The biennial National Infocomm Awards (NIA) are back! Jointly organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), the NIA is the definitive award for the Singapore infocomm industry.

The National Infocomm Awards serve to establish a brand name for infocomm leaders in Singapore.

The NIA provides a platform for recognising innovative products and services from infocomm companies in Singapore, and gives recognition to private and public sector organisations which have harnessed infocomm technology to enhance their business. The Awards serve to establish a brand name for infocomm leaders in Singapore, and inspire industry players to pursue the world-class benchmark set by the winners.

This year, a new sub-category has been created to recognise the efforts of small and medium enterprises (SME) in using infocomm innovatively to achieve business gains and economic competitiveness.

"Infocomm innovation has a long history in Singapore and the success stories are many. Organisations that have been at the forefront have been transformed and lifted to greater heights. We want to recognise this excellence in infocomm innovation with the National Infocomm Awards, the industry’s highest accolade. The Awards are a tribute to the innovators and we hope they will inspire others too," said RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, IDA.

There are three categories for the Awards. They are:

a) Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology (Public Sector)
This category recognises public sector organisations that have invested in innovative deployment of infocomm technologies and reaped significant improvements in productivity and overall competitiveness.

b) Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology: Private Sector - General, Private Sector - SME
This category recognises private sector organisations that have invested in innovative deployment of infocomm technologies and reaped significant improvements in productivity and overall competitiveness.

c) Most Innovative Infocomm Product/Service
This category recognises organisations registered in Singapore that have developed innovative infocomm product(s) or high quality infocomm service(s) in Singapore. The winning product or service should have conclusively demonstrated an important contribution to improved productivity and/or profitability.

"For Singapore to maintain its competitive edge and remain relevant, we need to constantly tap on the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial foresight to compete among the best in the world," said Mr Pek Yew Chai, Chairman of SiTF. "Awards of such nature will further enhance the innovations of the ICT industry. We are very excited with such efforts and will work closely with IDA to create even more new opportunities to grow the industry."

Nominations, which are to be made online at the Awards web site www.nia.org.sg, will close at noon on 20 May 2008.