BY James Kon

The Ministry of Health, with its BruHealth app, was the recipient of the Brunei Info-Communication Technology Awards (BICTA) 2022 Royal Patron Award as the top contestant among all categories on Thursday.

Apart from the prestigious award, the app also topped the information and communications technology (ICT) industry category and received a trophy, a certificate and BND10,000 in cash prize.

His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office graced the award ceremony and presented prizes to the winners.

His Royal Highness, as Royal Patron of BICTA, also presented four special awards – BruIoT for LoRa Based Relay in internet of things (IoT); CodeBit Company for AI Pipeline for Receipts Digitisation in artificial intelligence (AI); Land Transport Department (JPD) and Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) for Road Accident Data Enhancement and Development (RADED) in big data analytics; and Thryffy Technologies for Thryffy in start-up.

Meanwhile, other winners in the ICT industry category were Techbru Solution (B) Sdn Bhd’s KedaiPOS in second place and received a trophy, a certificate and BND5,000 in cash prize, and Network Integrity Assurance Technologies Sdn Bhd’s (NiAT) OBSERVE came in third place and received a trophy, a certificate and BND2,500 in cash prize.

Minister of Transport and Infocommunications Pengiran Shamhary bin Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Mustapha, in welcoming remarks during the award ceremony, said, “BICTA ceremony was postponed for two years as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“However, efforts to maintain the momentum of innovation and competitiveness were continuously implemented.”

The result was an increase of 27 per cent in participation to 51 entries, compared to last year, he added.

In the school category, Chung Hwa Middle School Bandar Seri Begawan (CHMS BSB) won first place with its app, AI Care, and received a trophy, a certificate and BND3,000 in cash prize.

Berakas Secondary School’s MidoriSAWI came in second place and Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha Girls Arabic Religious Secondary School (SUAMPRIPAHS) in third. They received trophies, certificates and BND2,000 and BND1,000 respectively.

There was no first place winner in the tertiary category. The second spot went to UTB for its Smart Paddy Irrigation System winning a trophy, a certificate and BND3,500. The second runner-up was also UTB for its Smart Waste Bin System with Beacon Technology. The university received a trophy, a certificate and BND1,750 in cash prize.

The event held at Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD) Chancellor Hall saw His Royal Highness being welcomed on arrival by Pengiran Shamhary; Deputy Minister of the Department of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Matsatejo bin Sokiaw as Chairman of the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam; Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications Ir Haji Mohammad Nazri bin Haji Mohammad Yusof as Co-Chairman I of BICTA 2022 Steering Committee; and InfoCom Federation Brunei (IFB) Committee Chairperson Pengiran Sarimah binti Pengiran Haji Abdul Latiff as Co-Chairman II of BICTA 2022 Steering Committee.

This year’s BICTA introduced a BICTA level-up programme to encourage continuous product development among participants, attracting participation from several local companies – Datastream Digital Sdn Bhd (DST), imagine Sdn Bhd, Progresif Sdn Bhd, Dynamik Technologies and Shell LiveWIRE Brunei – to become partners by providing support through their initiatives to maximise the potential of BICTA products and participants.

The support, according to Pengiran Shamhary, shows mutual consensus to advance the Sultanate’s aspirations to become a smart nation through digital transformation.

His Royal Highness also received a pesambah from Pengiran Shamhary in the form of an augmented reality (AR) book titled Ristaan Kenangan BICTA by a local developer from UBD.

Winners of BICTA 2022 will represent the Sultanate at the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2022 to be held later this year.

Since the country’s first participation in APICTA in 2008, Brunei has won two awards and 27 merits.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin