Deadline Approaching for Input on New "Best of ITS Awards" Program at the 15th World Congress
WASHINGTON, DC, March 19, 2008 -- This year, ITS America's
2008 Annual Meeting & Exposition will be combined with the 15th
World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, set for November
16-20 in New York City. If you have attended ITS America's Annual
Meeting & Exposition in the past, please be assured this is
still your Annual Meeting. In fact, you will experience many of the
features that are a part of every Annual Meeting-in addition to
being able to take advantage of everything offered by the World
Congress on ITS. One of the highlights of the Annual Meeting is the
Best of ITS Awards-the nation's only awards program that honors the
most innovative, effective, and influential achievements in the ITS
industry.
ITS America is looking for new ways to enhance the recognition
of the work accomplished by our private sector and public sector
members. To achieve this goal, we are asking for our members' ideas
and feedback on the awards program. This information will help ITS
America determine the categories for the 2008 Best of ITS Awards
program. The deadline to provide input is Friday, March 21.
In 2007, awards were presented in the following
categories:
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Best New Product, Service, or Application - new ITS product, service, training program, or application that exhibits the greatest innovation and benefit (to consumers, users, public safety, security, surface transportation efficiency, etc.).
-
Marketing and Outreach - program that educates or influences an audience (consumers, public officials, general public, etc.) regarding an ITS-related product, technology, or service.
-
Partnership Deployment (Public-Public, Public-Private, Private-Private) - cross-jurisdictional and/or multi-disciplinary partnerships which resulted in successful ITS deployment and/or operation.
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Research and Innovation - recently completed and "midstream" projects that have something to tell about the impact of ITS, both present and future.
-
Return on Investment - ITS programs or deployments that produced quantifiable results in saving lives, time and money or any combination of the three.
The process for selection begins with a committee comprised of
volunteer members who evaluate each entry based on the following
criteria:
-
Project Design - furthering the development and/or deployment of ITS
-
Project Results - specific and measurable outcomes and performance measurements
-
Project Impact - making a difference in the lives of people
-
Potential as a Model - how it can serve as a model and can be replicated or adapted by other organizations.
The finalists in each category represent the three highest
scoring projects. Each finalist is asked to provide a video clip
highlighting their project which is then used in a narrated
presentation video that is aired during the Annual Meeting's
Opening Session and also announces the winners.
For 2008, we are considering the following revisions to the
awards program:
-
Awarding both a private sector and public sector winner in each category.
-
Eliminating the requirement for finalists to provide a video clip - photos would be acceptable.
In addition, we will consider your answers to the following
questions. If you would like to provide your input to ITS America,
please send your responses to the questions below in a Word
document to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
by Friday, March
21:
-
Is the current awards program making a unique contribution and adding value to ITS research, development and deployment? If not, how could the program be improved to achieve those goals?
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Are the current award categories sufficient? What additional categories would you suggest?
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Is the current evaluation criteria appropriate? What changes would you recommend?
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Are there any barriers that limit the participation of certain applicant groups? If so, please describe.
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Should ITS America develop separate award categories for private sector companies? What categories would you suggest?
-
Are there additional changes or enhancements ITS America should consider to maximize the awards? Please describe.
Please be as descriptive as possible in your responses. The
more information we have to consider, the better we will be able to
provide an awards program that is reflective of the ITS industry's
best projects and services.
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