Oman Web Award 2007 honours winners
Ministry of Education Portal
Wins the Best Website of the Year
By
Sangeetha Sridhar
THE third Oman Web
Awards Competition Grand Finale was held recently at the
InterContinental Hotel Muscat where the winners for the year 2007 were
announced formally. The occasion was marked with the presence of Sheikh
al Fadhel al Harthy, UnderSecretary of Development Affairs, Ministry of
National Economy and Deputy Chairman of ITA; Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi,
CEO, Information Technology Authority; Pierre Moukarzel, President of
the Pan Arab Awards Committee; Government Dignitaries and distinguished
guests from various companies in Oman.
The registrations for this
year’s Awards competition closed with a record-breaking 170 participants
in 23 different categories. The event was held under the auspices of
Information Technology Authority (ITA), the apex government body for
Information Technology in the Sultanate. The most valuable Diamond Award
for the Best Website of the Year was awarded to the Ministry of
Education’s Education Portal.
After high excitement and
anticipation, the prestigious Best Web Designer of the Year Award went
to TBWA/Zeenah, based on a scoring system which awards points to web
designers based on the winning websites in each category. Due to the
large number of registrations, the competition this year was intense
compared to the last two years.
The main objectives of the
Oman Web Awards are to promote the spirit of innovation and creativity,
raise the standards of web design and websites, advocate growth and
development of local talent, promote intellectual property awareness and
encourage all sectors to become involved in the digital economy. Talal
al Rahbi, Chief of the Information and Awareness Division of the
Information Technology Authority (ITA) spoke on behalf of ITA.
He said, “The large number
of registrations is a good sign which shows that Oman has excellent
talent in web design and Omani organisations are keen to improve their
online identity through their websites.” “ITA has made all efforts to
keep the entire process just and fair.
We have made sure that jury
members do not mark their own websites; and, where there is conflict of
interest, other jury members marked the websites. ITA has verified the
calculations, the scores and the awards with an independent third party,
he added”. “ITA will continue its support to increase the penetration of
digital culture through events such as the Oman Web Awards”, he
remarked.
Abdullah Lootah, Country
Manager, Microsoft Oman and Jawad al Redha, Co-Chairman, Business
Software Alliance (BSA), Nick Smith, CEO, The Wave also addressed the
gathering. Oman Arab Web Awards is an event that serves to inspire and
reward creators for their skills so that they continue to improve. It
also promotes the innovative spirit of web designers to meet
professional and international standards. Competition among national
websites develops an interactive proactive and reactive community.
Furthermore, Oman Arab Web
Awards is an encouragement for all sectors to showcase their websites
and be effective in promoting their online identity. Through the Oman
Arab Web Awards, participants have the opportunity to widen contacts and
networks, foster co-operation, enhance knowledge, build capabilities and
exchange information.
Oman Arab Web Awards is a
platform for creative people to showcase their works and attain market
recognition. This year’s jury panel consisted of experts from various
fields including banking, government, education, Information technology,
telecommunication, media and web design and web technology experts.
The presenting sponsor of
the Oman Web Awards 2007 is Oman Telecommunications Company and The
Wave, Muscat is the co-presenter. Category sponsors are, Oman Wastewater
Services Company, Huawei Technology & Investment, Alargan Towell
Investment Company and Omania E-commerce and the support sponsors are
A’Saffa Poultry Farms Company, National Life & General and Port Services
Corporation.
As the results of this
competition reveal, the winning formula for websites seems to be that
they have to look good, give informative content in a structured manner
and interact with site visitors to provide services. This is very good
from the customer point of view because this is what makes people visit
the website again and again. So the competition is just working as a
catalyst for the digital world, elevating every Omani website’s presence
in the online world to a higher level of professionalism.
Oman Web Awards 2007 — Winners’
List
THE Best Web Design Company of
the Year Award went to TBWA\Zeenah.
The rolling trophy for the Best Website of the Year went to The Ministry
of Education for their Website Education Portal.
23 Categories (Participants & Winner List)
1. Automotive Category
Bronze: Toyota Oman
Silver: Moosa Abdul Rahman Hassan & Co LLC
Gold: Infiniti Oman
2. Education Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Ministry of Education for Dhofar
Silver: National Training Institute LLC
Gold: Education Portal
Gold: Higher Education Admission Centre
3. Engineering & Manufacturing Category (Nominations)
Bronze: The National Detergent Company
Silver: Galfar Engineering
Gold: Omanoil
4. Corporate Category (Nominations)
Bronze: TBWA\Zeenah
Silver: Oman Oasis
Gold: Bahwan IT
5. Ministry/Government Organisations (Nominations)
Bronze: Ministry of Higher Education
Silver: Higher Education Admission Centre
Gold: Muscat Securities Market
6. Non-Government Organisation/Non-Profit Organisation
Bronze: Al Amana Centre
Silver: ISACA Muscat Oman Chapter
Gold: The National Association for Cancer Awareness
7. Retail Category (Nominations)
Bronze: OHI Electronics
Silver: Oman Oasis
Gold: Turtles Oman
8. Oil and Gas Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Al Rawahy Group of Companies
Silver: MB Petroleum Services
Gold: Petroleum Development Oman
9. Media, Media Services and Event Management (Nominations)
Bronze: Oman Economic Review
Silver: Times of Oman
Gold: TBWA\Zeenah
10. Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) (Nominations)
Silver: HMR Environmental Engineering Consultants
Silver: Majis Industrial Services Company Saoc
Silver: Environment Society of Oman
Gold: Oman Wastewater Services Co
11. Art and Culture Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Poetsgate
Silver: Banana Silk
Gold: Al-Lilac Beauty Centre
12. Travel and Tourism Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Zahara Holidays
Silver: Bahwan Travel Group
Gold: Oman Air
13. Food & Beverage (fmcg) Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Wally’s Fast Food
Silver: Omani Vegetable Oil & Derivatives Co
Gold: Oman Oasis
14. E-Commerce Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Trademax LLC
Silver: Digital Information Exchange
Gold: Oman Bay
15. Software, Telecommunication/ICT Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Alazri Net
Silver: Huawei Technology & Investment
Gold: Nawras
16. Banking & Finance Category (Nominations)
Bronze: ETF Forum
Silver: United Securities LLC
Silver: National Life & General
Gold: Bank Sohar Saog
17. Services (Nominations)
Bronze: Royal and Sun Alliance
Silver: TBWA\Zeenah
Gold: Muscat Design
18. Health Services Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Oman Pharmaceutical Society
Silver: Muscat Eye Laser Centre
Gold: Oman Dermatology Society
19. Personal Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Alhosani Web
Silver: Dhofar Al Majd
Gold: Ba-Saad
Gold: Adobe F1
Gold: Aswath Robotics
20. Real Estate Category (Nominations)
Bronze: Oman Prospects Co
Silver: Amlak Real Estate
Gold: The Wave, Muscat
21. Sports Category
Bronze: Ahmad Said al Harthy
Silver: Omani Cricket
Gold: Sportsoman Portal
22. Hospitality Category
Bronze: Al Nahda Resort & Spa
Silver: 53 East
Gold: Golden Oryx Restaurant
23. Forums
Bronze: Playsnkmore.org
Silver: Dhofar Land Network
Silver: Campus Lights.com
Gold: Arabian Games Network.