Lyna Mohamad
Brunei Darussalam’s representatives to the 21st Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards 2022 – the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Rumine Corporation – did the country proud after winning two awards while Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha Girls Arabic Religious Secondary School (SUAMPRIPAHS) won a merit for their entry.
MoH, won the Inclusions and Community Services – Health and Wellbeing category for the BruHealth product and a merit for the product under the Public Sector – Government and Citizen Services.
Meanwhile, Rumine’s product, TechSim, won the Inclusions and Community – Sustainability and Environment/Education.
SUAMPRIPAHS achieved merit for its product SignSpeak under the Students: Senior Systems.
The Brunei’s representatives returned home with their awards from the prestigious international ICT competition yesterday, held recently in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar and Minister of Transport and Infocommunications Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Shamhary bin Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Mustapha welcomed the winners and delegation at the Brunei International Airport (BIA).
The judges of the award were impressed by MoH’s visionary framework and functions of the system which has no precedence or similar product to benchmark. The MoH was a Brunei ICT Awards (BICTA) 2022 Royal Patron Award recipient and also ICT Industry category winner.
Meanwhile, Rumine Corporation was a BICTA 2022 ICT Industry’s participant and a recipient of the ASEAN ICT Awards (AICTA) 2021 Gold Award in the Digital Content category whereas SUAMPRIPAHS was the second runner-up of the School category in BICTA 2022. Rumine’s TechSim is a virtual training simulation servicing and maintenance of air-conditioning units that serves as a tool to increase the efficiency of practising assembly and maintenance processes.
SUAMPRIPAHS’ entry, meanwhile is a SignSpeak app, which enables communication between two people with hearing disability and the community, and the application uses American and Brunei sign languages.
The APICTA Awards 2022 saw 165 teams from 16 member economies and 210 entry nominations compete in 25 categories held from December 7 to 11.
The Sultanate was represented by four teams, comprising winners, runners-up and participants of the BICTA 2022 with MoH and Rumine Corporation competing in person, while Berakas Secondary School with their product MidoriSAWI and SUAMPRIPAHS participating virtually from Brunei.
APICTA participants underwent intensive judging sessions throughout the competition, with a panel of judges comprising international ICT industry experts, members of the academia and government representatives.
During the visit, the delegates also experienced the local culture and networked with fellow ICT industry players.
With APICTA Awards giving the winners international recognition and further legitimising their products on a global platform, the winners are expected to take advantage of the international recognition to enhance reputation and productivity. Brunei’s participation in the APICTA Awards is a continuous initiative by the Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications (MTIC), the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) and InfoCom Federation Brunei (IFB) to stimulate innovation and creativity in ICT as well as develop the nation’s ICT sector by encouraging individuals, students and businesses to compete internationally.
The arrival of the delegation was blessed with the recitation of Doa Kesyukuran led by BIA Surau imam Haji Mohamad Aduka bin Haji Abdul.
Deputy Minister (Energy) at the Prime Minister’s Office Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Matsatejo bin Sokiaw as AITI Chairman, Permanent Secretary at the MTIC and Co-Chairman I of BICTA Steering Committee Ir Haji Mohammad Nazri bin Haji Mohammad Yusof and Permanent Secretary at the MoH Haji Maswadi bin Haji Mohsin were also present at the airport.
Deputy Permanent Secretary (Infocommunications) at the MTIC Haji Hairul Mohd Daud bin Haji Abdul Karim, Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary (Transport) at the MTIC Haji Mohd Salihin bin Haji Aspar, Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) Haji Shamsol bin Haji Omar, Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary (Policy and Management) at the MoH Dr Hajah Anie Haryani binti Haji Abdul Rahman, senior officers from MTIC, MoRA, MoH, AITI and IFB members were also in attendance.
