NBQSA ICT Awards competition to mark its 14th anniversary this October

Creating history each year by recognizing exceptional local ICT innovations and achievements, the National Best Quality ICT Awards (NBQSA) competition will mark its 14th anniversary in October this year. NBQSA is the only National competition of its type in Sri Lanka which has been, since 1998, recognising individuals and organizations for their outstanding contribution to the development of ICT Industry in Sri Lanka. It has provided a unique platform of opportunity to display and benchmark local ICT products to the business industry and the world. Over the years the event itself has grown in recognition and prestige, both locally and internationally. Today, NBQSA “Seal of Excellence” is regarded as the acknowledged symbol of achievement, and serves as an effective means to gain international recognition for locally developed ICT products, enabling them to successfully compete in the global market.

BCS The Chartered Institute for IT, United Kingdom is the main sponsor of NBQSA. The event is annually organized by the BCS The Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section (BCSSL). This year too, several organizations have come forward to support this laudable National cause. ICTA has joined hands with NBQSA as the National Partner since 2009. Endorsing the National contribution and popularity of the NBQSA event, IBM is the Platinum Sponsor for this years’ event. Bank of Ceylon (BOC) has joined the NBQSA as the Gold Sponsor while IFS has come forward as the Bronze Sponsor for this national endeavor.

Intel Sri Lanka has come forward as a Sponsor. WSO2 is the Special Award Sponsor for Open Source Category and Domain LK Registry is the Special Award Sponsor for Best Application with Local Language Content. SLASCOM has come forward as the special award sponsor for the ICT entrepreneurship award which is introduced as a special award in this year.

The primary objectives of NBQSA are threefold:

to provide recognition for outstanding achievements of individuals and organiza- Tools and Application Infrastructure Security Financial Industrial Health Care Communications Media & Entertainment Tourism & Hospitality General Applications Research & Development Tertiary Student Project Education & Training E -Government & Services Start-Up Company Product In-house Products E-Inclusion & E-Community E-Logistics & Supply Chain Management Sustainability & Green IT Post Graduate Student Projects tions in Sri Lanka who/which have contributed to the development of ICT,

to create a window to gain international recognition for locally developed ICT products, and,

to improve standards and the quality of local ICT products and services, to be able to compete in the international market place. NBQSA Award Categories The competition is open under Nineteen (19) categories and BCS Sri Lanka section has taken the initiative to honour the best products developed using Open Source Tools and other Development Tools as special awards. The Tertiary Project category is open to current students from Sri Lankan Tertiary Education Institutions while Post Graduate Students Projects will be available for students who have passed out within last one year from a tertiary educational institute. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will be presented in these categories provided that the products achieve the required threshold marks. Judging The judging is carried out by a Panel of Judges consisting of experts from diverse dis- ciplines such as IT, Engineering, Management, Finance, Marketing etc. who come from both the Private/Public sectors and the Academia. The Judges are appointed adhering to stringent criteria and the judging process takes place under strict conditions to ensure unbiased and objective evaluations as well as to maintain strict confidentiality. Past Winners The NBQSA Overall Gold winners for the past three years are:

WSO2 Inc., for the product “WSO2 Application Server” in 2011.

WSO2 Inc., for the product “Enterprise Service Bus” in 2010.

Scienter Technologies (Pvt) Ltd., for product “Destiny” in 2009. ICT Lifetime Achiever Award Keeping in line with the primary objectives of NBQSA, for the fifth consecutive year, an outstanding personality would be awarded the “ICT Lifetime Achiever/Most Outstanding Contribution to ICT” Award for the invaluable services rendered to the development of local ICT Industry for a long period of time. This recognition is awarded jointly by BCS Chartered Institute for IT and ICT Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka. ICT Entrepreneurship Award This year too, a budding entrepreneur will be recognized for his or her effort for venturing into the organizational development in an ICT organization with the “ICT Entrepreneur of the year Award”. This recognition is awarded jointly by BCS Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section and Sri Lanka Association of Software & Service Companies (SLASSCOM). Best Local Language Software Promoting the development of the local language enabled content and products, is one of the main requirements to spread the ICT usage throughout the country. It is expected to be achieved by awarding the “Best Local Language Product”. This recognition is awarded jointly by BCS Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section and Domain LK.

The Best Product developed Using Open source Technology

The best product developed using Open Source development Tools is awarded jointly by BCS Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section and WSO2.

IBM Special Award – “Most Futuristic ICT Solution”

IBM is the Platinum Sponsor for this year and will join BCS the Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section to award a trophy to the best product with the most futuristic ICT solution which is expected to bring the highest value to the community. Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) NBQSA winners who surpass the qualifying threshold marks will be nominated to the Asia Pacific ICT Awards ( APICTA), an International Awards Programme initiated to increase ICT awareness in the community and assist in bridging the Digital Divide. Sri Lanka is jointly represented at APICTA by BCS the Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section and FITIS Software Chapter.

Sri Lanka won the first ever APICTA Gold in 2006 when Nuwan Senaratna from University of Colombo School of computing (UCSC) presented his project on Automatic Music Composition (AMC) beating 78 entries in the Tertiary category

In 2007 too Sri Lanka was able to sustain the Gold when students from SLIIT presented their Tripwire Project.

In 2008 creating a milestone in Sri Lankan software industry Sri Lanka won two gold awards in APICTA and the first ever gold award for Sri Lanka in the Financial Category of the competition was won by Epic Lanka (PVT) Ltd for “Dial a Bank” surpassing nations such as Australia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Pakistan etc. and Ganindu Nanayakkara of Ananda College Colombo brought glamour by winning the Gold award for his Project “The Watch”.

In 2009 Sri Lanka won four Merit Awards, Epic Lanka Pvt. Ltd. for Epic Lifetime Banking; Scienter Technologies (Pte) Ltd. for Destinity; M. K. Lahiru Priyadarshana of Informatics Institute of Technology for iDisplay and E. Amani I. Soysa of Informatics Institute of Technology for ChordATune. .

In 2010, Sri Lanka won 4 merit awards through WSO2, University of Colombo School of Computing, University of Moratuwa and Gateway College Colombo respectively under, Tools and Infrastructure, e-Learning, Tertiary and Secondary Student Projects categories.

Last year 2011, Sri Lanka won 2 merit awards, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology for “Project Kundalini” and Informatic Institute of Technology for “FREEWAVE - A Framework for Accelerometer Based Hand Gesture Interaction. B2B Initiative The BCS the Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka section has taken a new initiative to take Sri Lankan ICT enterprises and their products into global markets. This initiative is to select a group of better products developed by local ICT organizations and promote awareness of these products, skills and competencies to worldwide system integrators, independent software vendor, ICT solution providers and potential customers etc.

The web site www.Biz2Biz.lk which contains the information about these projects was soft-launched at the NBQSA media briefing on 27th July, 2012. This is expected to be a starting point of a series of activities designed to promote the ICT industry in Sri Lanka reach its true potential in the global context. Up Coming Milestones of NBQSA 2012 Applicant Profile : The competition is open only to Sri Lankan organizations, groups and individuals for locally designed and developed ICT products.

How to Apply : Applications can be obtained from Mr. Muzni - Coordinator, at the BCS Secretariat, No. 51, Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Colombo 7. ( Tel: 0112665261/2); or downloaded from http:// www.nbqsasrilanka.org .

Contact: NBQSA 2012, BCS The Chartered Institute for IT - Sri

Lanka Section, No. 51, Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha,

Colombo 7. (Tel) +94 11 2665261 ; +94 11 4713822, (Fax) ; +94 11 4713821 ; (E-mail) bcs@info

tel.lk

Supplement Coordinated by Sujan Thrikawala –0773561110