The contest is sometimes referred to as the Image Cup.  The local team comprises Cleon Green, George Long, Keron Tooma and Romaine Carter.

Commerce, science and technology minister Phillip Paulwell, on Thursday, handed over $500,000 to NCU to help finance the trip.

In May of this year, the NCU team, the only Jamaicans ever to enter the competition, came out on top of other Caribbean and Latin American students vying for the cup.

Commending the team for their regional victory - held mid-May in Dominican Republic - Paulwell said such IT innovation was critical to the success of his ministry's mission to transform Jamaica into a science and technology-driven economy.

"We want NCU to be a model, to show how technology-related projects can be viable, sustainable and how they can contribute to our national life," said Paulwell as he handed over the cheque to the university at its Mandeville campus.

"Jamaica can be the hub of these services required by customers" from places like North America, he said, adding that rightly the local universities ought to be the centres from which such new developments emerge.

NCU has been guarding the details of the project design, fearing it could be replicated, but project advisor Kenrie Hylton, quoted in an NCU release, says the project "by its very nature, seeks to break down cultural barriers and move people closer across borders."

The finals will be held in Yokohama, July 27 to August 1.  The top prize is US$25,000; second prize, US$15,000, and third, US$10,000.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20050716T210000-0500_84292_OBS_IMAGINE_CUP_TEAM_HEADING_TO_JAPAN.asp