B-free has tonight been honoured as a winner in the AIIA's iAwards for excellence in Financial Applications.

The iAwards - the Australian ICT industry’s premier annual awards program and industry event was held this evening in the Grand Harbour Ballroom, Star City, Sydney.

Hosted by MC, James O’Loghlin of the ABC ‘New Inventors’ program, the 2006 iAwards awards showcased an array of outstanding, innovative and thought provoking ICT products and services.

Presented by AIIA, the Australian Financial Review, the CSIRO ICT Centre and MIS Australia, the iAwards embrace the entrepreneurial spirit of the Australian ICT industry and encourage its growth and development by providing international recognition for Australia’s leading ICT innovations.

As Rob Durie, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), Australia’s peak industry body for the ICT industry, commented, “The high calibre of this year’s winners and finalists reflects the breadth of entrepreneurial spirit within the Australian ICT industry and its impact on the nation’s economy and productivity.”

According to a report published in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics report that in 2002 – 2003, the ICT industry accounted for $36.2 billion or 4.6 per cent of GDP, 13.8 per cent of total investment by Government and industry and made a greater contribution to the economy than agriculture, forestry and fishing, defence and education industries.

In recognition of the impact that ICT has on the Australian economy, the iAwards celebrated the ‘latest and greatest’ Australian-developed ICT products and services that either are, or are destined to, make an impact on a wide range of Australian industries.

In many instances, winning an iAward provides the springboard for Australian companies to launch new business innovations on the world stage.

Each of the iAwards winners announced this evening will go on to represent Australia at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) which will be held in Macau in October, 2006.

AIIA would like to acknowledge 2006 iAwards partners CSIRO ICT Centre, Australian Financial Review and MIS magazine.

Other supporters include Category Partners, National ICT Australia, the Australian Computer Society, Cliftons, IBM, Innovation and Business Skills Australia, Microsoft, the Welsh Development Agency and Big Mouth Marketing Communications; online media partner, ZDnet and partners Accenture and I-Nex Corporation and Mr Alan Baxter, Chairman of Fujitsu Limited, who led the judging panel featuring prominent judges from Australia’s ICT industry, government, academia and aligned industries.