The Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation, Pollution Response Unit, has beaten its government agency peers and taken out an Australian Telecommunications User Group (ATUG) award for the best use of broadband.
The department won the award, presented by Communication Minister Stephen Conroy at an ATUG event last night, for its use of management of video and electronic records to coordinate emergency services. The platform integrates sensor and video feeds from vehicles and mobile devices into a single content management platform for operations across the entire state.
The system beat a shortlisted 1000 classroom video conferencing and online whiteboard solution from the NSW Department of Education and Training, and the Sunshine Coast Regional Council's Connecting The Coast WiMAX project that pushes broadband into regional areas using government funds.
The Loddon Mallee Health Alliance in Victoria took out the award in its category for its Virtual Trauma Critical Care Unit that links trauma specialists at the Alfred, the Austin and St Vincent’s hospitals and the paediatric trauma team at the Royal Children’s Hospital to regional trauma victims arriving in emergency.
The Northern Territory government won the award in the education category for its STARS Satellite Network which facilitates its deployment of online services to 50 schools, 25 health clinics and 160 distance education students in the remote areas of the state
The Western Australian ELK Software Group won the award in the business category for its custom made enewsletters that ATUG says is a “low cost way [for SMEs to] maintain contact with their customers via the Internet”.