2008 iAwards - Tertiary Student Project

Do your IT students have projects worthy of national recognition?

Then if so the Australian Information Industry Association needs them to enter the 2008 iAwards – Tertiary Student Project category.

The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) is committed to encouraging and nurturing the next generation of ICT professionals who will drive the growth of the industry.

Each year, AIIA stages the industry’s leading ICT awards program, the iAwards, which provides local companies and ICT students with a platform on which to showcase, and in many cases launch, Australia's ICT success stories.

The iAwards program embraces the entrepreneurial spirit of the Australian ICT industry and encourages its growth and development and therefore, places great importance on rewarding excellence within tertiary institutions.  As such, undergraduate students have the opportunity to nominate for a 2008 iAward in the Callista Tertiary Student Project category.

The Callista Tertiary School Student category is open to any ICT project that is conducted by a student or a group of students who are formally enrolled in an Australian tertiary institution (but excluding Masters and Doctorate programs).  Entry is free, and winning an iAward could provide the basis for the commencement of an outstanding business or career whilst also showcasing the quality of students at your institution.

The iAwards program - which comprises two stages of judging - is based on the criteria used for the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA).  The first stage awards winners at the state level and those state winners then proceed to the national finals.  Entries close on the 7^th of March 2008.

All 2008 iAward winners will go on to represent Australia at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards which are held in the region in November of each year.  The winner of the 2007 iAward for a Tertiary Student Project, University of Tasmania for its Distributed Services Management System project, was runner up in these prestigious awards last year.

Finalists in each 2008 iAwards will be invited to attend the black tie iAwards dinner at which the 2008 iAward winners will be announced. The presentation dinner will be held on 28 May, 2008 in Melbourne.

Nominations for the 2008 iAwards are now open and close on the 7^th of March 2008.

For more information, including nomination forms, visit www.iawards.com.au. 

The 2008 Tertiary School Student iAward is proudly sponsored by Callista.

About AIIA:
AIIA has represented, led and connected the Australian ICT industry for nearly 30 years.  Its members include such iconic ICT brands as Microsoft, Telstra, IBM, Optus, , Hewlett Packard and Fujitsu.  AIIA’s connections are unsurpassed in the industry – it connects over 36,000 powerbrokers through its events and activities.  It engages over 300 ICT business leaders as volunteers and represents almost 500 Australian based ICT companies.  AIIA is proud to be the founder and organiser of the iAwards.

About iAwards:
Now in its 14th year, the iAwards is the national awards program honouring the ICT industry’s best-of-the-best business strategies in categories such as Education & Training, e-Government, Communications, Export, e-Health, Sustainability, Finance, Media and Tourism & Hospitality.

Thousands of industry stakeholders and executives participate each year by entering their work, attending judging events and celebrating at the annual awards dinner.  Following a six-month promotion, nomination and judging campaign, the winners of Australia’s iAwards are announced at the presentation dinner in Melbourne on the 28th of May 2008.

Each finalist is rigorously assessed by a team of the judges of the highest calibre, led by Head Judge, Mr Alan Baxter, Immediate Past Chair of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand.  The winners of each category go on to represent Australia at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) where they will compete with the best ICT innovators from the region. 

Past winners of iAwards include Wotif, ReadON, NICTA, CSIRO, CargoWise, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Health Insurance Commission, TrustDefender, Telstra Research Laboratories, University of Tasmania and Integrated Research.

About APICTA:
The APICTA program was initiated to increase ICT awareness in the international community and assist in bridging the digital divide.  The APICTA network has 14 member-economies and provides an international awards program to showcase innovation, creativity and excellence in ICT in the Asia Pacific region.

APICTA’s member-economies include Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. 

AIIA is the Australian representative to the APICTA’s and Kathryn Porritt of AIIA is a representative on the APICTA Executive Committee and Chair of the Marketing Sub-Committee for the network.

APICTA provides the region’s ICT entrepreneurs with valuable networking and product benchmarking opportunities, fosters ICT innovation and creativity, promotes economic and trade relations and facilitates technology transfer. APICTA nominees gain access to valuable business matching opportunities through exposure to venture capitalists and investors.

The APICTAs will be held in Singapore in 2007 and in Malaysia in 2008. AIIA will be bidding to host the awards in 2009 in Australia.