The Colon Free Zone covers 400 hectares and has over 1,800 companies operating in it. It is located at the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal and is a major transshipment hub for Latin America.

The electronic documentation system will boost Panama’s position as an international trade and logistics hub.

The S$4.5 million contract to build the electronic documentation system was awarded to CrimsonLogic in September 2007. The system, which is scheduled to be deployed next year, will enable freight forwarders, customs brokers, importers and exporters to file all their documentation to the Colon Free Zone Administration and the Panama Customs electronically, eliminating the use of paper documents. The system will also interface with other stakeholders such as the Chamber of Commerce and banks for data sharing and/or approvals.

“With the automated workflow and streamlined processes, the 24/7 online system is expected to bring about considerable efficiency and productivity gains, as well as cost savings, to companies in the Colon Free Zone,” said Mr Leong Peng Kiong, Chief Executive Officer of CrimsonLogic. “When fully operational, the electronic documentation system for the Colon Free Zone will give a further boost to Panama’s position as an international trade and logistics hub in Latin America.”

The Colon Free Zone project follows the successful delivery of a US$4 million Advanced Data Collection System for the Panama Canal Authority in 2004.

Mr Leong described the contract as a “significant milestone” for CrimsonLogic, and credited it to the strong support from the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and IE Singapore.

Ms Tham Ai Chyn, Assistant Chief Executive (Industry & Cluster Development), IDA Singapore, said the CrimsonLogic win was a testament of the quality and innovativeness of Singapore's infocomm products and services. "IDA continues to work with our home-grown infocomm companies to promote the export of innovative infocomm solutions and expertise overseas and we hope this significant win by CrimsonLogic will spur other companies to venture beyond our shores," she said.

Mr Swee: Subscribers can create more personalised, meaningful content.

muvee (www.muvee.com), a pioneer in instant home movies, has announced an agreement with Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) middleware and applications provider, Orca Interactive, to develop the first-ever application for automatic movie-making over IPTV platforms.

The application, LivePhotos, combines muvee’s automatic video editing and photo movie software with Orca’s user-generated content capabilities to produce a groundbreaking new service designed to enhance IPTV service offerings.

LivePhotos will enable subscribers to create personalised video albums from their photos and video clips, accompanied by their preferred style of music. Orca’s flexible user interface adds easy-to-use functionality for creating instant home movies over IPTV, bringing the fun and magic of movie-making to the television screen.

“muvee’s technology lets people instantly create more emotionally engaging productions that stylishly mash-up their video and pictures in sync to music with added special effects. The result is a much more compelling alternative
to scrolling through hundreds of digital stills or having to watch unedited video footage,” said Mr Terence Swee, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
of muvee.

“Together with Orca Interactive, we will deliver more fun and value to subscribers by letting them easily create more personalised, meaningful content that they can enjoy and, more importantly, instantly share with those closest to them on their TV screen.”

Mr Sefy Ariely, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Orca Interactive, noted that user-generated content is increasingly attracting “eyeballs” away from professionally-produced content. “Operators realise that they can entice subscribers by helping them use the IPTV platform to see more of themselves and their friends,” he said. “In joining forces with automatic video editing pioneer muvee to create LivePhotos, we are able to leverage our position at the cutting edge of IPTV technology and once again deliver an industry first - personalised home videos at the click of a button.”

Orca demonstrated LivePhotos at the recent IBC 2007 exhibition in Amsterdam. It plans to offer LivePhotos with its advanced RiGHTv IPTV middleware by the end of 2007. It will be a part of a comprehensive on-demand user-generated-content (UGC) platform enabling triple-play service providers and network operators to differentiate their offerings and drive new revenues. In addition, Orca and muvee will also consider jointly marketing the new UGC application as a stand-alone solution compatible with all IPTV platform types.

2002 National Infocomm Award winner muvee’s software and services feature patented technology that lets people create and share professional-quality instant home movies out of unedited video, digital pictures and music. muvee develops consumer products for a range of platforms and devices including PCs, the online space, digital cameras, camera-equipped mobile phones and photo kiosks. muvee's global customers include HP, Dell, Nokia, LG, Sony, Olympus, Nikon and Creative Technology.