Special awards to be presented at NBQSA-2012 on 19 October

Creating history each year by recognising exceptional local ICT innovations and achievements, the National Best Quality ICT Awards (NBQSA) competition will mark its 14th anniversary on this year.

NBQSA will culminate in a gala event to be held at Hotel Galadari on 19 October 2012. NBQSA is the only national competition of its type in Sri Lanka which has been, since 1998, granting opportunities to individuals and organisations for their outstanding contribution to the development of the ICT industry in Sri Lanka.

It has provided a unique platform of opportunity to display and benchmark local ICT talents to the business community, the industrial and the world. Over the years the event itself has grown in recognition and prestige, both locally and internationally. Today, NBQSA ‘Seal of Excellence’ is regarded as an acknowledged symbol of achievement, and serves as an effective means to gain international recognition for locally developed ICT products, enabling them to successfully compete in the global market.

The competition is open in 19 categories and in addition to this the BCS Sri Lanka section has taken the initiative to honour the products with several Special Awards.

ICT Lifetime Achiever Award: Keeping in line with the primary objectives of NBQSA, for the fourth consecutive year, an outstanding personality would be awarded the ‘ICT Lifetime Achiever Award’ for the invaluable services rendered to the development of the local ICT industry for a long period of time. This recognition is awarded jointly by the BCS Chartered Institute for IT and the ICT Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka.

ICT Entrepreneurship Award: This year, a budding entrepreneur will be recognised for his or her effort for venturing into the organisational development in an ICT organisation with the ‘ICT Entrepreneur of the Year Award’. This recognition is awarded jointly by the BCS Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section and the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM).

Best Software with Local Language Content: Promoting the development of local language enabled content and products are one of the main requirements to spread the ICT usage throughout the country. It is expected to be achieved by awarding the ‘Best Local Language Product’. This recognition is awarded jointly by the BCS Chartered Institute for IT Sri Lanka Section and Domain LK.

Postgraduate Student Project: Any information and communication technology project or research performed by a student or a group of students who are registered as active postgraduate students in a higher-learning institution, such as a college or a university during the NBQSA Award Competition or within a one year period from his or her Post graduation date by providing proof of graduation certificate during delivery of the presentation.

Best Open Source Product and Microsoft Product: The best product developed using Open Source Tools and Technologies will be awarded the Best Open Source Product Award while the candidate who developed the best product using Microsoft Technologies will be awarded the Best Microsoft Award.

The judging was carried out during the month of August, by a panel of judges consisting of experts from diverse disciplines such as IT, engineering, management and finance, marketing etc who come from both the private and public sectors and the academia. The judges are appointed adhering to stringent criteria and the judging process took place under strict conditions to ensure unbiased and objective evaluations as well as to maintain strict confidentiality.