IJIS Institute Seeking Nominations for Innovation Award

Feb. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Ashburn, Va., Feb. 8, 2012. The IJIS Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on mission-critical information sharing for justice, public safety, and homeland security, announces the opening of the nomination process for the Institute’s annual information technology award.  Emergency Management magazine, which has sponsored the Innovation Award since 2009, will sponsor the 2012 award.

The Innovation Award recognizes innovation that has contributed significantly to the advancement of integration and interoperability in a justice, public safety, or homeland security project. The Award honors the achievement of a team comprised of the industry solution provider and the practitioner agency implementing the technology. The deadline for nominations is April 5, 2012.

Criteria for the Innovation Award:

•   Nominated projects must be integrated or interoperable justice, public safety, or homeland security efforts that have contributed significantly to the advancement of integration and interoperability by offering a solution that can serve as a model to other public sector agencies.
•   Nominated projects must be in production on or before April 1 of the award year. Generally speaking, projects at the proof of concept stage are not eligible. Successful pilot implementations may be eligible if the pilot is going to remain in use and if the scope of the pilot is substantial. Large, multi-year projects that have successfully implemented one or more stages of their project are likely, but not guaranteed, to be eligible.
•   Neither nominators nor nominees are required to be members or affiliate members of the IJIS Institute.
•   The private sector nominee’s public sector customer/agency must be willing to participate in a phone interview with the award judges to discuss the implementation of the nominated project.
•   The winner of the award must be judged to be the best in class, consistent with the strategic goals and objectives of the IJIS Institute.

The Innovation Award, and any honorable mentions, will be presented by Steve Ambrosini, executive director of the IJIS Institute, and Marty Pastula, vice president for Emergency Management magazine, at the National Forum on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, July 29-31, 2012, in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico.

Steve Ambrosini says of the award program, “At the IJIS Industry we have a unique vantage point from which to witness amazing innovations in the information sharing field. Honoring a company with the Innovation Award is our organization’s way to recognize those in the private sector and government who have dedicated their resources to further the cause of information sharing among state, local, tribal and federal agencies. We look forward to seeing a range of nominations that reflect the great work being done in our industry.”

For more information about the IJIS Institute Innovation Award, or to submit a nomination, please visit http://www.ijis.org/_about/awards.html#innovation.

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About the IJIS Institute — The IJIS Institute unites the private and public sectors to improve critical information sharing for those who provide public safety and administer justice in our communities. The IJIS Institute provides training, technology assistance, national scope issue management, and program management services to help government fully realize the power of information sharing. Founded in 2001 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation with national headquarters on the George Washington University Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, the IJIS Institute has grown to nearly 200 member and affiliate companies across the United States. For more information visit www.IJIS.org.