The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) conducted the IT Management Awards 2009 for Small and Medium Enterprises, a program to give the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award (METI Minister Award) and other awards to SMEs that have achieved superior IT management and are acting as role models for other SMEs attempting to implement IT management.

Of the 276 entries submitted, the jury selected and announced a total of 22 winners of the Grand Prize (METI Minister Award), the First Prize (awarded in the names of the heads of co-sponsors), the Special Prize (the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Director-General’s Award), and the Jury’s Encouragement Prize.

The award ceremony will be held on February 25 at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo).

Outline of the IT Management Award for Small and Medium Enterprises

The business environment for companies is rapidly changing driven by advances in information technology (IT), including the Internet. More and more companies regard IT as a new business tool and are effectively using it to enhance their business management capacity. These companies capitalize on IT to implement their aggressive strategies, for example, to move beyond the subcontracting business, meet short delivery times and high-mix low-volume production, and promote strategic management by visualizing operations, rather than to just roll out traditional conservative strategies, such as improving operational efficiency. This kind of enterprise effort is called IT management.

In FY 2007, METI established the “IT Management Awards for Small and Medium Enterprises,” which aim to honor, in the names of the METI Minister and the heads of other related organizations, SMEs that have achieved superior IT management and are acting as role models for other SMEs attempting to implement IT management. To continue the program in FY 2008, METI conducted the “IT Management Awards for Small and Medium Enterprises 2009.”

Award ceremony

The award ceremony for the IT Management Awards for Small and Medium Enterprises 2009 will be held as follows:
- Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2009, 17:15-18:00
- Place: Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka (1-2 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
- Commemorative event: Presentations by award winners, from 15:00 at the same venue
- Presentation of testimonials: IT vendors that have contributed to the promotion of IT management will receive testimonials from the Director-General of the Commerce and Information Policy Bureau.

• Ritsuryo Computers Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Osaka)
  Recipient of support: Tokaibane Mfg. Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Osaka)
• M-tone Co., Ltd. (Kobe, Hyogo)
  Recipient of support: Esplanning Co., Ltd. (Kobe, Hyogo)

* With the aim of facilitating SMEs’ efforts toward IT management, METI promotes “regional innovation partnership,” a program to foster closer regional partnerships between IT users, including SMEs, and IT vendors that support their adoption of IT.

Release Date

February 10, 2009

Division in Charge

Information Services Industry Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau

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