The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) says it has receive a record number of nominations for the 2006 iAwards. The ICT industry awards offer Australian companies and individuals a platform to showcase and launch new ICT solutions.

This year, iAwards will be presented for ICT solutions across a total of 19 key industry categories - agriculture and primary industry; applications and infrastructure tools; communications applications; community education and training; e-government and services; financial applications; general applications; healthcare; industrial applications; media and entertainment; research and development.

Other categories recognised include secondary student project; security; tertiary student project; and tourism & hospitality. Overall winners for the community, local industry and the iNSPIRATION categories will also be announced.

“It’s fabulous to see so many innovative entries for this year’s iAwards,” said Rob Durie, Chief Executive Office, AIIA. “It just goes to show that ICT really is all pervasive in today’s economy.

iAward winners will be announced on Friday 7 April at the ICT industry’s “Night of Nights", to be held in the Grand Harbour Ballroom, Star City Hotel in Sydney. iAwards Patron, Senator, The Honourable Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications Information Technology and the Arts, will be in attendance.

Winners in each category will be invited to represent Australia at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) in Macau in October 2006 where they will compete against entrants from other APICTA member economies, including Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.