MCA honours state innovators, business leaders and academic excellence

Last week, the eighth edition of the MCA’s eBusiness Awards was held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. These awards have consistently showcased some of the best solutions that have been developed by domestic ICT organisations.

The event has provided a platform for increased visibility to participants and an excellent means to credit the efforts and unique talents demonstrated by all those involved in the rollout of such innovative business initiatives.

In his address, Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri highlighted the significance of these awards and how they evolved to reward and encourage the growth of eBusiness as one of the key drivers of the Maltese economy.

“Since the first edition of these awards the digital world has changed, and it did so in many ways. The progress in technology made huge leaps forward and we, as a nation, did not hesitate to keep in sync with its swift pace. Thanks to the private investment and business-friendly climate, Malta is today singled out as the only European member state with a nation-wide coverage of the ultra-fast fixed internet service – hence, we are truly a gigabit society in the making,” said Schembri.

Parliamentary secretary for the digital economy Silvio Schembri

After eight successful editions characterised by a consistent annual improvement, the eBusiness Awards will embrace yet another very important evolution.

During the award giving ceremony it was announced that, following recent developments, as from the next edition, these awards will fall under the responsibility of the newly established Tech.mt.

“Rewarding talent in Technology & Innovation leaves a ripple effect of feel-good factor and business retention on our island. We instill confidence when acknowledging innovative ideas in the use of web-based technologies, said Dana Farrugia, CEO of Tech.mt.

“This is confirmed from what we have seen from past winners, as they went ahead to achieve considerable growth. The majority of companies who were recognised by the eBusiness Awards initiative have remained in Malta and still choose Malta as their hub for technology and business growth. For us at Tech.mt, there is no better certificate of trust than this,” she said.

This year, 21 solutions from seven different categories, made it to the final.

The Best App category was won by Savvisave of Mapfre MSV Life plc due to its flexible, goal-oriented, digital savings product that lets you save towards your personal goals.

TinkTank Ltd snapped up the award for the Best eCommerce site (B2C) with their Tinkshop website developed by NIU Ltd.

Thetinkshop.com is effectually setting new standards in the gift giving industry in Malta by offering its users the ability to design the products themselves, online, from the comfort of their home whilst drastically reducing order fulfilment lead times.

The Best eGovernment initiative went to MCST for their portal Plumtri developed by Seasus. Plumtri.org facilitates the interaction as well as the showcasing and sharing of information amongst individuals and organisations engaged in research and innovation.

The Office of the Prime Minister clinched the award for the Best Use of Technology in Business Transformation, with their product BiedjaCam developed by the Ministry for the environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

BiedjaCam is a collaboration platform, between the Agriculture and Rural Payments Agency and land farmers, to better manage controls of subsidies related to the Common Agricultural Policy.

The Best ICT Academic Project with an eBusiness Theme was won by Karl Bezzina, a young student from the Faculty of ICT at the University of Malta with his dissertation; Flexible Job Shop Scheduling of a Production Line with Overlapping in Operations.

MITA walked away with the newly introduced category - Excellence, Innovation and Leadership in Information Security – with their Hybrid Cloud for Government developed by ICT Solutions. The hybrid cloud is truly at the cutting edge of secure by design implementations.

Finally, The Best Social Media Campaign went to the Żabbar Local Council for their Umbrella Installation Campaign by Y Ltd.

The umbrellas were an instant hit on social media and within a week the installation was featured in all news bulletins, news portals, and newspapers and also in a variety of international photographic reports ranging from Singapore to Paris and Saudi Arabia.

This was the widest exposure ever given to the city of Żabbar.