The annual elite competition in the Asia Pacific region's ICT sector, the Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) Awards, took place from October 9 to 13 in Guangzhou, China. A total of 15 economies sent 206 corporate teams and 68 student teams to participate. Supported by the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), the Taipei Computer Association and industry experts led the Taiwan team, which consisted of 25 corporate teams and 6 student teams. Taiwan achieved excellent results with 4 gold and 5 silver awards.

The corporate teams won 2 gold and 1 silver in the "Community Service" category, awarded to Xi Ping Technology, the Institute for Information Industry (III), and Leadtek Technology; in the "Business Services" category, Siwei Da Innovation Technology received 1 silver; in the "Industrial Applications" and the cross-category "Research and Development," LipoSys won 1 gold each. In the student categories, teams from universities, high schools, and middle schools won 1 silver in each category, totaling 3 silver medals.

LipoSys won the "Industrial Applications" and "Research and Development" gold awards with their "Kelly Service Robot," which uses 3D machine vision modules, synchronized positioning, and mapping technology to build a service robot capable of transporting goods and featuring face recognition, gesture recognition, and voice recognition. The robot can detect user needs such as safety incident reporting and home security alerts, earning high praise from the judges.

The student teams achieved three silver medals, including National Central University in the university category, a team composed of Dongshan High School and Datong High School in the high school category, and students from Jin Hua Elementary School, Fu Xing Elementary School, Xin Min Elementary School, and Morrison Academy Taipei in the middle school category. National Central University's project, "Electronic Smart Air Detection and Purification Cloud-connected Autonomous Car," guided by Professor Lin Xizhen from the Department of Information Management, received recognition for its industry relevance and future development potential.

Since 2012, to promote Taiwan's industry in the Asia-Pacific region and foster cross-national industry exchanges, the IDB has partnered with the Taipei Computer Association to represent Taiwan in APICTA. Every year, the competition invites high-level representatives from Taiwan’s industry and academia to serve as international judges and assists in training Taiwan’s representative teams, offering valuable feedback to improve the participating teams.

The 16 APICTA member economies cover major markets in the Asia Pacific region. By participating in APICTA Awards, companies can better understand market ecosystems and technological levels in different countries, fostering opportunities for cooperation. Award winners are likely to gain recognition in the Asia Pacific region, helping them secure market opportunities. For example, in 2016, a multimedia entertainment company that won a silver award in the Mobile Commerce category gained strategic alliances with telecom companies in Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea, resulting in orders exceeding NT$70 million. In 2017, Taian Technology, which won a gold award in health care, was invited by Thai judges to discuss a medical research project with Mahidol University, Thailand’s second-largest hospital, with an expected NT$6 million order next year.

APICTA Awards Competition Brief

The Asia Pacific ICT Alliance (APICTA) is the most influential ICT industry organization in the Asia Pacific region, established in Malaysia in 1999. It currently consists of 16 economies, including Taiwan, Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Japan. These 16 economies cover the regions that are expected to grow the fastest in population size and GDP, making them key markets for Taiwan's manufacturers to expand their solutions.

The APICTA Awards competition is conducted entirely in English and is divided into five main categories based on product applications: Consumer Applications, Community Service, Industrial Applications, Business Services, and Government & Public Services. Additionally, companies may choose to compete in technology application categories such as Big Data, IoT Applications, and Artificial Intelligence, or cross-categories such as Startups and R&D. Winning an award in the competition not only signifies recognition by ICT industry experts across the economies but also acts as a passport for multinational cooperation, offering opportunities for project recognition and venture capital investment. This has positive benefits, especially for companies lacking international marketing resources.

Spokesperson: Deputy Director General You Zhenwei, IDB

Contact: 02-27541255 ext. 2903, 0939-695369

Email: cwyu@moeaidb.gov.tw

Business Contact: Section Chief Wu Minghui, Knowledge Services Division, IDB

Contact: 02-27541255 ext. 2421, 0937-409313

Email: mhwu@moeaidb.gov.tw