HKIRC “Top 10 .hk Website Competition 2012” Calls for Entries
New Categories “Government Departments” and “LegCo Members” to Encourage
Better Communication through Websites

New Categories “Government Departments” and “LegCo Members” to Encourage
Better Communication through Websites

HONG KONG, 22 November 2012 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) today announced the launch of the “Top 10 .hk Website Competition 2012”. The competition is open for applications from today through 11 January 2013. In addition to the “commercial” and “non-commercial” website categories, two new categories for “government departments” and “LegCo members” websites are introduced this year. The public and all industry sectors are encouraged to make the best use of the Internet and build outstanding websites with .hk domain names. This will reinforce communications, enhance quality and efficiency of services to meet user demand and adapt to the changes of technologies and the digital economy.“Hong Kong already has a solid foundation and development of a digital government. As we are evolving as an information society, we believe the two new categories will help identify and commend outstanding government and LegCo member websites, which in turn will help improve the overall standard of design and usability of local websites. This will strengthen government’s relationship with the Legislative Council and different parties leveraging the Internet. The Internet will also help the public sector increase openness and visibility with an aim to streamline procedures, promote innovations, automation and paperless environment for the benefits of citizens and enterprises. At the same time, this will showcase the benefits brought by digital public services in Hong Kong,” said Mr Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC.

Stepping into its fourth year, the competition aims to encourage enterprises, institutions and organisations to take part and realise the importance of websites, reinforce information exchange and make good use of online resources to support the development of a knowledge-based society in Hong Kong. The competition will applaud outstanding .hk / .香港websites, enabling the local community to share and learn from best practices of website development. Websites of government departments on the HKSAR Government Organization Chart and websites of LegCo members on the LegCo Members’ Contact Directory are enrolled into the two categories.

About the competition
The “Top 10 .hk Website Competition 2012” is divided into four different categories of websites: “commercial”, “non-commercial” (such as NGOs and schools), “government departments” and “LegCo members”. Judges will rank the entrants based on four judging criteria, including overall design and functionality, engagement, use of social media and accessibility. The categories of “commercial” and “non-commercial” websites are further divided into two sub-categories, which are SMEs and organisations with less than 100 staff, and large corporations and organisations with 100 and more staff. The winners of each category will be awarded a certificate, a trophy and logo exposure on promotional materials. In addition, the Gold, Silver and Bronze Prize winner of the “commercial” category will be awarded a cash prize of HK$15,000, HK$10,000 and HK$5,000 respectively and the two winners of the “non-commercial” category will be awarded a cash prize of HK$15,000.

The application period for “Top 10 .hk Website Competition” runs from today through 11 January 2013. Shortlisted websites will be listed on http://www.top10award.hk from 30 January to 22 February 2013 for public voting. Winners will be notified individually on 22 March 2013 and the awards presentation ceremony will be held in April 2013.

Please go to http://www.top10award.hk for more details and to enroll online.

– End –

About HKIRC

Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a non-profit-distributing, non-statutory company limited by guarantee designated by the Government of the HKSAR to undertake the administration of Internet domain names under the .hk and .香港 country code top level domain. HKIRC provides registration services for English domain names ending with .com.hk, .org.hk, .net.hk, .edu.hk, .gov.hk, .idv.hk, .hk and Chinese domain names ending with .公司.香港, .組織.香港, .網絡.香港, .教育.香港, .政府.香港, .個人.香港, .香港, and other domains to be introduced from time to time in Hong Kong.

Media Contacts:

HKIRC
Dorothy Chow
Tel : + 852 2319 3883
Fax : + 852 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

LEWIS PR
Annie Ho / Belle Pei
Tel : + 852 3944 5016 / 3944 5013
Fax : + 852 3944 5001
Email : annie.ho@lewispr.com / belle.pei@lewispr.com

 

2012-08-22

HKIRC “2012 Digital Marketplace – Creating New Online Business Frontiers” Seminar was held on 22 August 2012 at Cyberport. The seminar was a great success that attracted over 400 participants. At the event, HKIRC announced the latest results of the “.hk Website Utilisation Survey”, revealing the growing trend towards adopting social media and the more diversified uses of .hk websites, as compared to the results of the same survey conducted two years ago. However, the development of mobile-based websites and “Web Care” elements are still in formative stages.

Presentation Files 講稿


Opening Speech – Digital lifestyle and Marketplace
致開幕辭 – 數碼生活與數碼市場
Mr. Daniel Lai – Government Chief Information Officer, Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
政府資訊科技總監 -賴錫璋先生


Consumer social networks and its market trends
消費者社交網絡及市場趨勢
Mr. Matthew Kwan – Principal Consultant, Adams Company Limited
白武士有限公司首席顧問 – 關廣智先生


Leveraging mobile opportunity in your business
善用流動商機開拓市場
Mr. Simon Lee – Manager, Google Business Solutions, Google Hong Kong
谷歌商業用戶方案部香港區客戶經理 – 李瀚恩先生


Announcement of 2012 .hk website utilisation survey results
2012 .hk 網站調查結果公佈
Mr. Jonathan Shea – CEO, HKIRC
香港互聯網註冊管理有限公司行政總裁 – 謝達安先生

Successful Case Sharing 企業成功個案分享


    Darizi.com.hk
    Mr. Andy Ann – CEO, NDN Group
    NDN Group行政總裁 – 安宇昭先生


    Gotrip.hk
    Mr. Ken Chow – Chief Editor, Gotrip.hk
    Mr. Justin Choy – Product Manager of New Media Group’s Online Division
    Gotrip.hk主編 – 周宇恒先生
    新傳媒集團線上業務部產品經理 – 蔡立邦先生


    Timable.hk
    Mr. Mike Ko – Co-Founder, Timable.hk
    Timable創辦人 – 高立基先生

    Soliton.hk
    42@Soliton – Director of Business Development, Soliton.hk
    Soliton業務發展總監 – 42@Soliton

Photos 相片

 

“.hk Website Utilisation Survey” results announced
Trends in diversified website uses revealed
Concern over the lack of support for mobile and “Web Care” elements

HONG KONG, 22 August 2012 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) held the “2012 Digital Marketplace – Creating New Online Business Frontiers” Seminar today. Mr. Daniel Lai, BBS, JP, Government Chief Information Officer, HKSAR Government, was the officiating guest at this year’s annual event. During the seminar, HKIRC announced the latest results of the “.hk Website Utilisation Survey”, revealing the growing trend towards adopting social media and the more diversified uses of .hk websites, as compared to the results of the same survey conducted two years ago. However, the development of mobile-based websites and “Web Care” elements are still in formative stages.“The boundless business opportunities on the Internet are stimulating global enterprises to step up efforts towards the development of the e-business market, and IT spending among SMEs is forecast to reach US$1 trillion in 4 years1. However, resources should be allocated wisely in order to achieve the intended results. In addition, smartphone penetration continues to increase and it is anticipated that smartphone ownership by digital consumers aged over 15 will reach 80% by the end of this year2. We can see a bright future for the market of mobile-based websites.

“In addition, the expanding aged population3 is creating huge business opportunities in the “silver hair” market, and hence it is believed that developing “Web Care” websites will definitely be the future direction for enterprises. We suggest enterprises should master the latest trends of online uses and invest appropriate resources as early as possible to explore the incredible market opportunities that arise from catering to the digital lifestyle of the future,”said Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC.

Conducted in August, the survey by HKIRC focused on 1,333 websites with .hk domain names in a random sample of 2,365 .hk domain names, to investigate how these websites are used such as frequency of information updates, availability of mobile-based websites, inclusion of social media and other interactive features, as well as the development of “Web Care” elements. Key findings of the survey include:

  1. More frequent updating – 36% of .hk websites have been updated in the last six months, a five-fold increase over the 2010 survey.
  2. Lack of mobile-based websites – Only 2% of .hk websites have a mobile version and 0.6% have business-dedicated mobile apps.
  3. High level of social media adoption – 15% of .hk websites adopt social media, of which 90% link to Facebook, which is the most popular social media platform. Other interactive features such as membership systems are also widely adopted.
  4. Online shopping with enhanced security measures – 14% of .hk websites offer an online shopping function, doubling the number in 2010. Of these, 36% offer secure payment measures, representing a slight increase of 4% compared to the survey conducted in 2010.
  5. Rarely passes “Web Care” website standard – Only 3% conform to W3C international web accessibility standards.

The rapid growth of social media applications as indicated in the survey provides important insight for enterprises. Local companies from different industries have successfully enhanced their customer relations through the promotion of goods and services via social media. For example, soliton.hk, a local online music platform, integrates the applications of Facebook and Weibo to strengthen interaction among users, cohering the online community and improving customer relations. Research and consulting firm Gartner, Inc. anticipates that worldwide social media revenue will reach US$16.9 billion in 2012, representing a 44% increase as compared to 20114. This shows that the market potential of social media should not be overlooked. The HKIRC survey also reveals that the majority of .hk websites have not yet developed a mobile version, while “Web Care” elements catering to the needs of the elderly and disabled are yet to be fully developed. On the other hand, we can see a significant improvement in website security.

HKIRC fully supports Hong Kong Internet development and innovation. Not only does HKIRC proactively promote the popularisation of .hk and .香港, but it also leverages on the advantages of the latest Internet developments to seize the business opportunities within different industries. To encourage the online mobile market, HKIRC started offering a free QR code generating service in March this year to all .hk/.香港 registrants, enabling them to explore mobile business opportunities. In respect of facilitating barrier-free web browsing, HKIRC has newly incorporated the “Web Care” element as one of the judging criteria of the “Top 10 .hk Website Competition” since last year, to encourage the development of “Web Care” features in .hk websites and commend outstanding websites catering to the needs of different segments in the community including the elderly and the disabled. Additionally, HKIRC releases the figures for .hk/.香港 spamvertising and phishing cases each year, as well as devoting considerable effort towards effectively identifying and handling applications suspected to be made for fraudulent purposes, which in turn helps maintain the high level of security of .hk/.香港 websites.

At the “2012 Digital Marketplace – Creating New Online Business Frontiers” seminar today, over 400 participants acquired first-hand market intelligence and explored proven best practices. Guest speakers from different online industries shared their opinions on topics of online business opportunities including:

  • The business value of IPv6 and its new applications
  • Online business opportunities in the “silver hair” market
  • The power of cloud computing
  • Consumer social networks and market trends
  • Leveraging on mobile opportunities for business

“We are thrilled that the new ways of thinking and new business models shared by speakers today have given participants new insights into digital strategies for their business. We hope local enterprises can leverage on the new network and mobile communications platforms to manage .hk website and online resources effectively, unleashing boundless imagination to open up new online business frontiers,” said Mr. Shea.
About HKIRC
Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a non-profit-distributing, non-statutory company limited by guarantee designated by the Government of the HKSAR to undertake the administration of Internet domain names under the .hk and .香港 country code top level domain. HKIRC provides registration services for English domain names ending with .com.hk, .org.hk, .net.hk, .edu.hk, .gov.hk, .idv.hk, .hk and Chinese domain names ending with .公司.香港, .組織.香港, .網絡.香港, .教育.香港, .政府.香港, .個人.香港, .香港, and other domains to be introduced from time to time in Hong Kong.

Media Contacts:

HKIRC
Dorothy Chow
Tel : + 852 2319 3883
Fax : + 852 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

iPR Ogilvy
Joyce Wong / Sofia Yip / Vivien Wong
Tel : + 852 3920 7671 / 3920 7673 / 3920 7675
Fax : + 852 3170 6606
Email : joyce.wong@iprogilvy.com / sofia.yip@iprogilvy.com / vivien.wong@iprogilvy.com

1 IT spending among SMEs is forecasted to reach US$870 billion in 2012 and will grow to US$1 trillion in 2016 (http://www.smbworldasia.com/en/content/worldwide-smb-it-spending-reach-us874-billion-2012)
2 Smartphone becomes the third most owned digital device by all Hong Kong digital consumers aged over 15 (http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reports-downloads/2011-Reports/Hong-Kong-Digital-Behavior-Insights-Report.pdf)
3 “Hong Kong Population Projections 2012-2041” revealed the proportion of the population aged 65 and over will reach 30% in 2041 (http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201207/31/P201207310339.htm)
4 Global revenue from social media increased and is expected to reach US$16.9 billion in 2012 http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=2092217)

Enhanced Flexibility and Competitiveness of Registrars

HONG KONG, 18 July 2012 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) today announced a 20% reduction in registrar price per domain bundle of the Chinese .香港 and English .hk domain names, from HK$125 to HK$100. The price reduction applies to new and existing domain name registrations, including .hk, .com.hk, .org.hk, .edu.hk, .gov.hk and .net.hk, as well as their equivalent Chinese .香港 domain names. The registrar price for .idv.hk and .個人.香港 remains unchanged.

“The reduction in registrar price aims at increasing market flexibility and enabling a freer environment with more innovation for the provisioning of more competitive and more comprehensive domain registration services by registrars, which in turn will further promote .香港 and .hk. Through this reduction, we wish to help drive the Internet development of Hong Kong, encouraging the market to further flourish,” said Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC.

The price reduction of .香港 and .hk are beneficial to all accredited registrars. Local and overseas registrars can leverage on the reduced price to launch and promote diversified domain-related services, catering for different market needs, hence enhancing their competitiveness. For further information, please visit https://www.hkirc.hk/pdf/HKIRC_-_Registrar_Agreement%20eff%2011%2001%2012%20V1%200%20(Eng)%20final%20Website%20version1.pdf

– End –

About HKIRC

Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a non-profit-distributing, non-statutory company limited by guarantee designated by the Government of the HKSAR to undertake the administration of Internet domain names under the .hk and .香港 country code top level domain. HKIRC provides registration services for English domain names ending with .com.hk, .org.hk, .net.hk, .edu.hk, .gov.hk, .idv.hk, .hk and Chinese domain names ending with .公司.香港, .組織.香港, .網絡.香港, .教育.香港, .政府.香港, .個人.香港, .香港, and other domains to be introduced from time to time in Hong Kong.

Media Contacts:

HKIRC
Dorothy Chow
Tel : + 852 2319 3883
Fax : + 852 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

iPR Ogilvy
Joyce Wong / Vivien Wong
Tel : + 852 3920 7671 / 3920 7675
Fax : + 852 3170 6606
Email : joyce.wong@iprogilvy.com / vivien.wong@iprogilvy.com

 

HONG KONG, 4 June 2012 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) today announced the opening of online public voting for the “A Decade of Pride and Success” Domain Name Competition. Over the years, HKIRC has been actively promoting the benefits of using .hk and .香港 domain names. To commemorate its 10th Anniversary, HKIRC organised the “A Decade of Pride and Success” Domain Name Competition in March. Thirty domain names have been shortlisted and posted on the HKIRC Facebook page (www.facebook.com/HKIRC) . From today until 31 July 2012, members of the public can visit the HKIRC Facebook page to vote for their favourite domain name and gain the opportunity to win fabulous prizes.

“Since launching the ‘A Decade of Pride and Success’ Domain Name Competition in March, we have received an overwhelming response of 294 domain names in just two months, of which 185 were submitted by secondary school students, and many of which were outstandingly creative. We hope that members of the public will actively take part in voting, and together select the domain name that creates the most resonance within the community to bring positive energy to Hong Kong,” said Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC.

The first 100 voters who also answer the 10th Anniversary quiz correctly will be awarded a .hk multifunctional digital calendar. The two contestants whose entries receive the greatest number of votes will be awarded a .hk limited edition gift set with a value of over HK$1,000, as well as a one-year .hk / .香港 domain for free. The winning .hk or .香港 domain name may also be adopted as the name of the HKIRC 10th Anniversary website. The school with student entries gaining the greatest number of votes will be awarded the “Outstanding School Prize”.

The results of the “A Decade of Pride and Success” Domain Name Competition and the winners of the public voting will be announced in August. For details, please visit http://www.10th.hk/timecapsule/en/domain_name_competition.html

About HKIRC
Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a non-profit-distributing, non-statutory company limited by guarantee designated by the Government of the HKSAR to undertake the administration of Internet domain names under the .hk and .香港 country code top level domain. HKIRC provides registration services for English domain names ending with .com.hk, .org.hk, .net.hk, .edu.hk, .gov.hk, .idv.hk, .hk and Chinese domain names ending with .公司.香港, .組織.香港, .網絡.香港, .教育.香港, .政府.香港, .個人.香港, .香港, and other domains to be introduced from time to time in Hong Kong.

Media Contacts:

HKIRC
Dorothy Chow
Tel : + 852 2319 3883
Fax : + 852 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

iPR Ogilvy
Joyce Wong / Sofia Yip / Vivien Wong
Tel : + 852 3920 7671 / 3920 7673 / 3920 7675
Fax : + 852 3170 6606
Email : joyce.wong@iprogilvy.com / sofia.yip@iprogilvy.com / vivien.wong@iprogilvy.com

 

10th Anniversary Celebration
2012-05-16

To commemorate the 10th Anniversary of HKIRC, we organised the 10th Anniversary celebration at Asia Society Hong Kong Center on 16 May to kick off a series of celebratory events. The events themed “A decade of Pride and Success of Hong Kong”, which enable us to review and share the growth of HKIRC and the glorious moments of Hong Kong during the last decade.

During the celebration, HKIRC unveiled the “Cyber Time Capsule” (www.10th.hk and www.十周年.香港) to let people share the pride and success of Hong Kong during the last decade, such as the achievements and memorable moments of the Internet development. You can upload digital files such as photos, videos, music, blogs to the “Cyber Time Capsule”. The files will be made available again on the website 10 years later, so that we can review and relive these special moments in time.

More than 60 guests joined the celebration and the “Cyber Time Capsule” was unveiled by 7 guests of honour including Mr John Estmond Strickland, GBS, JP, Chairman of HKIRC, Mr Daniel Lai, BBS, JP, Government Chief Information Officer, Mr Joseph Yu, MH, the first Chairman of the Board, co-founder and current Board Member of HKIRC, Mr Vincent Marshall Lee, Chairman of Tung Tai Group of Companies, Mr Pindar Wong, Chairman of VeriFi (Hong Kong) Limited, and Mr Sunny Lee Wai Kwong, Executive Director of IT, The Hong Kong Jockey Club and Mr Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC. In addition, the HKIRC and 10th Anniversary video were first shown and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra performed at the celebration, bringing a cheerful and wonderful time to the guests.

HKIRC and 10th Anniversary video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HKIRCVideo

10th Anniversary Celebration’s highlights︰
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjAVjoN8-FA

Photos

2012-01-20

Corporate Group
Gold Prize – www.weather.gov.hk (Hong Kong Observatory)
Company Profile: The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) website is tailor made for users, providing one-stop webpages specialized for different user communities including school, senior citizen, fisherman and outdoor sports. The website is informative and frequently updated. To meet evolving users’ needs, the HKO launched the personalized weather service, MyObservatory, to provide real-time location-specific weather information. The visitor statistics of the website in 2011 reaches 5.2 billion, which is 2.9 times that of 2010. The HKO website is widely recognized, winning a number of awards including Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the most searched awards. HKO was also entrusted by the World Meteorological Organization of the United Nation to develop and operate the “World Weather Information Service” and “Severe Weather Information Centre” websites.

Silver Prize – www.rthk.hk (Radio Television Hong Kong)
Company Profile: The RTHK website provides variety of services for the public: radio and TV live-webcast, 24 hours news, radio and TV program archives, Podcast Station, eLearning, Chinese culture and special web projects. RTHK Podcast Station’s library is the largest among Asian broadcasters. It includes more than 200 programs for user to download and enjoy anytime. RTHK also attempt different technologies to give new experience to our users such as integrating the websites with google-map, blogging, online polling, photo/video submission and weibo live feed to update users the event status. In 2010, RTHK broadened their services to another level: users can access our contents via our iPhone and Android apps “RTHK On The Go”, to reach our goal “Anytime, Anywhere, Any device”.

Bronze Prize – www.kmb.hk (Kowloon Motor Bus Co (1933) Ltd)
Company profile: The KMB website was established in 1995 as Hong Kong’s first public bus website with a bus route search function. The website uses an easy-to-remember domain name. The website constantly innovates and improves service, enhancing the communications with the passengers and industries. It was the first public bus website in Hong Kong to launch the map-based point to point route search function, allowing the public to access information on more than 5,000 bus stops on around 400 bus routes in graphic form. A “Street View” feature gives passengers a 360-degree photo tour of the street near their chosen bus stop, enabling them to make faster, easier and more accurate searches. In March 2011, the KMB iPhone App was launched, providing around one million iPhone/iPad/iPod touch users with free downloads of bus route information anytime, anywhere. The KMB iPhone App is also equipped with and convenient “Alight Reminder” function, the first of its kind.

Merit Prize (In alphabetical order)
www.buildhk.hk (Development Bureau)
www.e123.hk (The Hong Kong Society for the Aged)
www.travelexpert.com.hk (Travel Expert Limited)

SME Group
Gold Prize – www.darizi.com.hk (Darizi Limited)
Company Profile: Launched in September 2007, the website is a Wedding Online Community in Hong Kong. For brides and grooms-to-be planning their dream weddings, Darizi’s Online Wedding Platform offers comprehensive content to facilitate stress-free wedding planning including the latest wedding news and trends and online magazine, pre-wedding online electronic tools such as organiser, blogs and schedules to each couple-to-be, so that all intensely busy couples can manage and organize their weddings in an easy and breezy fashion! The website also creates and expedites to-be-weds easy interaction with vendors, and serves as a continuing source of useful wedding and lifestyle information. In 2009 and 2011, the website developed its iPhone and iPad apps respectively to reach clients in various online platform.

Silver Prize – www.Gotrip.hk (Hong Kong Media Services Company Ltd, a subsidiary of New Media Group)
Company Profile: The website is a Web 2.0 travel website which allows users to find practical information and share their travel experience with others, editors and travel experts also join the sharing as “Star Users”. Gotrip.hk invents the travel diary system in which photos can be sort and geo-positioned automatically. The diary is integrated with Weibo to enhance interaction and users can use Facebook and Weibo to import and export the diary contents and photos. In addition, the websitealso reported incidents such as Japan earthquake and Thailand flooding disasters and encouraged the public to make donation through the website and respective social platforms so as to educate the community.

Bronze Prize – www.msf.org.hk (Médecins Sans Frontières (Hong Kong))
Company Profile: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian and its core work is in providing emergency medical aid to people affected by armed conflict. MSF also offers medical care to marginalised people who find themselves excluded from healthcare, and to communities whose health systems may be overwhelmed due to epidemics or natural disasters. MSF speaks out about the reality in the front line for those vulnerable groups via its website. People from Hong Kong and other Asian countries can make a monthly and one-off donation online to support the global relief work of MSF, as well as apply to be a field worker on its website.

Merit Prize (In alphabetical order)
www.eoc.org.hk (Equal Opportunities Commission)
www.timable.hk (Timable)

For more information of the winning sites, please click here.

Photos

Winning websites show creativity and “Web Care”
Significant Decline in .hk/.香港 Domain Name Phishing and Spamvertising Cases for 2011

HONG KONG, 18 January, 2012 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) today announced the results of the third Top Ten .hk Website Competition. Websites www.weather.gov.hk of Hong Kong Observatory and www.darizi.com.hk of Darizi Limited struck gold in the Corporate and SME Groups respectively. HKIRC also revealed the latest numbers for spamvertising and phishing cases using .hk/.香港domains, which have significantly decreased throughout 2011.

HKIRC received a record-high number of over 200 entries for this competition, which is more than a 30% increase from last year. The Competition has attracted contestants from a wide range of industries, including Chinese medicine information providers, weddings, lifestyle information, public services, tourism, energy, charities and more. To help bridge the digital divide in our society, a newly-added judging criterion this year is the “Web Care” element, which has been very well exhibited by many of the entries, ensuring that people with special needs can easily access the websites.

“HKIRC has organised the Top Ten .hk Website Competition three years in a row. We are very pleased to see that this year’s entries have come from different and more diversified industries. The websites are of high quality, creating some keen competition among the entrants. The improvement in the overall standard of the websites, the increase in the number of entries and the encouraging response from the public in voting altogether show that outstanding websites can make use of the Internet to strengthen their business advantages. We are also delighted to see an increase in netizens’ awareness of the competition over the previous year, indicating that they are more willing than ever to share, interact and participate,” said Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC.

Mr. Daniel Lai , Government Chief Information Officer, attended as guest of honour at the event. Mr. Lai said, “I am glad to see HKIRC includes web accessibility element in this year’s Competition which drives the community to bridge the digital divide and encourage the corporations and organisations to leverage on the Internet and its diversified platforms to cater for the needs of different people in the society, contributing to the barrier free websites.”

The judging panel was comprised of Dr. Billy Mak, Associate Professor from the Department of Finance & Decision Sciences of Hong Kong Baptist University, Mr. Simon Yeung, Publisher of SMB World, Dr. John Fung, Business Director of Sector and Capacity Development of The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Mr. Sunny Ho, Manager of Information Technology Operations of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, and Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC.

The Gold Prize winners of the Corporate and SME Groups each received HK$20,000 with a trophy and a certificate, plus logo exposure on promotional materials. The Silver, Bronze and Merit Prize winners were awarded HK$10,000, HK$5,000 and HK$1,000 respectively.

The Top Ten .hk Website Competition Winners
Corporate Group
Top 3:

Merit Prizes:

SME Group
Top 3:

Merit Prizes:

Public voting for favourite .hk/.香港 websites also enjoyed record participation by more than 4,000 voters. The lucky draw result was announced in Sing Tao Daily and The Standard on 21 December 2011. The results can also be found on the official website:http://www.top10award.hk/winnersList.html.

Continued nurturing of a safe Internet environment
At today’s event, HKIRC also released the latest figures for .hk/.香港 spamvertising and phishing cases in 2011. According to the .hk Domain Name Spamvertising & Phishing Report for 2011, a total of 25 .hk/.香港 phishing and spamvertising cases were recorded. The significant decrease in phishing and spamvertising cases reflected the effectiveness of the stringent measures implemented by HKIRC to identify and handle applications suspected to be made for fraudulent purposes, which in turns enables .hk/.香港 to maintain a high level of security and Internet integrity.

Members of the public are welcome to report any .hk/.香港 spamvertising and phishing websites to HKIRC via email <abuse@hkirc.hk>or hotline 2319 1313.

About the Top 10 .hk Website Competition
HKIRC invited both SMEs and not-for-profit organisations with less than 100 employees, and large corporations and not-for-profit organisations with 100 employees or more to take part in the Competition. Judges ranked the .hk/.香港entrants based on criteria such as industry innovation, look-and-feel and ease of navigation, “Web Care” element, interactivity, domain innovation and relevance, and contribution to society.
For more information, please visit http://www.top10award.hk.

Major Sponsors of the Competition

Diamond Sponsor

Silver Sponsor

Bronze Sponsor

Online Media sponsor

Media Partner

Mobile App Sponsor

 

About HKIRC
Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a non-profit-distributing, non-statutory company limited by guarantee designated by the Government of the HKSAR to undertake the administration of Internet domain names under the .hk and .香港 country code top level domain. HKIRC provides registration services for English domain names ending with .com.hk, .org.hk, .net.hk, .edu.hk, .gov.hk, .idv.hk, .hk and Chinese domain names ending with .公司.香港, .組織.香港, .網絡.香港, .教育.香港, .政府.香港, .個人.香港, .香港, and other domains to be introduced from time to time in Hong Kong.

Media Contacts:

HKIRC
Dorothy Chow
Tel : + 852 2319 3883
Fax : + 852 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

iPR Ogilvy
Joyce Wong / Sofia Yip / Vivien Wong
Tel : + 852 3920 7671 / 3920 7673 / 3920 7675
Fax : + 852 3170 6606
Email : joyce.wong@iprogilvy.com / sofia.yip@iprogilvy.com / vivien.wong@iprogilvy.com

2012-01-18

The 2011 Service Partner Award Presentation Ceremony with Spring Luncheon of Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) was held at Gloucestor Luk Kwok Hong Kong Hotel in Wanchai on 18 January 2012.

The annual event was first held in 2006. It aims at commending the new and existing Service Partners who excel in .hk/.香港 registrations and gives honour to the Partners achieving remarkable results in the past year. The seven annual awards are divided into local and overseas markets including the Best Performing Service Partner 2011 and Service Partner of the year 2011.

The winners for the 2011 Awards are as follows:

               
Best Performing Service Partner 2011 (Hong Kong) Gold Prize: Speedy Group Corporation Ltd
Best Performing Service Partner 2011 (Hong Kong) Silver Prize: HKT Business NETVIGATOR
Best Performing Service Partner 2011 (Hong Kong) Bronze Prize: UDomain Web Hosting Company Limited

Best Performing Service Partner 2011 (Overseas) Gold Prize: Hichina Zhicheng Technology Co., Ltd		 Best Performing Service Partner 2011 (Overseas) Silver Prize: Web Commerce Communication Limited
Best Performing Service Partner 2011 (Overseas) Bronze Prize: Instra Corporation Pty Ltd
   
Service Partner of TheYear 2011: HKT Business NETVIGATOR

 

Registrar Accreditation Programme was launched in July 2011 to enable more choices of domain name registration service. For more information, please go to https://www.hkirc.hk/content.jsp?id=10

Phone: +852 2319 1313
Fax: +852 2319 2626
Email: registrar@hkirc.hk

HONG KONG, 12 January 2012 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) welcomes the opening up of the new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today and fully supports corporations and organisations wishing to apply for their own gTLD by offering them professional consultancy services.

“HKIRC at all times supports the development and innovative use of the Internet. In addition to promoting the use of .hk and .香港 domain names, HKIRC works closely with industries to take advantage of latest development of the Internet and to help them seize business opportunities. Not only do we support corporations which wish to establish a local online identity by adopting .hk and .香港 domain names, we also encourage corporations to exercise their infinite originality to create innovative domain names in different languages, in order to enhance their competitiveness and branding, as well as to maintain their pioneering positions in their respective industries,” said Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC.

Applications for new gTLD are open from today to 12 April 2012. Corporations can unleash their imagination and use creative, concise and relevant new gTLDs as their website and email addresses so as to strengthen their brand. The opening up of the new gTLD will also lead to new business opportunities for some companies.

The application for a new gTLD involves large investment and is a complicated process which can last for 9 to 20 months, during which the legal, financial, technical and other aspects of the operation are examined. Devoted to promoting Internet development, and with substantial experience in administering .hk/.香港 domain names and a close working relationship with ICANN, HKIRC began offering gTLD consultancy services to Hong Kong companies and organisations interested in applying for new gTLD in October last year, enabling those companies and organisations to focus on their core business. To date, HKIRC has received enquiries from a range of industries and organisations including listed corporations, popular brands, retailers and media, among others. For more information about gTLD application, please visit https://www.hkirc.hk/GTLD/index.html.

About HKIRC
Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) is a non-profit-distributing, non-statutory company limited by guarantee designated by the Government of the HKSAR to undertake the administration of Internet domain names under the .hk and .香港 country code top level domain. HKIRC provides registration services for English domain names ending with .com.hk, .org.hk, .net.hk, .edu.hk, .gov.hk, .idv.hk, .hk and Chinese domain names ending with .公司.香港, .組織.香港, .網絡.香港, .教育.香港, .政府.香港, .個人.香港, .香港, and other domains to be introduced from time to time in Hong Kong.

Media Contacts:

HKIRC
Dorothy Chow
Tel : + 852 2319 3883
Fax : + 852 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

iPR Ogilvy
Joyce Wong / Sofia Yip / Vivien Wong
Tel : + 852 3920 7671 / 3920 7673 / 3920 7675
Fax : + 852 3170 6606
Email : joyce.wong@iprogilvy.com / sofia.yip@iprogilvy.com / vivien.wong@iprogilvy.com