SINGAPORE () — The Far Eastern Economic Review, in association with Global Entrepolis @ Singapore (GES), has short-listed six finalists for the Global Entrepolis @ Singapore Award and 12 finalists for the seventh Asian Innovation Awards (AIA).

The Global Entrepolis @ Singapore Award honours Asia's emerging technopreneur for an invention that best applies technology to a strong business model and commercial potential.

Singapore's Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong and Mr. Gordon Crovitz, president, Electronic Publishing of Dow Jones & Company, and a senior vice president of the Company, will present the Global Entrepolis @ Singapore Award at the opening ceremony of Global Entrepolis @ Singapore on 11 October.

The six short-listed GES finalists are:

Australia
Medical Monitors Limited

• Bpfone (home blood pressure monitoring device)
  An automated digital blood pressure monitor that will take a patient's blood pressure reading at home and send it by phone to the clinic for analysis.

India
I-flex Solutions

• Flexcube
  Banking software that monitors real-time banking transactions over various channels, such as ATM and phone/Internet banking.

India
Subex Systems

• Ranger™
  A telecommunications-fraud-management system that helps telecommunications carriers fight fraud through innovative subscriber-profiling techniques.

Japan
IBM Corp.

• Adesigner
  Software that helps Web designers understand the difficulties that visually impaired people have surfing the Internet, to enable them to make sites more accessible.

Japan
Toshiba Corporation

• e-blue™ Decolorable Toner and Erasing machine for paper recycling at office
  An ink that disappears when exposed to heat, allowing paper to be reused; and an erasing machine that uses heat to break down the ink.

Singapore
INKE Pte Ltd.

• Auto Refill System
  A gadget that makes refilling ink-jet printer cartridges clean, cheap and easy.

Now in its seventh year, the Far Eastern Economic Review's Asian Innovation Awards are Asia's premier honour for individuals and companies who come up with new ideas, methods or technologies, or apply existing knowledge in creative, new ways to improve the quality of life or enhance productivity.

A total of 84 entries were received this year. The most entries came from Singapore, with 35 submissions, followed by Hong Kong with 9 and India with 7. Other entries came from Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

Singapore has a record number of five short-listed entries. Australia has two and the other finalists come from Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

The Asian Innovation Awards will be presented by Singapore's President S R Nathan and the Far Eastern Economic Review Editor Mr. David Plott, at the Global Entrepolis @ Singapore gala dinner on 12 October.

The 12 short-listed AIA finalists are:

Australia
Ibrahim Nahla, INTRAK Pty Ltd.

• Train Navigation and Control System (TNCS)
  A system that reduces the risk of train accidents due to human error or communications breakdown.

Australia
Bill Clarke, Division of Environmental Engineering, University of Queensland

• Fruit-Fired Power
  A digestion process to turn methane from waste bananas into electricity.

Hong Kong
James Law, James Law Cybertecture International

• RTHK A.I. Cybertecture Media Lab
  Transformed an outdated broadcasting studio into a state-of-the-art media lab controlled by artificial intelligence.

Japan
Seiko Epson Corp

• Epson Micro-Flying Robot
  An ultra-light and small flying robot, equipped with wireless Bluetooth controls and digital camera, that can be used to look for signs of life in a disaster.

Malaysia
Dr. Parmjit Singh, Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology

• The ScreenShield Suite
  Software that keeps computers free of pornography by capturing and analyzing images, and blocking access to them if they are pornographic.

New Zealand
Christchurch Hospital

• A Fast System for Reporting the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue Colour Vision Test
  A system that slashes the time it takes to conduct a complicated eye test, to four minutes from 60 minutes.

Philippines
Smart Communications

• Smart Padala
  A remittance service that allows Filipinos to send money home via short-message service on their cellphones. The money is instantly credited into the recipient's mobile-phone account.

Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore

• Green Energy Management Project
  An energy-efficient air-conditioning system that cools and removes dampness from the air before it enters the building, reducing energy and water consumption.

SingaporeAng Chip Hong, Chee Kim Loon, Lim Joo Ghee, Goi Sio Peng, Sivaprasad P K, Rao S V, Kumar V, Yang Ning, Teo Wee Seng, Lye Kin Mun, Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore

• StarTrack
  An efficient and reliable mobile tag which records human contact.

SingaporeProf. S H Teoh, Dr. T C Lim, DW Hutmacher, J-T Schantz, N Chou, National University of Singapore; KC Tan, Temasek Polytechnic

• Platform Scaffolds Technology for Patient
  A biodegradable plastic mesh used to patch holes in the skulls of people who have head injuries.

Singapore
INKE Pte Ltd.

• Auto Refill System
  A gadget that makes refilling ink-jet printer cartridges clean, cheap and easy.

Singapore
Dr. Adrian Burden, Dr. Peter Moran, Institute of Materials Research and Engineering

• Magnetic Identification Tags
  A nanotechnology that creates "unique" magnetic fingerprints which can be attached to goods to prove their authenticity.

The judges for the seventh Asian Innovation Awards and the second Global Entrepolis @ Singapore Award were:

• Dr. Mechai Viravaidya, chairman, Population Development Association, Thailand
• Prof. Anil K Gupta, K L Chair Professor of Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Management
• John Chen, president & chief executive officer, Sybase Inc.
• Tan Sri Dato' Lim Kok Wing, president, Malaysian Design Technology Centre
• Dr. Tony Buss, president & chief executive officer, MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd.

Profiles of the short-listed Asian Innovation Awards and Global Entrepolis @ Singapore Award entries can be found in the Far Eastern Economic Review cover-dated 14 October, which is available from newsstands today. Additional information on the awards and last year's winners can be found at www.feer.com.

The winners of the Asian Innovation gold, silver and bronze awards and Global Entrepolis @ Singapore Award, will be profiled in detail in the Review cover-dated 21 October, which is available 14 October.

About Global Entrepolis @ Singapore
The Global Entrepolis @ Singapore (GES) is a world-class event held annually to encourage enterprise, innovation and technology. GES is a marketplace, which provides a unique opportunity for crafting deals, raising funds, exchanging and creating ideas as well as forging new partnerships and enterprises. It is also an umbrella event comprising more than 20 conferences and a mega-exhibition showcasing the latest in technology and innovation. Through the many business networking events and official functions, delegates from the various conferences will be encouraged to interact with one another.

GES is expected to attract leading executives, CEOs, CTOs, COOs, entrepreneurs, technopreneurs, start-ups, business angels and venture capitalists from Asia and the world.

About Singapore Economic Development Board
The Economic Development Board (EDB) is Singapore's lead agency responsible for planning and executing strategies to sustain Singapore's position as a global hub for business and investment. EDB works closely with local and foreign companies across a diverse range of activities in both manufacturing and services to help them move towards higher value-creating operations in an increasingly knowledge-based and innovation-driven environment. The Board also encourages companies to use Singapore as their headquarters and total business centre to manage their global or regional functions to service their global or Asia Pacific operations.

Singapore is today a "Global Entrepolis" - a unique marketplace where deals are made, funds are raised, creative ideas are exchanged and realised, and new innovative enterprises incorporated and partnerships forged. EDB acts as a catalyst and facilitator to ensure a thriving "enterprise ecosystem" in Singapore. We encourage innovation and entrepreneurship by helping to create an environment which is conducive for start-ups and companies of all sizes to interact with each other with good corporate governance practises and where intellectual property is protected.

For more information on EDB, visit www.sedb.com.

About Far Eastern Economic Review
Since 1946, the Far Eastern Economic Review has led the way as Asia's premier weekly business magazine, providing information and insights essential to doing business in Asia. An influential audience of corporate and government decision makers around the world trusts The Review to deliver timely insight through Asian intelligence.

With an editorial team of nearly 100 news staff based in 15 bureaus across Asia — the largest news team of any regional weekly — The Review has the expertise and regional perspective to provide insightful and forward-looking analysis of news and developments in Asia. It was awarded the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award for "Excellence in Magazines" in 2002, "Excellence in Specialized Reporting" in 2003, and "Honourable Mention for Magazine Front Cover Design" in 2004.

The magazine has a circulation of 93,055 (HKABC Jul - Dec 2003).

In Asia, Dow Jones & Company also publishes The Asian Wall Street Journal and provides electronic information services through Dow Jones Newswires and Dow Jones Interactive Publishing. In China, Dow Jones & Company provides the China Stock Indexes comprising the Dow Jones Shanghai Index, the Dow Jones Shenzhen Index and the Dow Jones China 88 Index. Dow Jones & Company also has a 50% shareholding in CNBC Asia Pacific.

Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ; www.dowjones.com) publishes the world's most vital business and financial news and information and has been serving the business community since 1882. Dow Jones & Company has nearly 1,800 news staff — the largest network of business journalists in the world.

For more information, please contact:

Genevieve Kuek
EDB Marketing Communications
Tel: 65 6832 6217
Fax: 65 6336 5763
E-mail: genkuek@edb.gov.sg

Sharon Teo
Dow Jones Corporate Communications
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Fax: 65 6323 5861
E-mail: sharon.teo@dowjones.com