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 as Royal Patron of Brunei ICT Awards (BICTA) graced the award presentation ceremony at the International Convention Centre in Berakas yesterday.
His Royal Highness was greeted on arrival by Minister of Transport and Infocommunications Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Shamhary bin Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Mustapha, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications (MTIC) Ir Haji Mohammad Nazri bin Haji Mohammad Yusof, InfoCom Federation Brunei (IFB) Chairperson Pengiran Sarimah binti Pengiran Haji Abdul Latiff and Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) Chief Executive Ir Haji Jailani bin Haji Buntar.
The event began with a speech by the minister who said there was a 70 per cent rise in BICTA participation this year with 158 entries. There was a significant amount of entries from schools signifying extraordinary interest from the younger generation keen to explore and create innovative solutions to meet challenges.
It continued with a video showcasing BICTA’s achievements in the past 20 years and a presentation of BICTA 2024 chief judge’s report by Pengiran Sarimah. It was followed by another video presentation showing a compilation of activities and experience by this year’s participants.
His Royal Highness then presented prizes to the winners including the BICTA Royal Patron Award.
His Royal Highness later received a pesambah presented by the minister and toured an exhibition and product showcase by the BICTA 2024 winners.
The annual competition was organised by MTIC in collaboration with AITI and IFB. It was supported by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Darussalam Enterprise (DARe). This year’s competition was themed ‘Smart Nation Through Digital Transformation’. – Lyna Mohamad
