HKIRC Announces Best .hk Website Awards 2014 Results | Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited
Press Release

HKIRC Announces Best .hk Website Awards 2014 Results

2015-04-21

HKIRC Announces Best .hk Website Awards 2014 Results

 

Outstanding Websites Across Many Industries Commended

 

HONG KONG, 21 April, 2015 – Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) announced the results of “Best .hk Website Awards 2014” (the Awards) at a Presentation Ceremony at Cyberport today. By rebranding the previous “Top 10 .hk Website Competition”, HKIRC hopes to recognise a wider variety of websites instead of just 10.

“We are excited that the rebranded program has broadened its reach to a larger number of new entrants, whether under the Commercial or Non-commercial Streams, while our past winners enrolled again with enhanced website features,” said Mr. Jonathan Shea, CEO of HKIRC. “We are also glad to see more social media attributes embedded in most of the shortlisted websites. New features like a tag function for instant search for keywords, videos and forums are being used on more websites to enhance their interaction with audiences,” he said.

Mr. Victor Lam, the Acting Government Chief Information Officer, was the guest of honour at the ceremony. He said, “The Best .hk Website Awards Presentation Ceremony is one of many exciting events of the International IT Fest 2015 for showcasing Hong Kong’s vibrant developments and achievements in ICT. We are delighted to see how different sectors in Hong Kong have developed creative websites leveraging on .hk domain names branding to develop business opportunities and enhance competitiveness.” He added that “Internet domain names are much more than the addresses of company websites, but an integral part of companies’ brand names and important assets of companies. For small and medium-sized enterprises, Internet domain names are even more important as they could help create business opportunities and establish unique and trust identity of the company on the Internet.”

Having kicked off online enrollment at the end of November last year, the Awards attracted a total of 474 players of which 88 were in “Government Departments”, 57 in “LegCo Members”, 76 in “Non-commercial” and 253 in “Commercial” streams. The Panel of Judges evaluated all entries according to four judging criteria: overall design and functionality, engagement, use of social media and web accessibility. Winners of respective streams strived to enlighten the panel as to the competitive advantages of their websites in their industry, their role in helping their company or organization achieve service excellence and overall benefits for the online community, to name a few.

Ranking Stream
Commercial – Corporate group Commercial – SME group Non Commercial – Corporate group Non Commercial – SME group
Gold Prize www.mtr.com.hk of MTR Corporation Ltd. www.unwire.hk of bMedia Limited www.e123.hk of The Hong Kong Society for the Aged www.goodgoods.hk of Good Goods
Silver Prize www.mabelle.hk of Ma Belle Jewellery Co. Ltd. www.gogovan.com.hkof GoGo Tech Limited www.westkowloon.hk of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority www.eoc.org.hk of Equal Opportunities Commission
Bronze Prize www.pricerite.com.hk of Pricerite Stores Limited www.weshare.hk of WeShare www.cfsc.org.hk of Christian Family Service Centre www.hopeww.org.hk of HOPE worldwide
Ranking Stream
Government Departments Website LegCo Members Website
Gold Prize Co-winners:
www.hko.gov.hk of Hong Kong Observatory
www.rthk.hk of Radio Television Hong Kong
www.reginaip.hk of Hon Mrs Regina IP LAU Suk-yee, GBS, JP
Silver Prize www.ofca.gov.hk of Office of the Communications Authority www.cheungchiuhung.org.hk of Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG Chiu-hung
Bronze Prize Co-winners:
www.hkpl.gov.hk, the Hong Kong Public Library’s website of Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD)
www.icac.org.hk of Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption
www.youth.gov.hk of Efficiency Unit
www.charlesmok.hk of Hon Charles MOK, JP
This year, three new awards were introduced, namely “The Most Honorable Award”, “Most Liked .hk Website” and the “Award for the Most Improved Website”. Having achieved the Gold Prize for three consecutive years, Radio Television Hong Kong’s website, www.rthk.hk and The Hong Kong Society for the Aged – eElderly, www.e123.hk, received “The Most Honorable Award”. The “Most Liked .hk Website” went to the Hong Kong Observatory, www.hko.gov.hk, which alone received nearly 2,000 votes – or more than twice as many as the average number of votes cast online for other websites from the public. The personal website of Hon CHAN Kin-por, BBS, JP, was given the “Award for the Most Improved Website” and will be granted a .hk domain sponsorship.

“We were deeply impressed by the finalists’ presentations,” said Mr. Simon Yeung, Group Publisher of Computerworld Hong Kong, who was on the judging panel of the Commercial and Non-commercial Award Streams. “The winners demonstrated their success in opening up new business opportunities online and offline or gaining community rapport by making use of good website and technologies. Whether it be a commercial or NGO website, I am glad to see that the winning websites bring greater customer satisfaction, becoming good examples to counterparts in the same industry and for the public. We hope they can keep up the momentum and continue to develop superior websites in the years to come.”

“Constant updates on LegCo work progress, well-organised content navigation and easy search for specific information are at the top of our mind,” said Dr. Robin S Bradbeer, Deputy Chairman of HKIRC and the Chairperson of the judging panel for the Government Departments and LegCo Members Streams. “We believe that the general public expect them to take the language barrier for non-Chinese reading groups and the clarity of their LegCo work into account when thinking of future website improvements,” she continued.
To learn more about the award-winning websites, please visit www.bestwebsite.hk

Lucky Draw Result Announcement

The three-week public voting period attracted more than 3,500 Internet users to cast votes for their favorite .hk websites in the Commercial, Non-commercial and Government Department Streams. The lucky draw winner(s) will be notified about how to collect their iPad mini 3 after the lucky draw result announcement is published in the Hong Kong Economic Times and The Standard on 23 April 2015. More details can be found on the official Awards website: www.bestwebsite.hk
The ceremony is one of the signature events of the International IT Fest 2015 organised by the HKSAR Government.

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 / Carmen Ip
Tel : 2319 3883 / 2319 3828
Fax : 2319 2626
Email : marketing@hkirc.hk

LEWIS PR
Cheris Lee / Raymond Woo 
Tel : 3944 5015 / 2122 9019 
Fax : 3944 5001
Email : cheris.lee@lewispr.com  / raymond.woo@lewispr.com

Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) announced the results of “Best .hk Website Awards 2014” (the Awards) at the Presentation Ceremony at Cyberport today