The Brunei ICT Awards (BICTA) 2020/2021 is open for registration with the theme Smart Nation Through Digital Transformation.
BCITA aims to generate interest and stimulate innovation in the country’s ICT sector while also providing pipeline of national representatives to compete in the Asia-Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards.
BICTA is jointly organised by the Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications, Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry and InfoCom Federation Brunei; supported by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Darussalam Enterprise and the Brunei Intellectual Property Office.
This year’s theme has been retained from last year in support of Brunei’s Digital Economy Masterplan 2025.
BICTA’s three main categories which are open to individuals or groups are:
- School – Students from Year Seven until Year 11
- Tertiary – Students from Year 12 students and above, including from higher learning institutions
- ICT Industry – Startups, government agencies and other individuals or groups
The winners of each category will receive $3,000, $7,000 and $10,000 respectively.
There will also be five special awards to highlight priority developments:
- Research and Development Project
- Big Data Analytics Technology
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Startup
Applicants from last year’s BICTA – which was postponed together with APICTA due to the COVID-19 pandemic – will be carried forward to this year’s candidate pool. This year’s winners will be announced in August and will represent Brunei at APICTA 2021.
Brunei has won two APICTA awards since 2008, along with 27 merit awards.
The primary judging criteria for the industry category are uniqueness, marketing potential, functionalities and features and quality and application of technology. Meanwhile the school and tertiary category share the criteria of uniqueness, proof of concept, functionality and features, quality and presentation.
Chairman of InfoCom Federation Brunei Sheikh Hj Abas Sheikh Mohd who is also Co-chairman of the BICTA Steering Committee said that BICTA winners would also be guided on marketing their solutions commercially.
To help applicants further develop their prototypes and ideas, BICTA is organising a series of bootcamps for free that provides mentorship and guidance for experts. The bootcamp began last December and will run until June, but is still open for participation.
Registrations for BICTA are open online until July 31. For more information visit BICTA’s website or contact bicta@aiti.gov.bn or 2323232.
