Given the pace of change in the world of technology and business, the IT Excellence Awards, organized by the Hong Kong Computer Society, can be considered to have come of age now as they have reached this fourth edition.

Minor changes and improvements in this pioneering award scheme have been made over the years in order to reflect change and attract increasingly promising entries. The central mission of the scheme, however, has remained firm ?to recognize IT product and application excellence in Hong Kong, particularly in terms of quality and standards. The IT Excellence Awards also seek to stimulate and encourage IT research and development on a broad front, and to promote the increased use of IT by Hong Kong's industries. Outstanding applications and products will be selected to represent Hong Kong in this year's Asian Pacific Information and Communication Technology Award.

On behalf of the Hong Kong Computer Society, I would like to pay tribute to the professionalism and the rigour with which these Awards have been administered, judged and audited. I am also pleased to acknowledge constant encouragement from the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau and information Technology Services Department.

The ultimate test for each winner must remain the marketplace, and I have thus been pleased to see how effectively past winners have been able to promote their applications and products by citing their IT Excellence Awards achievements. I hope that this year's winners will continue to make a well-deserved mark commercially.