Best new technologies earn honors at show
Connecting state and local government leaders
At FOSE 2003 this month, the Best New Technology Awards ceremony honored the winners of new IT products exhibited during the show. Vendors submitted more than 100 entries this year.
At FOSE 2003 this month, the Best New Technology Awards ceremony honored the winners of new IT products exhibited during the show. Vendors submitted more than 100 entries this year.A double-blind panel of judges from GCN and sister publication Washington Technology pared down the entries to a few finalists in each category, based on innovation, features, relevance to the federal market and value.Thomas R. Temin, Post Newsweek Tech Media executive editor and senior vice president of editorial, and GCN Lab director John Breeden II announced the winners at a FOSE reception.The best-in-show award went to the Panasonic Toughbook 18 Convertible notebook PC from Panasonic Computer Solutions Co. of Secaucus, N.J. The Toughbook 18 also won in its category: portable computers.'The Toughbook 18 is a great device for the federal government because it combines the advantages of the Tablet PC form factor with the reliable ruggedness of the Toughbook line,' Breeden said. 'Feds could feel comfortable taking this tablet into hazardous situations, such as on the flight line of an aircraft carrier, inside a building's heat plant or outside in a national forest.'The Judges' Special Award went to the Mobile Disaster Datacenter from North American Access Technologies of Hawthorne, N.Y. The special award is sometimes given to a product that the judges consider especially helpful for federal agencies. 'Given the world situation and the increased emphasis on security, a vehicle like the Mobile Disaster Datacenter is a necessity because it can be driven to a disaster site to provide instant communications,' Temin said. Here are the winners in the other product categories:
North American Access Technologies' Julius Neudorfer, left, gets the Special Judges' Award from GCN Lab director John Breeden II.
Henrik G. DeGyor
- Application software: UsableNet Lift from UsableNet Inc. of New York
- Desktop computers: Precision Workstation 350 from Dell Computer Corp.
- Display devices: SmartBoard 3000i Interactive Whiteboard from Smart Technologies Inc. of Calgary, Alberta
- E-government software: Corel Smart Graphics Studio from Corel Corp.
- Handheld devices: Blackberry 6750 from Research In Motion Ltd. of Waterloo, Ontario.
- Network peripherals: ScanJet 8290 from Hewlett-Packard Co.
- Networking hardware: IP-Reach M Series from Raritan Computer Inc. of Somerset, N.J.
- Networking software: HP OpenView Storage Provisioner from Hewlett-Packard Co.
- Security hardware: Closed Circuit Twisted Pair from Anixter Inc. of Skokie, Ill.
- Security software: UltraBac 7.0.3 Backup and Disaster Recovery Software from UltraBac Software of Bellevue, Wash.
- Servers: PowerEdge 1655MC from Dell Computer Corp.
- Storage devices: Magnum20 from Exabyte Corp. of Boulder, Colo.
- Wireless: Transclick Wireless Translated Instant Messenger from Transclick Inc. of New York.