Council highly commended at excellence awards

Shropshire County Council beat off stiff regional competition to be Highly Commended at the coveted West Midlands ICT Excellence Awards 2007.

The council, which has been recognised as one of the top 20 council employers in the country, was Highly Commended in the West Midlands ICT Award for Excellence in Public Sector ICT Projects.

Judges were impressed with the project to provide ICT (information communications technology) grants to SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) in Shropshire to help remove barriers to employment, training and new markets. The project called Wi-Fi Businesses is the final phase in the Switch on Shropshire initiative.

Councillor Mike Owen, Shropshire County Council cabinet member for community well-being, said: "Working to support local businesses is part of the council's vision to improve significantly the quality of life for Shropshire people. The Switch On Shropshire project has helped to put our businesses on an equal footing with their urban neighbours, and enabled them to trade in a global economy."

Mike Musson, ICT Cluster Manager, added: “The competition this year was very fierce, and our finalists were selected from around the West Midlands region. They are exceptional companies and organisations, with smart and innovative services and products that attest to the quality and of the growing technology sector in the West Midlands.”

The ICT Cluster Excellence Awards were presented at the Annual ICT Cluster Conference held at Birmingham Motorcycle Museum on 22 November.

Additional information

The ICT Cluster is one of 10 clusters established by Advantage West Midlands as part of its economic development strategy. These clusters have been chosen on the basis of their current strength in the region, and their potential to create jobs and economic growth.

Advantage West Midlands is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England whose role is to provide leadership and action to create more, better jobs and in improve the quality of life for all in the West Midlands.

27 November 2007