Projects ranging from government systems to tracking emergency
escapes from aircraft have been chosen as finalists in the BCS IT
Awards.
The BCS IT Awards scheme, now in its 29th year, is the longest
running initiative of its kind. In previous years it has recognised
some of the landmarks in IT in their earliest stages, from packet
switching and teletext to online learning and e-commerce.
The awards recognise innovation and originality by IT users,
suppliers and researchers, often working in partnership. They are
designed to honour significant developments which have come to
fruition in the last year and are predominantly based in the
UK.
Bracknell Forest Borough Council in Berkshire worked with software
companies Novell and Metastorm to develop what is claimed to be the
UK's most advanced e-government system. It allows the authority's
110,000 citizens to access personalised information and communicate
directly with council staff online, using unique, secure digital
identities. Currently people can view their council tax accounts,
make payments, change personal details and review planning
applications online.
The Virtual Railway project from engineering group Bechtel,
Infrasoft Solutions and Railtrack allows engineers to design and
analyse railways before construction. It is said to be yielding
"significant improvement" in safety and design standards.
National databases of job vacancies and learning opportunities have
been set up by the Department for Work and Pensions. The Work Bank
Project provides online access to these databases and related
information. It has also involved the University for Industry and
IT companies EDS, Logica and Xansa.
Emergency evacuations from aircraft, ships and buildings can be
evaluated with software developed by Greenwich University. It
tracks the paths of individuals, enabling engineers and regulators
to improve designs.
The Internet Kit from ik.com is claimed to enable anyone to create
a professional Web site in five minutes with no technical
expertise.
The new Post Office Change of Address Service will provide a secure
way for people to inform government and companies of an address
change.
The ability to search large amounts of information using vague
queries based on examples has been developed by York University and
Cybula, a pattern recognition systems specialist. Their method has
already been applied to trademark databases, problems in chemistry
and searching postal addresses, and is said to enable people to
search in more natural ways, without worrying about spelling or the
exact appearance of an image, for example. The work has been
motivated by studies of how the brain might store and process
information, and it is based on neural networks.
The seven finalists will be presented with medals on the judging
day on 7 November at Le Meridien, Piccadilly, London, when other IT
people can see the projects between 2.30pm and 5pm. Normally three
projects win awards.
BCS IT Awards finalists
- Bracknell Forest Borough Council's e-government system
- The Virtual Railway project from Bechtel, Infrasoft Solutions
and Railtrack
- The Department for Work and Pensions'Work Bank Project
- Aircraft evacuation evaluation software developed by the
University of Greewich
- The "vague query" search method developed by York University
and Cybula
- The Post Office Change of Address Service
- The Internet Kit from ik.com.