Finalists announced in the UK Public Sector Digital Awards 2011

Posted by Gary Flood on Mon, 14/11/2011 - 12:39
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An expert panel of judges has chosen the finalists in this year’s UK Public Sector Digital Awards across eleven categories.

The UK's most closely watched public sector technology awards, supported by the Prime Minister David Cameron, recognise excellence and innovation in digital initiatives in national and local government, the NHS, education and the third sector.

This year’s list of finalists includes a healthy representation from the NHS and education sectors, and demonstrates the outstanding commitment to innovation and operational improvement across the public sector, under difficult circumstances.

The Awards ceremony, attended by ministers, top-civil servants and technology experts from the public and private sectors, will be held on Thursday 19 January at the London Guildhall.

Commenting on the judging process, James Johns, Director of Strategy, Civil Government, HP Enterprise Services, said: "It sometimes seems almost fashionable in some quarters to paint a overly negative picture of Public Sector IT and what it has delivered. However, the many excellent and inspiring entries in this year’s Public Sector Digital Awards are a timely reminder of the great work that’s done by IT experts in public bodies up and down the country, day in day out, using technology to transform services for citizens, deliver a fairer society and improve value for money for the taxpayer. It was a privilege to be a member of this year’s judging panel."

Katy Ring, Director of K2 Advisory, said: "In what has been a challenging year for public sector ICT, the 2011 nominations illuminate a wealth of successful, smaller, digital projects that are well worth celebrating, and which showcase the level of IT talent we continue to enjoy in the UK public sector."

Chris Histed, the founder of the e-Government National Awards and another Award Judge, added, "It is excellent to see the strong performance of finalists, who are delivering a range of highly effective services made possible by the use of technology in an efficient and customer-focused manner. Some finalists demonstrated innovation which have a major national impact, while others are delivering what's needed on a local level.”

Keith Bannister, KPMG’s Head of Public Sector Technology consulting said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring the UK Public Sector Digital Awards especially given the high quality of the entries this year. This year’s nominations demonstrate an increased use of social media and lower cost collaborative projects to deliver services to the public in an innovative way which increases the levels of public engagement. The fact that we see this level of achievement from the technology community despite the challenges across the public sector is highly commendable."

So, for your consideration...the full list of 2011 finalists:

Best use of social media-sponsored by BT

The Harvest Housing Group Facebook Page
Your Library - City of Edinburgh Council Libraries and Information Services
Northern Ireland forms new power-sharing government 1 tweet at a time - Executive Information Service (of the Northern Ireland Executive)
Brass: Durham International Festival - Durham County Council
Foster carers support each other with Yammer - Monmouthshire County Council
Social Media- the lethal weapon in the fight against rogue traders - Suffolk County Council Trading Standards

Best sustainability initiative

Going Green at Warrington Collegiate - Warrington Collegiate
Telestroke Network Project - NHS Surrey
Talk about Cambridgeshire - Cambridgeshire Libraries and Learning Services

Best example of shared services in practice

Partners- Lifeblood of our Organisation-Kettering Borough Council
Portfolio Marketplace - Nottingham City Council
Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire Shared Network Delivers Real Cost Savings - Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire
The National Resilience Extranet - The Cabinet Office
NHS North Central London Cluster Procurement Cooperative - NHS Camden Shared Services
Myjobscotland - COSLA
PSBA - Welsh Government

Best example of digital transformation

Loughborough Goes Google - Loughborough University
NYP mobile - North Yorkshire Police
Trafford Council and FutureEverything with DataGM Greater Manchester's open data store - Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council
MyHarrow - Harrow Council
HM Revenue & Customs Online Portal Service - HM Revenue & Customs
Transformation of Barts and The London NHS Trust clinical haematology unit to a paperless operation - Barts and The London NHS Trust
Neighbourhood Watch & Good Neighbours Scheme - e@SY Connects

Best example of ICT-enabled innovation and enterprise

SARAH Mobile Working Solution - Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
NYP mobile - North Yorkshire Police
NHS North Central London Cluster Procurement Cooperative - NHS Camden Shared Services
The Big Society-Alive and clicking in Bramcote - Broxtowe Borough Council
Transformation of Barts and The London NHS Trust clinical haematology unit to a paperless operation - Barts and The London NHS Trust
Department of Health - Mobile Technology Project to improve Community Services - Transforming Community Services Programme, Department of Health
legislation.gov.uk - The National Archives
Telestroke Network Project - NHS Surrey
E Registration - Land Registry for Northern Ireland

Best use of ICT to build a fairer society

Professionals Online Safety Helpline - European Commission
Leicester City Council Enterprise Reporting Platform - Leicester City Council
Citizenzone- Free community IT training sessions - Preston City Council
Talk about Cambridgeshire - Cambridgeshire Libraries and Learning Services
Neighbourhood Watch & Good Neighbours Scheme - e@SY Connects

Best example of commercial innovation

GradsKent - Kent County Council
Portfolio Marketplace - Nottingham City Council
The Intalink Phone App - Hertfordshire County Council
NHS North Central London Cluster Procurement Cooperative - NHS Camden Shared Services
Centros Smartcard Initiative - West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority
Worcestershire Health Community - using unified communications to improve efficiency - The Worcestershire Health Community

Best ICT delivery team

Digital Communications within and by HMRC - HMRC
The Best Things Come in Small Packages! - Kettering Borough Council
THE NES Portal: Delivering more education for less money across every health profession in Scotland - NHS Education for Scotland
Networks eCND Team - Ministry of Defence
Building Our New Home (BONH) - Home Group Limited
Building Schools for the Future Wave 2 Implementation Programme - Liverpool City Council
National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies: E-Learning/Managed Learning Environment - National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) & Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

Best example of citizen engagement

NYP mobile - North Yorkshire Police
MyHarrow - Harrow Council
The Big Society-Alive and clicking in Bramcote - Broxtowe Borough Council
Social Media- the lethal weapon in the fight against rogue traders - Suffolk County Council Trading Standards
Talk about Cambridgeshire - Cambridgeshire Libraries and Learning Services
The Big Design Challenge Cornwall - DOTT (Design of the Times) Cornwall
Neighbourhood Watch & Good Neighbours Scheme - e@SY Connects

Best project delivery

The NES Portal: Delivering more education for less money across every health profession in Scotland - NHS Education for Scotland
e-safeguarding - improving children's social care - Surrey County Council
CECiL - City of Edinburgh Interactive Learning - City of Edinburgh Council
NHS North Central London Cluster Procurement Cooperative - NHS Camden Shared Services
The National Address Gazetteer Database - GeoPlace
National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies: E-Learning/Managed Learning Environment - National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) & Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)
East Sussex County Council redefining IT service delivery to schools with CentraStage - East Sussex County Council

One final categegory - ICT Leader of the Year - has yet to be announced. We'll be asking for your nominations for this prestigious category later in the week so get your thinking caps on as to who you think deserves this mantle.

The judging panel for the 2011 UK PSDAs consists of:

Joe Harley, CBE, CIO, for the UK Government and CIO & Director General for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Bill McCluggage, Director of ICT Strategy & Policy and HM Government Deputy CIO
Keith Bannister, Partner IT Advisory (Public Sector), KPMG
Jos Creese, Head of IT, Hampshire County Council (and immediate past President of Socitm)
Chris Histed, founder, e-Government National Awards
Stuart Lauchlan, Head of Editorial, Sift Media
Gary Flood, Editor, PublicTechnology.net
Katy Ring, Director, K2 Advisory
James Johns, Director of Strategy, Civil Government, HP Enterprise Services
Nick Jones, Interactive director, Central Office of Information