Remarkable Entries by SMEs Level the Playing Field with Big Players

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach^[1] - 10 November 2020 - Steered by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and co-organised by GS1 Hong Kong^[2], the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2020 - Smart Mobility Award Presentation Ceremony was held today. 65 entries from 3 different streams were received this year, of which 11 of them were awarded. As digital transformation accelerates under the new normal, SMEs and micro enterprises are investing more in innovations and technologies, resulting in more SMEs entries received this year than the last. They have performed well in the 3 streams of the Award and claimed most of the awards, including the Smart Mobility Grand Award.

(Back row left to right, 7^th on the left) The Hon Charles Peter Mok, Legislative Councillor (Information Technology); Anna Lin, Chief Executive of GS1 Hong Kong; Ir. Susanna Shen, Chairman of the Final Judging Panel of Hong Kong ICT Awards 2020 - Smart Mobility Award and General Manager - Corporate Information Technology of The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas), as well as other judging members and awardees at the "Smart Mobility Award" presentation ceremony.

The "Smart Mobility Award" aims to encourage the development and adoption of Smart Tourism, Smart Logistics and Smart Transport applications, in order to drive the development of smart city and enhance the quality of life, creating a more convenient, safer and more efficient environment for citizens and tourists.

"The new normal brought by the COVID-19 has sped up the growth of innovations and technologies. Companies are using social commerce, e-marketplaces, IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to continue developing their sales channels and managing business remotely. Although we encountered some challenges during the judging processes this year, we are still excited to see more active participation than the previous year, particularly from the SMEs that outperform the others. I think this shows Hong Kong people remain to be flexible, quick-witted and able to grow stronger in adversity, which are instrumental to the robust development of innovation ecosystem in Hong Kong." said Anna Lin, Chief Executive of GS1 Hong Kong.

Accounting for over half of the contestants, SMEs impressed the judges with their innovative, practical applications that have great potentials for growth. This proves that even under limited resources, SMEs are capable of developing or deploying innovative solutions to enhance competitiveness and level the playing field with big businesses, making substantial contribution to developing Hong Kong as a Smart City.

Maphive Technology Ltd. is one of the SMEs that excelled and won the Smart Mobility Grand Award and Smart Mobility (Smart Tourism) Gold Award with its "Mapxus Barrier-free Indoor Navigation Platform". An innovative indoor navigation platform, it digitalises the indoor environments and provides map, positioning and 360-degree view for the users. With the use of technologies such as Wifi fingerprints, sensor fusion and AI, the solution helps visitors to navigate their ways at unfamiliar venues and enhance their travel experience. The company has already developed digital maps for around 1,000 buildings in Hong Kong, and is planning to expand their services to overseas market, demonstrating a significant potential for growth and development.

There are 3 award streams under the Hong Kong ICT Awards - Smart Mobility Award, namely Smart Tourism, Smart Logistics and Smart Transport. Selected contestants will be awarded with Gold/ Silver/ Bronze Award, or Certificate of Merit after undergoing adjudication processes and interviews by the judging panel, comprised of members and professionals from the ICT associations, companies, academic and government institutions.

Hong Kong ICT Awards 2020 - Smart Mobility Award winners list (in alphabetical order):

Please visit here for details of the winning entries: https://www.gs1hk.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/HKICTA-2020-SMA-Booklet.pdf^[3]

For details about "Smart Mobility Award", please visit here: https://www.gs1hk.org/SmartMobilityAward^[4]

Download photos here: https://gs1hongkong.box.com/s/fk11qvmgj9hquecxx0g7w34gqntplkk9^[5]

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} GS1 Hong Kong (www.gs1hk.org)
3. ^{^} https://www.gs1hk.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/HKICTA-2020-SMA-Booklet.pdf (www.gs1hk.org)
4. ^{^} https://www.gs1hk.org/SmartMobilityAward (www.gs1hk.org)
5. ^{^} https://gs1hongkong.box.com/s/fk11qvmgj9hquecxx0g7w34gqntplkk9 (gs1hongkong.box.com)