COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 129
August 22, 2003
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne
DeMary Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
2003 Governors Technology Awards Call for
Nominations |
The Honorable George C. Newstrom, Secretary of
Technology, in partnership with the Virginia Technology Alliance (VTA), will
present the Fifth Annual Governors Technology Awards at the Commonwealth of
Virginia Information Technology Symposium (COVITS) 2003. The Awards program honors outstanding
achievements and recognizes successful technology and economic development
initiatives in the public and private sectors throughout the Commonwealth of
Virginia.
The winners of the 2003 Governors Technology Awards
will be announced during the 2003 Governors Technology Awards Program, which
will take place at COVITS 2003 on the evening of Monday, September 22, The
Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, Roanoke, Virginia.
Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner has challenged all
entities in the stategovernment, education, and business to think beyond the
traditional borders of the state and the nation, and recognize the new digital
global economy. Governor Warner has laid
out his vision for technology in the state to make Virginia a leader in the
digital global economy, to ensure all regions of the state benefit from the
prosperity of the new economy, and to provide excellent services to citizens
and businesses through exemplary management of the commonwealths information
technology resources. Thus, it is
important to recognize technology initiatives and economic development efforts
that support the Governors vision and serve as models for innovation and
growth.
Formed
in 1998, The VTA represents Virginias 10 regional technology councils. Members of the regional councils represent
business, industry, and educational institutions throughout the commonwealth.
The VTA mission is to encourage and support the growth and recruitment of
businesses and other organizations throughout Virginia that develop, produce,
and use technology and facilitate the establishment of new technology companies
and organizations. The VTA employs several strategies to accomplish its
mission. They include the following:
COVITS is widely
regarded as the leading state conference for senior-level delegates
representing industry, academia, and government. The theme of this years COVITS is Integrating Enterprise
Technology Solutions and will explore the challenges of merging disparate
systems and organizations into a single, highly responsive and highly secure
entity.
To recognize
efforts to make Virginia a leader in the digital global economy, the 2003
Governors Technology Awards program includes the following awards:
The Public/Private
Partnership Award recognizes the public/private partnership that best
demonstrates a mutually beneficial relationship in which cost-effective,
innovative technology solutions leverage industry investment and result in
integrated technology solutions that enhance service delivery to the citizens
of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The Innovation in Technology Award recognizes
Virginia institutions of higher education and the private sector organization
that best demonstrate the creation of a new innovative
technology, or a significant improvement to an existing technology, or its
application, through research and development efforts, that has the potential to alter how business is done in a
particular industry.
The Entrepreneur Award recognizes two
businesses that exemplify the Virginia entrepreneurial spirit through use of
technology to grow into new markets, to markedly increase jobs inside the
Commonwealth of Virginia, and/or participate in local or regional business
associations or activities (e.g., chambers of commerce or regional technology
councils).
The One Virginia Award recognizes top
Virginia-based companies that have reached out to traditionally underserved
regions of the Commonwealth by creating jobs in Virginia beyond their home
region.
The Integrated
Enterprise Award, a new award for
2003, recognizes one public sector and one (1) private sector organization that
best exemplifies the theme of COVITS 2003 for outstanding efforts to integrate
disparate systems, ensure security and responsiveness, and apply new
technologies.
The Government Service Awards, awarded
since 1999, will recognize public sector entities that use information
technology to serve the citizens of Virginia.
The criteria and
judging information for each of the six categories of Governors Technology
Awards follows. Organizations are
invited to nominate multiple initiatives, but must limit nominations to one
category per initiative. (An initiative
nominated for the Public/Private Partnership Award, for example, cannot be
considered for a Government Service Award.)
Winners of last years Governors Technology Awards
and agencies and divisions of the Technology Secretariat are not eligible to
apply for the 2003 Governors Technology Awards.
All major public sector and private sector partners
in a formal public/private partnership agreement are eligible for
recognition. The initiative must be
operational.
Nominations will
be reviewed by a panel of judges composed of individuals from private and
public organizations selected by the Office of the Secretary of Technology and
the Virginia Technology Alliance.
Nominations will be judged against the following three criteria:
1.
Creative or innovative approach or concept.
2.
Enhanced service delivery to public customers and
significant improvements to products.
3.
Return on investment (cost savings, cost avoidance,
etc.).
There are two
sub-categories for the Innovation in Technology Award:
1.
Public and private sector institutions of higher
education (or any research team that is university-based) in Virginia are
encouraged to apply. The award
recognizes any innovative technology product, process, software, or service
that has been successful in the commercial marketplace or shows promise for
commercialization. For products that
have not been commercialized, the research must have been published in a
peer-reviewed journal since January 1999.
2.
Private sector organizations that have developed one
or more unique technology products, processes, software, or services and have
enjoyed success in the commercial marketplace are encouraged to apply.
Nominations will
be reviewed by a panel of judges consisting of individuals from private and
public organizations selected by the Office of the Secretary of Technology and
the Virginia Technology Alliance.
Nominations will be judged against the following three criteria:
1. Technological
merit and supplying a solution for an outstanding need or problem that
currently does not exist.
2. Products
should be unique, energy-efficient, innovative, and cost-effective.
3. Value
to society and the marketplace, and the success in attaining business goals and
objectives.
The
nomination should include a general technical description; an explanation of
the value to society; information on testing and trial deployments; evidence or
findings illustrating the initial impact on industry; and complete citations of
published articles.
Private sector companies headquartered in
Virginia that exemplify the commonwealths entrepreneurial spirit are
encouraged to apply. Awards will be
presented to a small enterprise and a large enterprise:
Small enterprise is defined as an
organization with fewer than 50 full-time employees or less than $20 million in
revenue.
Large enterprise is defined as an
organization with at least 50 full-time employees or $20 million or more in
revenue.
Nominations
will be reviewed by a panel of judges consisting of individuals from private
and public organizations selected by the Office of the Secretary of Technology
and the Virginia Technology Alliance.
Nominations will be judged against the following five criteria:
1. Growth
in number of employees.
2. Increase
in sales and/or unit volume.
3. Current
and past financial statements (all financial information submitted will remain
confidential).
4. Innovative
products or services.
5. Community
service and impact on local economy.
Companies headquartered in Virginia that reach out
to traditionally underserved Virginia communities to ensure all of Virginia
benefits from the global digital economy are encouraged to apply.
Nominations
will be reviewed by a panel of judges composed of individuals from private and
public organizations selected by the Office of the Secretary of Technology and
the Virginia Technology Alliance.
Nominations will be judged against the following two criteria:
1.
Outreach to underserved areas in Virginia through
job creation.
2. Increased access to technology and related skills among
underserved populations.
Public and private sector organizations with
integrated enterprise systems are encouraged to apply. One public sector and one private sector
organization will be recognized.
Nominations will
be reviewed by a panel of judges composed of individuals from private and
public organizations selected by the Office of the Secretary of Technology and
the Virginia Technology Alliance.
Nominations will be judged against the following criteria:
1.
Results in a return on investment (cost savings,
cost avoidance, etc.) for the organization.
2.
Improves the overall efficiency of the
organizations operations.
3.
Complexity of integration (e.g. number of
information systems, volume of data, etc.) versus the size of the organization.
Awards will be presented in the following
sub-categories: State Agency, Higher
Education, K-12 Education, and Local Government. Private education institutions may apply within the Higher
Education and K-12 Education sub-categories as appropriate. Initiatives that involve partnerships from
more than one sub-category are encouraged to apply. In the transmittal letter, indicate which sub-category you are
applying for.
Nominations
will be reviewed by a panel of judges composed of individuals from private and
public organizations selected by the Office of the Secretary of Technology and
the Virginia Technology Alliance.
Nominations will be judged against the following four criteria:
1.
Enhances the manner in which the organization provides services to its
customers.
2.
Results in a return on investment (cost savings,
cost avoidance, etc.) for the organization.
3.
Improves the overall efficiency of the
organizations operations.
4.
Involves an innovative use of or approach to
technology.
Equal weight will be given to each criterion. Please be sure to address each criterion in
the nomination and cite how each is measured or benchmarked.
Format: In addition to the specific requirements for
the Governors Technology Awards category, each submission shall include a
letter or e-mail message of transmittal, an executive summary, and a
description of the initiative.
Transmittal: Please include the
following information in your transmittal letter or e-mail message:
Executive Summary:
Please provide an executive summary of your initiative that is suitable for
posting to the COVITS website (limit: 400 words).
Length: Nominations must be kept to eight pages or
fewer, including supplementary materials.
The suggested length is five pages (not including the executive
summary).
Initiative Description: Please be sure to describe your initiative, including information on duration, the aspects that make it innovative, and the business need(s) or problem(s) it was designed to address. Include goals and objectives, and the metrics used to measure success.
All
nominations must be received by September 1, 2003. Submissions can be sent electronically to
mailto:sectec@governor.virginia.gov. For large electronic files, send a disk or
CD-Rom to:
202 N. Ninth Street, Suite
506
Richmond, VA 23219
Materials will not
be returned unless requested by the nominee.
Please do not send hard copies of materials.
For more information on COVITS 2003, including the
conference program, registration information, and accommodations, visit http://www.covits.org. Direct program-related questions to Louis
McDonald, Virginias Center for Innovative Technology, at
(703) 689-3000 or lmcdonald@cit.org.
For more information on the Virginia Technology
Alliance, please visit http://www.thevta.org/
or contact VTA President Paula Gulak at (804) 897-2780 or pgulak@sycomtech.com.
Media inquiries only, contact Judy Napier, Assistant
Secretary of Technology, at
(804) 786-9579 or jnapier@gov.state.va.us.
JLD/LWN/nhb