For the fourth year running, Megabyte Ltd. has collaborated with University of Malta’s Faculty of ICT to hold ‘The Megabyte IT Project Award’.

This year’s prize, an IPad Air, was recently presented at Megabyte’s premises by Mr. David Galea, Head of Business Development & Marketing to B.Sc (Hons) ICT student Rachel Bugeja for her Final Year Project entitled ‘Twitter Sentiment Analysis for Marketing Research’.

Ms Bugeja’s Twitter MAT (Marketing Analysis Tool) analyses tweets mentioning any product or keyword provided by the user and shows a rendition of the results found, based on their sentiment. The tweets are displayed in a timeline to visualize how the opinion about the product being researched has evolved through time. This can used by companies to track their social media hype and help them identify what events may have affected the public’s opinion.

The annual award marks Megabyte’s continuous support in developing and promoting local talent in the ICT field and places focus upon the commercial viability and adaptability of the project. Megabyte’s awarding system utilises University of Malta IT Faculty’s grading, which comprises 30% of Megabyte’s scoring, with a further 30% allotted for creativity and innovation and 40% for commercial adaptability, with emphasis being placed on the practicality and realistic application of the projects.

Megabyte’s David Galea said “Rachel’s project struck us due to its relevance and present demand in the light of current marketing trends where social media is concerned. There are billions of tweets and other social media messages floating around the web today and the ability to logically sift out the sentiment for processing from within them is an idea that certainly has solid potential going forward”.

The nominees for the 2014 Megabyte IT Project Award were Ms. Jennifer Bellizzi, Mr. Daryl Camilleri, Mr. Grant Camilleri and Mr. Keith Cohen, all of whom deserve special mention for their remarkable projects.

 

Photo (L to R) : David Galea, Megabyte’s Head of Business Development & Marketing with Megabyte IT Project Award 2014 winner Rachel Bugeja and Dean of the ICT Faculty Dr Ernest Cachia