IT Achievers Honored in CyberPress Awards

Dec 26, 2009 (MANILA, Philippines) -- The financial crisis that hit 2009 brought misery to individuals and companies alike but it also provided an opportunity for a few players to shine and make a breakthrough in the local IT industry.

These persons and entities who made their mark despite the gloom and doom that prevailed throughout the year were feted in the 2nd CyberPress ICT Choice Awards given out by the country’s association of IT writers last Dec. 17 at Arts in the City, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

The awarding ceremony, which was conducted alongside the group’s Christmas party, picked this year's achievers in five categories: IT Story of the Year, IT Product of the Year, IT Startup of the Year, IT Executive of the Year, and IT Company of the Year.

Also this year, CyberPress introduced the Lifetime Achievement Award which is aimed at honoring personalities who contributed immensely to the development of the local IT industry. The first recipient of the award is Dr. William "Bill" Torres, who is considered the "Father of Philippine Internet."

As co-founder and former President of Mozcom, the country's first commercial ISP, Torres spearheaded the negotiations with the US government in the 1990s to bring Internet to the Philippines. He also holds the distinction as the first Filipino to acquire a PhD degree in computer science in the US.

In his acceptance speech, Torres said it is important for the country to take advantage of the benefits offered by technology. He cited, in particular, the cloud computing model, which he said is ideal for a developing nation like the Philippines.

Voted as IT Story of the Year was "Smartmatic-TIM undertakes 2010 election automation project," which continues to generate headlines as the country’s first computerized polls draws near.

Getting the nod as IT Product of the Year was Windows 7, Microsoft's newest operating system. Hailed by the IT press as light and efficient, the OS is a big improvement over Vista.

Named IT Startup of the Year was Inovent Inc., a new Filipino tech company that unveiled this year a prototype of an LCD interactive television (iTV) set, claiming to be the first of its kind to be produced in the Philippines.

Chosen as IT Executive of the Year was Ricky Banaag, who has become a virtual institution in the local tech industry by leading Intel Microelectronics Philippines for the 12th straight year. He has also has provided a steady hand to Intel despite the closure of the company's manufacturing arm this year.

Picked as IT Company of the Year was Acer Philippines, which exceeded expectations in 2009 by becoming the top PC vendor in the country. Globally, it now threatens HP after knocking out Dell at number two.

The list of nominees for the awards was drawn up during the CyberPress seminar on December 5 to 6 in Baras, Rizal. CyberPress members, who write for the country’s top newspapers and IT publications, then voted for their choices via an online poll.

The CyberPress ICT Choice Awards follows the lead of other press groups which have been bestowing awards over the years in their respective sectors. Examples include the "Athlete of the Year" award of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) and the "Car of the Year" award of the motoring press corps.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=535802&publicationSubCategoryId=200