Internet Watch Foundation

We are pleased to announce that the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is a finalist in the 2008 British Computer Society (BCS) IT Awards in the Social Contribution Project Excellence Category.

 

The IWF has been chosen as a finalist for this award for its facilitation of the industry-led initiative to protect users by blocking access to online child sexual abuse content.

 

The BCS IT Industry Awards, supported by Intellect and NCC, are the leading hallmark of success amongst practitioners today. The cross industry awards form a central element to the BCS’ professionalism in IT initiative and recognise, promote and acclaim excellence, professionalism, innovation and the outstanding achievements to which individuals and groups contribute. 
 

Sarah Robertson, Director of IWF Communications, said "The IWF works hard to maintain high standards of professionalism and integrity and we are always pleased when the success of our partnership approach to minimising the availability of online child sexual abuse content is recognised by influential and relevant stakeholders. This acknowledgement is a credit to our funding industry members who continue to support our day-to-day operations as well as our wider principles and objectives and we look forward to the next stages of the judging process.”

 

David Clarke, BCS Chief Executive said: “In the current economic situation it is rewarding to see that IT is continuing to lead through innovation and deliver real business benefits. These projects reflect the fact that technology is an integral and expected part of everyday life and is at the heart of literally every business.”

John Higgins, Director General at Intellect said: “Information communication technology improves organisations’ competitiveness and productivity, and helps them meet the needs of their customers more effectively. These awards recognise those technology suppliers, individuals and organisations which do this best. The quality of entries is once again very high and I do not envy the judges their task of identifying the winners – it’s going to be a difficult job.”

Other finalists in the Social Contribution Project Category include: Samaritans; Intelligent Giving Ltd; IBM; Charity Technology Trust and the NHS.

 

The finalists in each category will be invited for interview by a panel of judges and, as a result, a winner and two medallists in each category will be selected and announced at a black-tie gala Awards dinner on Thursday 4th December.

 

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The IWF is the only recognised organisation in the UK operating an internet ‘Hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their inadvertent exposure to potentially illegal content online.
 
Our aim is to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, specifically:

We work in partnership with UK Government departments such as the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to influence initiatives and programmes developed to combat online abuse. This dialogue goes beyond the UK and Europe, to ensure greater awareness of global issues and responsibilities.
 
We are a self-regulatory body, funded by the EU and the wider online industry. This includes internet service providers (ISPs), mobile operators and manufacturers, content service providers, telecommunications and filtering companies, search providers and the financial sector as well as blue-chip and other organisations who support us for corporate social responsibility reasons.
 
Through the 'Hotline' reporting system, we help ISPs to combat abuse of their services through a ‘notice and take-down’ service by alerting them to any potentially illegal content within our remit on their systems and simultaneously inviting the police to investigate the publisher.
 
As a result, less than 1% of potentially illegal content has apparently been hosted in the UK since 2003, down from 18% in 1997.
 
In partnership with many organisations we strive to create continued awareness of the role and purpose of the IWF and aim to foster trust and reassurance in the internet for current and future users.
 
Please note that "child pornography", "child porn" or "kiddie porn" are not acceptable terms. The use of such language acts to legitimise images which are not pornography, rather, they are permanent records of children being sexually abused and as such should be referred to as child sexual abuse images.

 

For more information see: www.iwf.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 237 700, media@iwf.org.uk

 

The BCS Awards are the most important event in the IT calendar. They mark the key contribution made by the IT profession to economic prosperity, to business efficiency and to our public services.

 

2007 marked the 50th Anniversary of BCS and a turning point in the Awards. For the first time, the three largest industry bodies (BCS, NCC, and Intellect) came together to recognise achievement and innovation. 2008 brings continued evolution to the Premier Awards event for the technology industry.

 

As standards of sophistication, business acumen and skill in the IT world are continually developing, the role of IT and its effective management is critical across the whole spectrum of business. This cross-industry event recognises, promotes and acclaims excellence, professionalism, innovation and the outstanding achievements to which individuals and groups contribute.

 

For more information see: http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.5818