HKIRC Announces the “Top 10 .hk Website Competition 2013”
New award added this year to take the Competition to new heights

New award added this year to take the Competition to new heights

HONG KONG, 12 December 2013 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) today launched the “Top10 .hk Website Competition 2013” (the Competition), which is open for entry from now until 30 January 2014. To celebrate the Competition’s fifth anniversary this year, HKIRC aims to enrich the Competition by adding “The Most Honorable Award” for an outstanding website, as well as including website security features in the screening process.

“The Most Honorable Award”, is a new accolade this year aimed at further recognizing the remarkable achievements of Gold winners, who have won for three straight years. This is a token of appreciation for their continuous efforts in enhancing their websites and showcasing their best practices in their industries.

In addition, the frequent use of the Internet has brought rapidly evolving security threats. In 2012, Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (HKCERT) received 1,050 security incident reports, a rise of 30% on the previous year. An outstanding .hk website should have Internet security measures built in for eliminating potential dangers and risks from cyber-attack. Therefore, website security features have been added as part of HKIRC’s initial screening for promoting a secure Internet environment.

‘We are pleased to organise the Top10 .hk Competition for the fifth year in a row which is a significant achievement for us. We have witnessed the improving standard of .hk websites and some of them have achieved outstanding success, which is worthy of further recognition. “The Most Honorable Award’ this year will establish a role model for .hk website development, sharing the outstanding designs and practices with website owners to help them further optimize their .hk websites,” said Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC, ‘Looking ahead, we will consider to broaden the Competition to more sectors, such as District Council members. This will cultivate the spirit of sharing best practice of good websites serving the needs of different sectors; further strengthening Hong Kong as a leading digital city in the world.’

About the Competition
The “Top 10 .hk Website Competition 2013” includes four different website categories: “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 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$20,000, 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 call-for-entry period for the Competition runs from today through 30 January 2014. Shortlisted websites will be listed onhttp://www.top10award.hk from 14 February to 6 March 2014 for public voting. Winners will be notified individually on 9 April 2014 and the awards presentation ceremony will be held in April 2014.

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 / Stan Yuen
Tel : + 852 2319 3883 / 2319 3828
Fax : + 852 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

LEWIS PR
Cheris Lee / Faye Pang
Tel : + 852 3944 5015 / 3944 5011
Fax : + 852 3944 5001
Email : cheris.lee@lewispr.com / faye.pang@lewispr.com