Linux Business Award 2005 Presentation Ceremony

6th July, 2005 (Wednesday)

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

Linux is by far the fastest growing Operating System in market today. Findings from an IDC report at beginning of this year reveals: The combined worldwide market for desktops, servers, and packaged software running on Linux is forecast to grow at a 2003-2008 compound annual growth rate of 25.9 percent worldwide, reaching $35.7 billion by 2008. The worldwide market for software on Linux is forecast to exceed $14 billion by 2008 with a 2003-2008 compound annual growth rate of 44.3 percent. These are very encouraging figures for the people in the industry. Linux is no longer viewed as a wait and see product solution anymore. Its deployment is spreading widely in the enterprise and across all sectors of the market. Linux becomes one major part of the information technology economy worldwide. It means big business opportunity.

The Linux Business Adoption Award 2005 is aimed to encourage the innovative usage of Linux in the area of application and R&D by showing the best practices among their counterparts in deploying different businessin their respective industries. By finding out this best Linux usage, we hope to greatly benefit the business society and provide solution sourcing example for potential customers on their respective industry.

Linux Business Award 2005 was jointly organized by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), HKSAR, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and the Hong Kong Linux Industry Association (HKLIA). It was co-organised by Hong Kong Computer Society, America Hong Kong Electronics Association, Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, Linux User Group, Linux Player Group, Global Chinese Linux User Association and Linux Pilot.

Linux Business Award 2005 Prize Presentation Ceremony is the highlight of the entire event. It was started with welcome cocktail at 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm. The ceremony was officiated by Mr. Edmund Sung, Acting Executive Director of HKPC; Mr. ALan Kan, Acting Chairman and Vice Chairman of HKLIA; Dr. Lam Wai Kin, Advisor of HKLIA and  Mr. Cheung Woon Hang, Chief System Manager of OGCIO.

The event attracted more than 150 audiences for the IT industry, awardees, press, business users and etc. Fourteen Hong Kong companies were recognized for excellence in business adoption and innovation on Linux at the Presentation Ceremony.

Mr. Edmund Sung and Mr. Alan Kan delivered welcome speeches respectively. Mr. Sung said, "Linux is the fastest growing operating system in the market with applications spanning both public and private sectors. Offering an easy access to the adopting of information technology by business or community users alike, Linux has facilitated the development of IT products and services. Through this competition, we hope to raise the awareness of the business sectors on the possibility of Linux, and promote successful applications on the Linux platform to encourage a wider adoption of Linux."

Mr. Alan Kan expressed, "According to the contestants, Linux offers lower development cost due to many free open source tools are available on the web; Linux appliances are less demanding in resources which cost less for manufacturing; Linux OS is more stable and reliable thus reduce maintenance and service frequency and most importantly, owning the source code is the key for continuous product development. "

Dr. Lam Wai Kin, the Chief Judge of the Linux Business Award Competition, summarized the competition result as better than expectation.

There are two categories in the Linux Business Award 2005, namely Business Adoption Award and Product Development  Award. The total number of entries for this year has jumped by 50 % over 2003. Entries came from different industry sectors, including plastics injection moulding, electronics, sea transport logistics management, hotel management, restaurants and catering services, retail, education, community services, and IT services.

   Awards were presented by the following Guests:

Mr. SH Tung - General Manager of Ming Pao Hi-Tech Weekly.

Dr. Lam Wai Kin - Advisor of HKLIA

Mr. Cheung Woon Hang, Chief System Manager of OGCIO

Mr. Edmund Sung - Acting Executive Director of HKPC

The Grand Award winners are:

• Business Adoption Award - Industry Based Application: Fleet Management Limited

• Product Development Award - Enterprise Business Application: Infrasys (HK) Ltd.

• Product Development Award - Infrastructure Building & Communication Application:
  Center for e-Commerce Infrastructure Development , The University of Hong Kong.

• Product Development Award - Linux Appliance: Chen Hsong Holdings Ltd.

After Awards presentation and group photo taking, Mr. Edmund Sung presented souvenirs to all Judges and Sponsors, Mr. Cheung Woon Hang presented souvenirs to all Co-organizers and Technical Consultants.

The event was ended by 7:00 pm after demonstration of Awardees' products. Thanks must be given to all the co-organizers, sponsors and those who rendered their effort in making this event a successful one.

See you at the next event!



 Acknowledgement : Photos were contributed by Mr. Stephen Pong and IDG, China.

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