We are pleased to announce the shortlists for the Computing Awards for Excellence 2006.

There has been a record number of entries this year, more than 25 per cent up on the previous high, in 2005. And the quality of the entries across the categories has been outstanding.

All the individuals, teams, companies and projects that have made the shortlist should be proud of their achievements – all demonstrate the strength of the UK IT community. We will be featuring each of the nominated entries in Computing over the coming weeks, and for the first time, all those on the shortlist will receive a special certificate to recognise their achievement. But only one can walk away with each prize.

Computing Awards for Excellence: the contenders

Project awards

Private Sector Project of the Year

• Alliance & Leicester - Internet banking security
• BP - Turnaround tracking
• London Stock Exchange - Infolect
• NATS - Next-generation radar
• Orange - Orange integrated shop
• Southern Rail - Wireless internet access on trains

Public Sector Project of the Year

• Caerphilly County Borough Council - Mobile data for highways maintenance
• Department for Communities and Local Government - Local Directgov
• Forensic Science Service - Forensic response vehicle
• Liverpool Direct Limited - Revenue & Benefits transformation
• London Grid for Learning - Shibboleth secure authentication
• The Royal Hospitals - Secure mobile working

Voluntary Sector Project of the Year

• Action for Blind People - Action Impact
• Bullying Online - bullying.co.uk
• PDSA - PetAid supply chain
• Red Dragon Divers - reddragondrivers.co.uk
• The Scout Association - Programmes Online
• Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust - Remote office networking

Innovative Project of the Year

• Army on Everest - armyoneverest.mod.uk
• Boots - MyStoreNet store portal
• BP - Location aware safety system
• Island and Portsmouth Health ICT Service - Data mining
• Marks & Spencer - Clothing RFID
• Southern Rail - Wireless internet access on trains

Student Project of the Year

• Dimitrios Georgoulas, Aston University - Intelligent agent-based system for wireless sensor networks
• Simon McCarthy, University of Kent - Kent IT Clinic
• Moono Bwalya, University of Westminster - Data mining on the worldwide web
• Cliff Goodwin, Staffordshire University - Computer-based learning for Staffordshire Police Special Constabulary

Individual awards

IT Leader of the Year

• Rorie Devine, Chief technology officer, Betfair
• Ken Douglas, Technology director, BP
• Al-Noor Ramji, Chief information officer, BT and chief executive of BT Exact
• Mark Akass, Chief technology officer, BT Radianz
• Darin Brumby, Chief information officer, FirstGroup
• David Lester, Chief information officer, London Stock Exchange
• Alan Ovenden, IT director, MSB International

IT Professional of the Year

• Tom Cadman, Crimson Systems
• Andrew Sergeant, ICT development manager, Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust
• Paul Briddock, Head of information systems, RBT Connect
• Chris Berry, Royal Bank of Scotland
• Jay Saw, WiFi hotspot manager, T-Mobile
• Tim Needham, Senior systems developer, West Midlands Fire Service

IT Department of the Year

• Berwin Leighton Paisner
• Ellis Fairbank
• London Borough of Lambeth
• Northumberland County Council
• Voca
• Waitrose

Business Manager of the Year

• Adrian Blundell, Catalyst programme manager, Department for International Development
• Carol Groves, Development manager, HBOS
• James Warn, Client service manager, Royal Bank of Scotland

Company awards

Most IT-enabled Organisation

• Department for International Development
• Honda Racing F1 Team
• Northumbria University

Most IT-enabled Small Business

• BroadSkill Limited
• Coffee Republic
• MSB International
• NECC
• Smart Holograms

IT in the Community Award

• Circuit Riders North East - IT support for voluntary sector in the north-east
• Computer Aid International - Refurbished computers for developing countries
• Renfrewshire Council - Digital inclusion for sheltered housing project
• Service Birmingham - Aston Pride broadband community
• Sunderland City Council - e-Neighbourhoods Programme

Technology Startup of the Year

• Chronicle Solutions
• Secerno
• StreamShield Networks

Industry awards

The following awards are voted by Computing readers – see www.computing.co.uk/awards to place your vote.

Business Hardware Supplier of the Year

• Clearswift
• Google Enterprise
• LifeSize Communications
• McData
• Mirapoint
• Netezza
• ONStor

Business Software Supplier of the Year

• CA
• Intuit
• JBoss
• Salesforce.com
• Skybox Security
• Texthelp Systems
• VMware

IT Services Supplier of the Year

• Aconex
• Lan 2 Lan
• LinuxIT Europe
• MessageLabs
• PC World Business
• Vanco

Networking and Communications Supplier of the Year

• Affiniti
• Aruba Networks
• BT Radianz
• iPass Corporate Access
• ntl:Telewest Business
• Research in Motion
• Silver Peak

Recruitment Consultancy of the Year

• Abraxas
• Advanced Resource Managers
• Elan
• Huxley Associates
• Modis
• MSB International

Other awards

IT PR Company of the Year

• Bite Communications
• Brands2Life
• Fleishman Hillard
• Hill & Knowlton
• Nelson Bostock Communications
• Weber Shandwick Technology

Technology Advertising Campaign of the Year

• Banner - Easynet: telling stories
• Banner - Sony High Definition
• DWA Media - Thin Branch campaign for Juniper Networks
• Spring Technology - Open recruitment events for HBOS
• Worth - Cool, calm and connected campaign for Morse

The shortlists were decided by a distinguished panel of judges:

- Jeremy Beale, Head of ebusiness, CBI

- Ashley Braganza, Senior Lecturer in Information Systems, Cranfield School of Management

- Sharm Manwani, Henley Management College

- Jim Norton, Senior Policy Adviser, Institute of Directors

- Denise Plumpton, chairman of user group The Corporate IT Forum (Tif), and director of information at the Highways Agency

- Peter Scargill, National IT Chairman of the Federation of Small Business

- Professor Nigel Shadbolt, Department of Electronics & Computer Science, University of Southampton, president-elect of the BCS

- Nick Slowe, IT director of the IET

- John Suffolk, HM government chief information officer, Cabinet Office eGovernment Unit

- Michael Trees, e-Skills UK

- Angela Waite, vice president of local authority user group Socitm, and Head of ICT at Canterbury City Council

- Charles Ward, chief operating officer, Intellect.

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 25 October at the Battersea Park Events Arena in London, and it promises to be a fantastic night out. To join us at the ceremony, and details of how to book a table, visit www.computing.co.uk/awards