DPO Invites Proposals for Leading Organisers of 2026-2027 Hong Kong ICT Awards

DPO invites Leading Organisers for Hong Kong ICT Awards 2026 and 2027

The Digital Policy Office (DPO) today (January 21) announced that proposals are now invited from non-profit organisations or industry associations to take part as Leading Organisers for the 2026 and 2027 Hong Kong ICT Awards (HKICTA).

Organised by the DPO, the HKICTA aims to recognise and promote outstanding information and communications technology (ICT) inventions and applications, thereby encouraging innovation and excellence among Hong Kong's ICT elites and enterprises. Through concerted efforts of the ICT sector, academia and the Government, the HKICTA has always been highly regarded by the information technology industry. Since its debut in 2006, this annual signature event has now entered its 20th year. Over the years, more than 2 200 awards have been presented to recognise outstanding local ICT products and innovative solutions. In addition, HKICTA winners have the opportunity to be nominated for regional and international competitions, with many of them having scooped remarkable prizes, including 16 awards at the Asia Pacific Information and Communications Technology Alliance Awards 2024, an award at the 2024 Global Innovation and Tech Excellence Awards, two awards at the Maker in China SME Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Contest Final 2025, and an award at the Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Open Data Challenge 2025. The winners have showcased the outstanding achievements of Hong Kong's ICT industry.

The HKICTA consists of eight award categories, namely:

* Digital Entertainment Award

* FinTech Award

* ICT Startup Award

* Smart Business Award

* Smart Living Award

* Smart Mobility Award

* Smart People Award

* Student Innovation Award

In a bid to foster the innovative use of AI, the Best Use of AI Award was established in each category in 2024 to inspire more innovative applications of AI, and magnify and honour outstanding achievements in harnessing AI in respective areas.

The DPO welcomes applications from all non-profit organisations and industry associations to become Leading Organisers for the coming two rounds of the HKICTA. Leading Organisers are responsible for recruiting and screening entries, promoting the HKICTA through their networks, planning and managing the adjudication process, and holding individual presentation ceremonies for their categories. The selection of Leading Organisers will be conducted through an open and fair process based on established assessment mechanisms and criteria taking into account the effectiveness of the proposals as well as the capability and past performance of the proponents.

The deadline for submission is February 23. Organisations interested in being a Leading Organiser can obtain a set of the application documents (including a Request for Proposal and a Proposal Form) from the website of the DPO (www.digitalpolicy.gov.hk/en/our_work/digital_infrastructure/business_window/tender_eoi_rfp/). Further details are available on the website of the HKICTA (www.hkictawards.hk).

The Digital Policy Office (DPO), Photo source: reference image

Government responds to Coroner's verdict on death inquest for vessel collision incident near Lamma Island in 2012

The Coroner's Court today (January 21) returned the verdict on the cause of death of the passengers involved in the vessel collision incident near Lamma Island in 2012.

A Government spokesman said the Government is closely monitoring the delivery of the verdict. After the incident, the Police commenced criminal investigation and arrested the coxswain of "Sea Smooth", Lai Sai-ming, and the coxswain of "Lamma IV", Chow Chi-wai, in October 2012. In February 2015, Chow was convicted of Endangering the Safety of Others at Sea and Lai was convicted of 39 counts of Manslaughter and a count of Endangering the Safety of Others at Sea. Separately, former senior ship inspector of the Marine Department (MD)Wong Kam-chingand the then Assistant Director of Marine, So Ping-chi,were under arrest in March 2015, and were subsequently convicted of the offence of Perjury and offence of Misconduct in Public Office in February and June 2016 respectively. So was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment (his appeal succeeded and his sentence was reduced to 4.5 months) and Wong was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. When considering whether to conduct a death inquest in 2020, the Coroner's Court ruled the deaths as unlawful killing.

The spokesman added that the Government attaches great importance to the incident, after which investigations at various levels have been conducted. The MD has implemented all practicable recommendations in the investigation reports to enhance maritime safety to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

The delivery of the verdict is to be continued. The Government will continue to study the judgement.

Source: AI-found images