An Artificial Intelligence (AI) software system jointly developed by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and the Hong Kong MTR Corporation received an international award, announced CityU Wednesday.

The system has been honored by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) with the "Innovative Application of Artificial Intelligence" Award 2005 (IAAI) in the category of "Deployed Applications".

The system, "AI Engine", which has been in daily use since July 2004, is a component of the MTR's Engineering Works and Traffic Information Management System.

The "AI Engine" is an intelligent scheduling software for the efficient allocation and management of all engineering resources for the five existing MTR lines, Airport Express and the new Disneyland Resort Line scheduled to open soon.

Associate Professor in CityU's Department of Computer Science Dr Andy Chun is a local expert in applying AI technology to scheduling, and resource and manpower allocation.

"I believe our AI technologies can easily be applied to many different types of organizations in Hong Kong, to help them streamline operations and maximize performance and revenue," said Chun.

Since 1990, the annual IAAI was established to honor people who developed AI technology system with measurable benefits.