Hong Kong Observatory Wins ICT Awards

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) won five awards in the Hong Kong Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Award 2011. The awards were presented in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 15 April.

The Hong Kong ICT Awards recognize, promote and commend the excellent achievements to which ICT professionals and organizations contribute. The awards won by HKO are:

Award Category	Award	Award Project
Best Public Service Application (Small Scale project)	Gold	MyObservatory
Best Public Service Application (Public Services Web Site)	Silver	World Weather Information Service
Best Ubiquitous Networking (Mobile Infotainment)	Silver	MyObservatory
Best Lifestyle (Green, Healthy & Creative Living)	Certificate of Merit	Digital Weather Forecast Webpage
Best Collaboration (Service)	Certificate of Merit	Community Weather Information Network

The "MyObservatory" is a personalized weather service developed in-house. Making use of the positioning function of smartphone to estimate the user's location, the app automatically displays the latest weather information from the weather stations closest to the user. The app has stayed for months in the list of top free downloads under the weather category in Apple's Hong Kong store (http://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/myobservatory/id361319719?mt=8). The judging panel commented that "MyObservatory" really moves the government services from desktop computer to mobile devices for citizens who are on the move and sets up a good role model for other government or commercial services to follow.

The "World Weather Information Service" (WWIS) web site (http://future.worldweather.wmo.int) is a global collaboration project developed and operated by the HKO on behalf of the United Nation's World Meteorological Organization. It is the first and only source of official weather information web site that provides an easy and free channel for the global community to obtain reliable weather forecasts of over 1,300 cities around the world for activity planning from leisure travel to disaster relief operations. The web site was showcased in the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The judging panel commented that the WWIS web site well demonstrates how information technologies can provide a better life to the global citizens and how Hong Kong can play as an ICT hub in the region.

The HKO "Digital Weather Forecast" Webpage (http://www.hko.gov.hk/dfs/main/dfs_tt_e.html) shows 3-day forecasts in temperature, wind direction and speed, and relative humidity at each 10-kilometre grid over Hong Kong and the neighbouring Pearl River Estuary region. It also provides forecasts in the form of time charts for different regions over Hong Kong. The webpage helps the public to appreciate the changes of weather in their area of interest and make better preparation for weather changes in advance.

The "Community Weather Information Network" (Co-WIN) (http://weather.ap.polyu.edu.hk/index.php) is a collaborative effort of the HKO and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The aims of the network are to gather weather information from the automatic weather stations run by schools and community members, carry out data quality assurance and make available the weather information on the Internet for use by the public. Since its implementation in August 2007, the network has grown to over 90 members, including primary and secondary schools, an elderly centre, scouts, etc.

The Observatory's winning teams at the awards presentation ceremony