This year’s Computing Awards for Excellence are open for entries ­ and, as always, one of the most competitive categories will be the Projects of the Year.

We are looking for readers to nominate IT projects that highlight the importance of new technology initiatives, and demonstrate the benefits of well-managed IT implementations for changing and improving business and public life.

If you believe your project meets the criteria, we want to hear from you. This year, we are inviting entries in six categories:

• Public Sector Project of the Year
• Private Sector Project of the Year
• Innovative Project of the Year
• Community Project of the Year
• Green Project of the Year
• Outsourcing Project of the Year

We are looking for projects that meet the following criteria:

Return on investment: how has the project improved your organisation and developed a competitive advantage or enhanced public services?

Innovation: has the project introduced new or leading-edge technologies, created different ways of working or supported a change in business direction?

Future growth: how will the project be developed and how will it support growth or change in the organisation?

Management: was the project completed on time and to budget? What lessons did the implementation team learn to improve management of future projects? Were the project’s objectives achieved?

Excellence: does the project demonstrate that the use of technology is a vital enabler to improving organisational excellence, competitiveness or quality of service?

The project must have been completed after 1 July 2007 and involve a UK-based implementation. International projects will be considered, but only with a significant UK element.

To enter your organisation for one of the Project of the Year awards, prepare a summary of the project, detailing how the entry meets the criteria above.

You might want to explain the business objectives, give an idea of the size and scope of the implementation, when it was completed, and the benefits that your
organisation has realised as a result of successful deployment.

Please keep submissions below 750 words. Then complete the form at the Computing awards web site, at: www.computing.co.uk/awards.

The final shortlists will be announced in September, in advance of the 16th annual awards ceremony at Battersea Park Events Arena, which takes place in London on 5 November.

Last year’s project award winners

Public Sector Project of the Year: NHS Connecting for Health
Connecting for Health’s picture archiving and communications system (Pacs) has replaced the traditional way of storing X-rays and scans on film. By capturing and archiving images electronically, scans are made available more quickly and are less likely to be lost.

Private Sector Project of the Year: Jimmy Choo
Footwear specialist Jimmy Choo worked with supplier Vc-net to install an infrastructure capable of supporting the company’s global business and accommodating future development. Jimmy Choo now boasts a high-performance multi-protocol label switching network which simplifies training and eases staff movement.

Innovative Project of the Year: Channel 4 ­ 4oD
At the end of 2006, Channel 4 became the first major broadcaster to offer its home-grown content through a video-on-demand system. Channel 4’s 4oD service is worth $480m (£238m) in the UK alone, according to researcher Informa, and as a pioneer in bespoke video-on-demand provision, is well positioned to secure market share.

Community Project of the Year: YouthNet
YouthNet, the UK’s first exclusively online charity, runs two award-winning web sites: TheSite.org and do-it.org.uk. TheSite.org is funded by the Vodafone Foundation and offers 16- to 24-year olds guidance on issues ranging from careers advice to self harm.

Green Project of the year: BT ­ 21st century data centre project
BT has implemented its 21st century data centre project as part of a plan to reduce the company’s carbon footprint by 80 per cent by 2016. The project has changed the way BT builds and maintains its data centres, and saved the company £3.8m in electricity costs.

Outsourcing Project of the Year: Service Birmingham
A joint venture between Birmingham City Council and supplier Capita. A £24.5m desktop upgrade has generated annual savings of £350,000 and has cut network management costs by 40 per cent a year.