Infosys and Wharton School Announce the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Awards 2004 for Asia Pacific

ITC, and William (Lei) Ding, Founder and Chief Architect NetEase honoured for innovative use of technology

Infosys Technologies Ltd (Nasdaq: INFY) and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania today announced the winners of the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Awards (WIBTA), 2004 for Asia Pacific (APAC) at Shanghai. The categories for this year's awards were "Enterprise Business Transformation Award" and "Technology Change Agent Award". These awards recognize visionaries and organizations that use technology creatively to revolutionize their industries.

The winners from APAC will be formally recognized on June 5 at the Wharton Global Forum in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China.

Announcing WIBTA 2004 APAC winners, Narayana N R Murthy, Chairman, Infosys Technologies Ltd said, "To remain competitive, large industrial organisations in today's environment are transforming their businesses to integrate better with their customers and suppliers. Technology has been the key enabler of this transformation by enhancing efficiencies, decreasing cost and enabling faster delivery of services."

"The Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Awards recognize the strategic foresight of these organisations and their leaders who envision, create and execute the transformation process and propel their organizations," he added.

International Business Division (IBD) of ITC, one of India's largest corporations, won the "Enterprise Business Transformation award", for its unique web based initiative called eChoupal. It provides the farmers of India information on products and services they require to enhance farm productivity, improve farm-gate price realisation and cut transaction costs. Farmers can access the latest local and global information on weather, scientific farming practices as well as market prices at the village itself through this web portal - all in the local language, Hindi. Choupal also facilitates supply of high quality farm inputs as well as purchase of commodities at their doorstep.

Mr. William (Lei) Ding, Founder and Chief Architect NetEase won the Technology Change Agent Award. This award recognises an individual who has been a key driver in using technological innovation as a tool for business transformation. The WIBTA jury was unanimous in its decision to award Mr William (Lei) Ding the Technology Change Agent Award in recognition of his pioneering work in the development of applications, services and other technologies for the Internet in China. His company, NetEase, a leading China-based Internet technology company, provided a number of innovative online services for Chinese Internet users including China's first complimentary e-mail service, a virtual community, online auctions, free Web hosting, greeting cards and chat rooms. With a rapidly growing Internet user base in China, NetEase's impact will continue to be felt.

"The Wharton School is committed to helping manage technological development and innovation," stated Patrick Harker, Dean of the Wharton School. "We are especially interested in the impact of technology on business. These awards highlight the vast potential of technology-enabled business models and their positive effect on the world."

Applications were judged by a panel that includes thought leaders such as Esther Dyson, Chairman of EDventure Holdings, Sir Paul Judge, Chairman, Schroder Income Fund, N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman of the Board, Infosys Technologies Ltd and Dr. Harbir Singh, Co-director of the Mack Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The panel also includes industry leaders such as Michael Eskew, Chairman and CEO, United Parcel Services (UPS), and David Boyles, Founder and Principal, CXO Technology Advisory, Pty Ltd.

The winners of the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Awards (WIBTA), 2004 for Europe, were announced in Moscow on May 21, 2004. The winners were Sir Robin Saxby (Technology Change Agent Award) and Energia, (Enterprise Business Transformation Award). Winners for the North America regions will be announced later this month.

More details on the WIBTA jury and winners are available at www.infosys.com/wibta

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