Congratulations to Dr Man Fung Lo, winner of IFIP IP3’s 2024 David O’Leary Award, which was presented during last week’s IFIP General Assembly.
Dr Lo holds many roles, including serving as Director for Technology and Infrastructure Development at the University of Hong Kong and a Senior Lecturer in its Faculty of Education.
Dr Lo joined the IFIP General Assembly remotely on 19 September 2024 to accept his award, taking the opportunity to thank his nominator, IP3, award sponsors and the judges for affording him this privilege.
“This award holds special significance as it recognises not just individual excellence, but also the values of professionalism, ethics and diversity — values that David O’Leary exemplified throughout his illustrious career,” he said.
“David served as the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) BC Board President and Past President, making this award particularly meaningful to me, CIPS, and all our members. His legacy in promoting professionalism and ethics in ICT continues to inspire us all. I owe this recognition to many individuals and organisations who have supported and guided me throughout my journey. In addition to CIPS, I am also a proud member of the British Computer Society, the Australian Computer Society and the Association for Computing Machinery. These organisations have provided me with numerous opportunities to serve and learn from a community of esteemed IT professionals, and I am truly grateful for that. I am also profoundly grateful to my University, The University of Hong Kong, for offering me various opportunities to grow and develop.”
The full text of Dr Lo’s inspiring acceptance speech will be posted to the IP3 website. Find out more about Dr Lo on his LinkedIn page.
The David O’Leary award acknowledges an individual or organisation that has promoted and demonstrated Professionalism, works as an Ethics Evangelist and/or has made strides in fostering diversity among ICT practitioners. An individual or organisation can be nominated.
On announcing the winner, IP3 Chair Moira de Roche said, “We had three very strong nominations this year and our judges GIC Directors Eliezer Manor, Tan Moorthy and Josine Overdevest (2023 winner), had their work cut out to select the winning candidate. I thank them for their commitment to the process. Dr Lo exemplifies everything the award stands for. In addition to his remarkable academic career, where he has made a significant contribution to education, he has volunteered for three IFIP member associations: CIPS, ACM and BCS, demonstrating the vital ingredient of Professionalism – Service.”
The David O’Leary award includes a cash prize of US$1500, and travel to IFIPs General Assembly to receive the prize (maximum travel allowance is US$1000). The person who nominates the winner will be rewarded with an Amazon gift card to the value of US$100. Dr Lo was unable to travel to General Assembly (GA) to accept his award this year but will hopefully attend GA in 2025.
Previous winners include Mary Cleary, Don Gotterbarn, Frits Bussemaker and Josine Overdevest. You can find out more about these winners and the award here.
Watch out for the call for nominations for the 2025 award early in the new year.
