The winners of the prestigious British Computer
Society's IT Professional Awards 2003 were announced on 24
September at a ceremony held at London's Hilton hotel in Park
Lane.
The 19 awards, which covered business achievement, technology and
individual excellence, also included, for the first time, a
lifetime achievement award.
The ceremony took place before an audience of more than 700 IT
professionals and VIP guests, including Stephen Timms, minister of
state for e-commerce and competitiveness. Former Tomorrow's World
presenter Angel Lamont hosted the event.
In the keynote speech, Timms praised the contribution IT had made
to the economy and announced that the government intended to spend
an extra £1bn on the UK's broadband infrastructure over the next
three years.
BCS president John Ivinson said the IT industry had been
undervalued for too long and called for more recognition for those
working in IT.
The BCS Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to former AT&T
chairman John Leighfield. Leighfield is chairman of the advisory
board and an honorary professor at the Warwick Business
School.
Leighfield has spent his entire working life in the IT industry,
pioneering computer systems in manufacturing at Ford in the 1960s
and later becoming head of manufacturing systems at Plessey.
Leighfield's award recognised a long and distinguished career in
the IT industry. "He has not only enjoyed outstanding personal
success in our field, but has also made a significant contribution
to the development of the way the industry operates and has put
back a great deal into the profession by dint of leadership and
contribution," the judges said.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group won the BCS Business Achievement
Award for integrating two banks' IT systems after its takeover of
NatWest. Despite the scale and complexity of the project it was
achieved on time and with minimal disruption to customers and the
business.
Newbury-based data collection firm Speed-Trap won the BCS
Technology Award for its website design and navigation project,
Prophet.
IT services provider Capita picked up an award for its London
congestion charging scheme, which uses number plate recognition
technology.
Three of the individual excellence awards went to IT managers at
Swindon-based Zurich Financial Services.
Winners of the BCSIT Professional
Awards 2003
Business Achievement Awards
Business Achievement Award, Public Sector and Not For
Profit: Department of Trade & Industry for the
cross-governmental biotechnology project, I-BIOuk
Business Achievement Award, Financial and Related
Services: Royal Bank of Scotland for its IT integration
with NatWest
Business Achievement Award, Commercial &
Industry: Marks & Spencer for its anti-theft project
Profit Protection.Net
Flagship Business Achievement Award: Royal Bank
of Scotland
Individual Excellence Awards
Young IT Professional of the Year: James
Bailey, Eclipse Internet
IT Trainer of the Year: Jit Parmar, Informatics
Group UK
IT Consultant of the Year: Gill Hunt, Hunt
Lancaster
IT Director of the Year: John White, Royal
Bank of Scotland Group
Quality Manager Award: Nick Munday, Zurich
Financial Services
Business Analyst Award: Mark Jessop,
McDonald's
IT Developer of the Year, Applications: James
Heydon, Zurich Financial Services
IT Developer of the Year, Infrastructure: Mark
Orford, Liverpool Direct
IT Service Manager of the Year: Ann Davies,
Zurich Financial Services
Technology Awards
Technology Award, Applications: Prophet by
Speed-Trap
Technology Award, Services: Bacstel-IP by
Bacs
Technology Award, Systems: Pixology Iriss by
Pixology
Technology Award, Social Contribution: London
congestion charging scheme, Capita Business Services
Flagship Technology Award 2003: Prophet by
Speed-Trap
BCS Lifetime Achievement Award: John
Leighfield.
For more information about the awards, contact Nisha Mukhey
Tel: 020-7234 8711
E-mail:
nisha.mukhey@quest-media.com
Web:
www.bcs.org/awards/professional/