) was held last month at Le Méridien St Julian's, where the Pisces Hall was filled to capacity eagerly awaiting the announcement of this year's winners.
Once again the Computer Society of Malta (CSM) went all out to organise what is becoming an annual event. The evening started with a selection of classical songs by the three Maltese tenors Andrew Sapiano, Brian Cefai and Joseph Aquilina, ably accompanied by Michelle Cachia Castelletti.
This was followed by a keynote address by IT Minister Austin Gatt, who congratulated the CSM for the initiative and spoke positively about what is currently happening so professionally within the ICT market in Malta and especially the challenges that lie ahead.
Valerie Vella, who compered the evening, assisted by Martina Vella, announced that this year CSM received a record number of nominees and the scrutineers had a hard time identifying a winner in each of the eight categories. So much so that, having reached this stage, the shortlisted companies could easily classify themselves as being winners.
Special guests invited to present the awards read out the shortlisted companies and this was followed by a short video on their product. Eventually, the special guests announced the winner, to the delight of the winning team.
These are the results:
IT Company Award, presented by Dr Gatt - 6PM. The other shortlisted companies were Crimsonwing and iP Limited;
IT Project Award, presented by Joe Tabone, chairman, Malta Communications Authority - MIIIT - eVERA. The other shortlisted companies were 6PM - British Airways Revenue Recovery and Exigy/MIIIT - e-Government Framework;
IT Product Award, presented by Sunny Portelli, chairman, Maltacom plc - 6PM - Axle Prototyping. The other shortlisted companies were Computer Domain - Libyan Ministry of Education and Megabyte - ARPS;
E-Business Solution Award, presented by Mike Foley, chief marketing officer, Tekom Investments - Crimsonwing - Immedia. The other shortlisted companies were EBN - Offshore Services and Webgenix - Megaspin.net;
IT Education Award, presented by Leo Brincat, MP - Department of Education - SSR. The other shortlisted companies were MIIIT - Matsec Results via SMS and MIIIT - Student Placement Programme;
Information Society Award, presented by Lawrence Zammit, chairman, Air Malta plc - MIIIT - MyWEB Corporate. The other shortlisted companies were MIIIT - ICTv and TCTC - Click;
R&D Award, presented by Dr Gatt - X-Sketch System. Dionica was shortlisted
Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anton Callus, chairperson, CSM - Professor Albert Leone Ganado; and
Special Awards in the form of a grant donated by CSM to three University of Malta students, nominated by their heads of Department and presented by Mr Callus - Charles Mercieca (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence), Alan Borg (Computer Systems Engineering) and Ivan Borg (Computer Information Systems).
In a separate statement, rapidly growing Maltese ICT company 6pm said it received the IT Company Award in recognition for its growth and revenue as suppliers of IT products and services. "This award also recognises 6pm Ltd as the leading ICT company in Malta in the field of software development outsourcing," it said.
Suppliers of computer hardware, networking, software products, software development services, Web technology as well as providers of training and educational services were eligible for this award.
6pm Ltd also received the IT Product Award for Axle Prototyping, in recognition of its efforts to enable business users to make use of IT. "Axle Prototyping has been instrumental in demonstrating the capability and innovation of 6pm staff and the Maltese IT workforce in general," the company said.