This year's BT Flagship Award for Innovation was won by
Garlick's DataPatrol, which aims to give consumers greater power
over their privacy and identity online.
In the BT Flagship Award for Innovation the judges were looking
for an outstanding project that brings real benefit to society and
raises the profile of the IT industry.
This year's winner,
DataPatrol from
online identity management specialist Garlik, is the first semantic
technology platform that aims to give consumers power over their
privacy and identity online. The project was a double winner, also
collecting the Web-based Technology Award.
According to the latest figures from the Identity Theft Steering
Committee, ID fraud is estimated to cost the UK economy £1.2bn a
year, or £25 for every adult in Britain. It is a real threat for
individuals and business - in 2007 more than 65,000 people were
victims of identity theft, according to figures from UK fraud
prevention service CIFAS. For victims, identity theft is not only
costly, it destroys confidence in such systems as banking and
government services.
DataPatrol has been developed in response to the evolving world
of thieves who exploit personal information available online to
steal an individual's identity. Using pioneering semantic web
technology, it helps consumers track personal data across web
pages, public records, commercial databases, geo-demographic data,
and a subscriber's credit profile.
Steve Markwell, chief executive at NCC and chair of the judges
for the project excellence awards, says, "In judging this entry we
were especially impressed with how leading-edge web-based
technology has been applied to address an increasingly pressing
problem caused by the phenomenal growth and success of the
worldwide web.
"This is a truly innovative approach to a very real problem that
we all face. With so many of us now banking online, using
government online services and social networking sites, the task of
managing personal information in the ether can be a difficult
one."
Founded by Mike Harris, founding CEO of online bank Egg, former
Egg CIO Tom Ilube, and former BCS president Nigel Shadbolt, Garlik
is the first company to develop a web-scale commercial application
of semantic technology. The system enables consumers to find and
understand what personal information about them is in the public
domain and manage how their identities appear online. The aim is to
help users see exactly where that personal information is on the
internet, manage it, assess whether it puts them at risk of
cybercrime, and take steps to protect themselves.
The system works by running a weekly report detailing what
personal information appears and where, giving an intelligent
assessment of how vulnerable the individual is to ID theft and
advice on how to reduce the risks.
DataPatrol undertakes daily and weekly searches for credit card
details and other compromised financial and sensitive information.
Users are alerted immediately if any of their sensitive details are
found to be compromised, so they can take action to prevent misuse
of their information.
Markwell says, "In the area of data security, and ID theft in
particular, this product provides an innovative approach to
web-based data management and analysis. It has a large potential
market and has already gained significant take up throughout the
sector."
Medallists
There were two runner-up medallists in the BT Flagship Award for
Innovation:
Geometric
Process Control by Curvaceous Software, which is used to solve
difficult manufacturing problems and Canditv by Data Driven
Logistics, which enables mobile telephones to be used as TV remote
controls.
Curvaceous Software is dedicated to improving the business
efficiency of process companies worldwide through research,
development and delivery of applications of its geometric process
control technology. The company, founded in 1998, holds patents
centred around the geometric process control technology for process
improvement, control and optimisation and offers the technology to
consumers as a range of Curvaceous software products.
Data Driven Logistics, which was formed in 2004, has developed a
product branded Canditv (Call and
Interact Television) that underpins the development of
applications to enable any public-facing screen to become
interactive.
This allows advertisers, retailers, games manufacturers and
service providers to reach their target markets in a new and
innovative way. Research into the product included collaboration
with academic institutions and advice from specialist bodies.
Photos from the awards ceremony
Photos of the
BCS IT Awards 2008 winners (part 1) >>
Photos of the
BCS IT Awards 2008 winners (part 2) >>
Photos of IT folk enjoying themselves at the BCS awards dinner
>>
Profiles of award winners
Individual Excellence
Award winners >>
Organisational Excellence
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Project Excellence
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Green Award
winners >>
More information about the BCS IT Industry Awards can be found
on the
BCS awards
website.