The third NEF-Awani ICT Awards to include three new catagories

The Malaysian Association of Bumiputera ICT Industry and Entrepreneurs (NEF) and Astro AWANI (Astro Channel 501) is back this year with the third installation of the NEF-AWANI ICT Awards supported by the New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF).

This year, the awards ceremony, to be held Friday, is introducing three new categories namely "Best e-Commerce Business", "Best Women Technopreneur" and "People's Choice" category.

"The 'Best e-Commerce Business' will recognise SOHO and homemakers who utilise online platform to leverage their business," said NEF President, Ashran Ghazi.

"The introduction of 'Best Women Technopreneur' is to give recognition to female technopreneurs who are successful in ICT, which is traditionally dominated by men," Ashran added.

The winner of this prestigious award will also win a pair of 18 karat white gold Tarzanite and diamond earrings from Devnani Jewels.

Meanwhile, the 'People’s Choice' category gives recognition for various outstanding ICT services. Nominees are selected based on the impact they have on people's lives while giving recognition to homegrown brand and talent.

Awards under the 'People’s Choice' category are:

1. Favourite e-Services/e-Government

2. Favourite Online Banking

3. Favourite Entertainment Portal/Blog

4. Favourite Local Celebrity@ICT

5. Favourite Telecommunication Company

6. Favourite Local Online Community

This year, television viewers will not only get to see and hear opinions from the nominees, they will also be able to see how the nominees impress the judges in a Pitching Session.

"This year's NEF-Awani ICT Awards hopes to be an improved one, after receiving feedback and suggestions from industry players and fellow technopreneurs.

"As a broadcaster, Astro AWANI continues our support by providing a platform to recognise technopreneurs for their efforts, and in so doing inspiring others to embark on a journey to become successful technopreneurs themselves.

"With the objective of engaging the viewers and igniting their technopreneurial spirit, we will showcase various interesting processes culminating in the award show," said Astro AWANI's Group Editor-in-Chief Suhaimi Sulaiman.

"AWANI viewers will now get to see events behind the scenes and this will make the process more transparent," he added.

Among the programmes that will be showing the different processes are Bisnes Awani, Agenda Awani, Analisis Awani and the various news bulletins as well as a special series leading up to the big Awards night.

"While NEF is an association that provides a platform for healthy competition and strategic collaboration, Astro AWANI, being a news and information channel, provides a platform for ICT players to tell their stories and viewers can learn from their experiences," Suhaimi said.

The Award ceremony will be on live telecast on Astro AWANI (Astro Channel 501).

Under the ICT category, this year's NEF-AWANI ICT competition will have these following awards:

1. Best Software

2. Best ICT Solutions For SMEs

3. Best Animation/Games

4. Best Mobile & New Media Content/Application

5. Best Young Technopreneur / Startup

6. Best E-Commerce Business

7. Best Woman Technopreneur

The voting process will be done on the NEF-AWANI ICT Awards JOOTA page.

The selection of the winners of ICT Awards will be based on 10% from public votes while the remaining 90% will be from the panel of jury.

The winners of the People’s Choice category, on the other hand, will be 100% determined by public votes.

"The awards is a great platform for companies to gain recognition and exposure from the industry for their hard work," said Animonsta Studios Sdn Bhd co-founder Nizam Razak.

For more information about the awards, please log on to www.nef.org.my or join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NEFAwaniICTAwards.