The MSC-APICTA programme was conceived to nurture creativity and recognise excellence in the local ICT (information and communications technology) industry, but now MDC believes it needs to take the process one step further.

The first initiative is the "MSC-APICTA Dialogue," where MDC would work together with all awardwinners and nominees to determine how the awards programme has benefited their business, said MDC chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohamed Arif Nun.

"This will help us determine other levels of support and assistance that may be requried to help them further expand their business and market penetration.

"This will be done in collaboration with MDC's Technopreneur Development Flagship unit," he said in his opening speech at last night's MSC-APICTA 2003 Awards dinner.

Arif later told In.Tech that the awards have helped local companies in terms of branding and international recognition, since winners go on to compete in the regional-level APICTA awards.

This year's regional finals will be held in Cairns, Australia on Sept 24-26.

"However, after the euphoria of winning these awards, when the cold light of the day sets in, we must ask: What next?

"We need to know how else we can help them. Currently, we take them with us when we go overseas for major exhibitions like Comdex and CeBIT. This helps in terms of networking and business opportunities, but we need to do more," he said.

Among the other avenues MDC is looking at is getting the local "big boys" to help out. It is working with, amongst others, the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom), to look into this.

Pikom has more than 360 members, including just about all the major multinational and local technology companies.

"These companies can help, but we're not looking for subsidies. We want them to look at the companies coming out of the MSC, and if there's a business case for their products, why not give them a shot," said Arif.

"If they really like these products, why not have them under their own label," he added.

The second initiative announced by MDC is the APICTA Network, or APICTAN, which will comprise the 14 countries involved in the awards -- among them Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

"The primary objective would be to stimulate economic and employment growth, trade relations, technology transfer and business networking among APICTA member countries," Arif said in his speech.

Quantity over quality

MDC and the Malaysian Government have been trying hard to respond to critics of the MSC project, usually by touting the number of companies that have been awarded MSC status -- 907 at last count, nearly double that of the target of 500 by year-end.

This has led some critics to argue that MDC has been touting quantity over quality.

"If you talk to the number of companies that were awarded MSC status only on their second or third try, you'll get a different complaint," Arif told In.Tech.

"We have a very strict and stringent process, covering both technical and business aspects, before companies are approved for MSC status," he added.

MDC's "numbers game" has also led to the persistent perception that there is a lack of innovation and R&D coming out of the MSC, which was envisioned as a testbed for the application and testing of leading edge IT advances and discoveries.

Fighting this perception has been an uphill battle -- Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Amar Leo Moggie, in his opening speech at the MSC-APICTA 2003 Awards, said that MSC companies are expected to file 288 patents in 2004, compared to 151 patents in 2003.

"This clearly indicates that the innovation and creative culture is fast expanding (here)," he said.

And the winners are ...

The need to recognise innovation has also led to the introduction of the "Best of Research and Development" category at this year's MSC-APICTA.

That honour went to SiRES Labs Sdn Bhd (www.sireslabs.com) for its "Optical Communications and Networking Integrated Transmitter and Receiver," a high performance microchip for the communications and networking market.

UnrealMind Interactive Sdn Bhd (www.UnrealMind.com ) walked away with the Best Startup Company Award; and the Best of Content Development Award for its Chabomzie "mystery role playing" SMS (short message service) game.

Intelligent Systems Sdn Bhd's Smartscan won the award for Education and Training Applications; while MMM Technology Sdn Bhd's Hospital Tagging System -- which tracks the movement of patients and personnel at a hospital using radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) tracking technology -- was the best Health Application.

MMM Technology also took the Industrial Applications and Manufacturing Design award for its Asset Tracking System.

Perennial favourite IRIS Corporation Bhd (www.iris.com.my ) won the Best of E-Government Applications and Services for its biometrics-enabled electronic passport.

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd (www.hsbc.com.my) took the Best of E-Commerce Applications for its V-Banking: Automate@hsbc; while Paracorp Technology Sdn Bhd (www.paracorp.com.my) took the Value Added Communications Applications award for its Remote Meter Management System.

Silverlake System Sdn Bhd won the Best Software Application Award for its Intelligent Crew Management System.

There were two categories for tertiary student projects -- Universiti Tenaga Nasional's Dengue Diagnosis Expert System won the Best Software Application Award while Limkokwing University College of Creative Technology's Jon Mamak! interactive music video won for Best Creative Multimedia.

Finally, Multimedia Glory Sdn Bhd (www.mglorysb.com) walked away with the award for Best Security System Application for its Karsof Total Airport Security System -- more importantly, Karsof also won the prestigious "Prime Minister's Best of the Best Award."