As part of the annual conference of the Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA), winners of the annual Latvian ICT prize, �Platinum Mouse 2008,� were declared in two categories � �E-Government and Services,� and �Projects Related to Education, Culture, Health Care and Sports.�  The prizes went to AS Swedbank and the fairy tale portal Pasakas.net respectively.  For the first time this year, Microsoft Latvia presented a special prize, �ICT Innovation of the Year,� and it was received by a project that was organised by the Jelgava Regional Adult Education Centre, �An E-Study System in Support of the Jelgava Local Government�s Lifelong Education Proposal.�

The ICT award �Platinum Mouse� was established by the Latvia Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA) in 2007.  The aim of the prize is to enhance the sector�s prestige, to promote positive publicity, to inform the public about opportunities related to ICT, and to honour those projects which offer benefits to broad ranges of society.  Applications are evaluated by an independent and competent jury.  The honorary chairwoman of the jury is Signe B�li�a, the Special Assignments Minister for Electronic Government Affairs of Latvia.
In 2008, LIKTA also joined with the Economics Ministry to organise a competition, �Best E-Commerce Company 2008,� the aim being to inform the public about the environment of E-commerce and its importance in entrepreneurship, to facilitate the development of E-commerce and use of the relevant services, to ascertain that E-commerce projects are in line with the legal requirements, and to honour best projects.
The total number of applications this year was 23 � seven in the �E-Government and Services� category, seven in the �Projects Related to Education, Culture, Health Care and Sports� category, and nine in the �Best E-Commerce Company 2008� category.
In total five projects were nominated for the annual ICT award:
� Latvenergo for its E-latvenergo.lv client portal � AS Latvenergo, designed by TietoEnator Alise SIA;
� The Swedbank fourth-generation Internet bank for private individuals � AS Hansabanka;
� The �Third Son of the Father� project � the Bill & Melinda Gates Fund and the Cultural Information Systems Agency of the Latvian Culture Ministry;
� Letonika.lv � SIA Tilde;
� The Pasakas.net fairy tale portal � �Ideas Forum� association, designed by SIA Cube Media.

In the �E-Government and Services� category, the prize went to AS Swedbank for its fourth-generation Internet banking programme for private individuals.  The bank has offered Internet banking services since 1999, allowing clients to use banking services remotely.  In 2007, the fourth-generation Internet banking system was tested and implemented, and it was successful in terms of its major goals � offering new opportunities to use the bank�s services on the Internet, providing innovative E-solutions in the area of banking services, and to enhance the convenience and security of such services.  The result is a substantial increase in the number of service agreements and payments on the Internet (96.4% of all client payments at the bank are made electronically).
In the �Projects Related to Education, Culture, Health Care and Sports� category, the prize was awarded to a fairy tale portal, Pasakas.net, which was established by an organisation called �Idea Forum� and designed by SIA Cube Media.  Children and adolescents can study Latvia�s cultural and historical heritage in audio and video form, listening to fairy tales and audio books, watching cartoons, listening to recordings of lullabies and poems, and playing games related to fairy tales.  The portal was established in November 2007.  People who are popular in Latvia recorded Latvian and other fairy tales.  There is a dictionary of old words that are used in the stories, along with audio books, games, lullabies recorded by popular musicians, cartoons, and the ability to post drawings in a special gallery.  The portal receives an average of 1,500 hits a day.  The aim is to preserve the segment of cultural and historical heritage which is based on stories, fairy tales and legends, promoting the availability of literature in the digital arena, as well as facilitating the development of the emotional, creative and intellectual capacities of children and adolescents when it comes to learning more about Latvian and global literature and folklore.
The Microsoft Latvia award in the category �ICT Innovation of the Year� went to the Jelgava Regional Adult Education Centre for the project �An E-Study System in Support of the Jelgava Local Government�s Lifelong Education Proposal.� Project organisers designed educational materials and an E-study system, along with two professional ongoing education programmes, �Programming� and �Computer Systems.�  A total of 37 differently abled people have been trained in these areas already.  There are also E-learning materials for students with special needs. Teachers have been trained to use ICT in the teaching process.
�The aim of the �ICT Innovation of the Year� award is to promote the culture of innovation in Latvian business and in the country�s society, reminding people that innovations are of practical importance, and each of us encounters this fact on an everyday basis � perhaps not even realising the vast amount of work that is invested in this area.  The project of the Jelgava Regional Adult Education Centre confirms this completely.  The project is unique not only in that it has led to the establishment of a high-quality and innovative lifelong education programme for people with functional difficulties, but also in that it has ensured outstanding effectiveness. More than two-thirds of those who have completed the professional ongoing education programmes in �Programming� and �Computer Systems� have gone on to study at colleges and universities, found work, or improved their living conditions,� said Sandis Kolomenskis, country manager of Microsoft Latvia, in announcing the award.
A special LIKTA award for investments in the establishment and development of the organisation was received by the first LIKTA president, Juris Borzovs.

WINNERS OF THE �BEST E-COMMERCE COMPANY 2008� AWARD
The winners of the �Best E-Commerce Company 2008� award were announced on the last day of the E-Commerce Information Day event in late 2008. The event was organised by the LIKTA with support from the Economics Ministry.
The �Best E-Commerce Company� award was granted to SIA Mikromaks�jumi, which sells bus, event and cinema E-tickets on www.bezrindas.lv.  The system uses the Internet to make Internet payments possible.  A bar code is used as a security element, allowing for a user-friendly way of buying tickets to events, the cinema, or inter-city bus travel in Latvia.  Bus and cinema tickets can be received by phone, while tickets to other types of events are also available at the door.  The portal sells tickets without any registration system, and the tickets are available even to those who do not have a printer.  Thus the sale and receipt of the tickets is convenient and fast for anyone.
The special jury prize for promoting international E-commerce went to SIA Dos Alpacas for its Internet shop.  The store sells products made of alpaca wool, as well as furs and silver jewellery from Peru.  The target audience is in the Baltic States, Europe and Russia.
Certificates of commendation for outstanding achievements went to the Internet shop of SIA Xnet, as well as to the first Internet-based insurance system in Latvia, If ONLINE, which is provided by the If Latvia insurance company.