ICCA颁发首届亚太增长与创新奖，表彰马来西亚听力学会主办APSCI 2025的贡献
The First-Ever ICCA Asia-Pacific Growth & Innovation Award Has Been Presented
ICCA在澳门论坛颁发首届亚太增长与创新奖予马来西亚听力学会（MyHEARS），以表彰其主办的第15届人工耳蜗及相关科学亚太研讨会（APSCI 2025）。该会议吸引来自59国的1,159名代表，国际参与度较2023年增长22.9%，并引入多学科创新及患者参与环节。获奖协会获€5,500资助，且承诺将全部盈余用于设立基金会支持弱势儿童，体现从承办向社区价值转化的领导力。
From Hosting to Growth: ICCA Recognises MyHEARS for Advancing Innovation and Community Impact
Inaugural ICCA Asia-Pacific Growth & Innovation Award celebrates national association leadership, with a €5,500 grant supporting association development and regional knowledge exchange.
The 15th Asia-Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implants and Related Sciences (APSCI 2025), hosted by the Malaysian Society for Hearing, Aural Rehabilitation and Skull Base (MyHEARS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has been honoured with the inaugural ICCA Asia-Pacific Growth & Innovation Award 2026, recognising its achievements in driving growth, advancing multidisciplinary innovation and creating lasting value for professional communities and wider society.
Announced at the ICCA Asia-Pacific EvolvDestination Forum 2026 in Macao, the award marks a new commitment by ICCA to recognise and invest in national associations whose leadership transforms regional conferences into platforms for professional growth, innovation and wider community impact.
From hosting to growth
For MyHEARS, bringing APSCI to Malaysia for the first time was an opportunity to strengthen its professional community and expand international collaboration.
The congress welcomed 1,159 delegates from 59 countries, increasing its international reach by 22.9% compared with the 2023 edition. With 221 expert speakers and 491 accepted scientific abstracts, APSCI 2025 created valuable opportunities for scientific exchange and professional connections across the region.
Beyond its international reach, MyHEARS demonstrated innovation in how the congress was designed and delivered.
The 15th APSCI broadened the scope of scientific exchange by introducing dedicated discussions in audiology and speech therapy, alongside its core scientific programme. This brought surgeons, audiologists, speech therapists, rehabilitation specialists and researchers together, creating a more integrated platform for multidisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Advanced surgical demonstrations, including 3D exoscopic techniques, strengthened specialist education, while a dedicated session involving cochlear implant recipients and their families brought patients’ experiences directly into professional discussions.
These initiatives broadened participation and strengthened collaboration across disciplines, demonstrating how a regional congress can advance an association’s professional mission.
Creating lasting value for the community
One of the most significant outcomes was MyHEARS’ commitment to dedicate 100% of the conference surplus towards establishing the MyHEARS Foundation, with operations planned to begin in 2028.
The Foundation aims to support disadvantaged children and families facing the ongoing costs of maintaining cochlear implants, addressing a critical challenge in ensuring continued access to hearing technology and rehabilitation.
By connecting conference success with a long-term community need, MyHEARS demonstrated how association leadership can translate scientific collaboration into meaningful social value.
ICCA’s investment in national association leadership
The inaugural award reflects ICCA’s recognition of the vital role national associations play in bringing international and regional congresses to their destinations.
Behind these conferences are association leaders, researchers and professional communities who contribute their expertise, networks and commitment to advancing their fields.
ICCA is backing this recognition with a €5,500 grant, supporting the recipient national association’s continued development while providing travel support to encourage greater participation and knowledge exchange among Asia Pacific association representatives.
The initiative also aims to inspire more national associations to pursue regional congress opportunities and strengthen collaboration with ICCA members, including convention bureaux, venues and professional congress organisers.
For the wider business events community, MyHEARS’ achievements illustrate the value of understanding an association’s ambitions beyond the immediate requirements of hosting a conference.
International association meetings contribute to destination economies, but their wider value is also found in the knowledge they advance, professional networks they strengthen, innovations they inspire and opportunities they create for communities.
Growth creates opportunities. Innovation turns those opportunities into lasting value.
ICCA congratulates Professor Dato’ Dr Prepageran Narayanan, President of MyHEARS and APSCI 2025, the organising committee and the wider hearing-health community on this achievement.
Professor Prepageran was also invited to share the APSCI 2025 experience at the ICCA Asia Pacific EvolvDestination Forum in Macao, offering insights into how national association leadership can turn a regional congress into a platform for professional growth, multidisciplinary innovation and lasting community impact.
Their experience demonstrates how national association leadership can turn the opportunity to host a regional congress into a catalyst for professional advancement, international collaboration and meaningful change.
来源：ICCA · iccaworld.org