Igniting Innovation Conference and Awards Highlight Public-Sector Innovations

FAIRFAX, Va., May 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC), the premier public-private partnership in the government IT community announced the winners of the Igniting Innovation 2019 Conference and Awards.  The overall award winner, selected by the conference attendees, was the "Lifesaving CT Opioid Detection" innovation from Leidos.

Leidos' proposed Opioid Detection innovation will transform existing Reveal™ products, used in more than 200 U.S. airports and 600 locations worldwide, to interdict narcotics and other chemical substances of concern in cargo/parcels, which will help to address the critical opioid crisis the nation currently faces.

A panel of government, industry and academic judges decided the "Dynamite Awards" in the following categories:

• Impacter – greatest magnitude of benefits
• Diffusion of Excellence, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs
• Blue Button 2.0, NewWave
• Game Changer – disruptive innovations that create new solutions
• Pilot Training Next, SAIC
• Steps to PBA Application, General Services Administration
• Transformer – reuses existing solutions in new and different ways
• Ohio Benefits IPA, State of Ohio Department of Administrative Services
• Assistive Technology Center, Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center
• Incubator – not-yet-deployed innovations with greatest potential
• Genomics LIMS, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Services VA Medical Center
• Lifesaving CT Opioid Detection, Leidos

A new category of Innovation in Healthcare awards was created this year and judged by a panel of healthcare subject matter experts. The award winners were:

• Blue Button 2.0, NewWave
• Genomics LIMS, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Services VA Medical Center
• Self-Leveling Walker, Advanced Platform Technology Center (VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System)
• CDS Connect, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

"From a record number of nominations to the highest attendance in recent years, I'm so pleased with the turnout and content for this year's Igniting Innovation Conference and Awards," said David Wennergren, ACT-IAC Chief Executive Officer.  "The amount of innovation in government, industry, and academia is truly impressive, and Igniting Innovation is a great example of ACT-IAC's mission to foster government and industry collaboration to deliver more effective mission results."

"The theme for the conference was 'Moving Innovation from Concept to Reality', and the panel sessions, keynote speakers and the collaboration session focused on practical ways of creating and adopting innovations," stated Jim Cook, Vice President of Strategic Engagement and Partnerships, The MITRE Corporation and this year's Industry co-chair. "It was great to see increased innovations in the healthcare, artificial intelligence, and data analytics sectors this year, along with the acquisition, cybersecurity, blockchain, customer experience, workforce, and IT modernization innovations.  Congratulations to the awardees and to all of the finalists."

Find out more about the award winners, descriptions of the innovations, and their videos at: https://www.actiac.org/igniting-innovation-2019-conference-and-awards.

About ACT-IAC – Advancing Government Through Education, Leadership and Collaboration

The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) is a non-profit educational organization established to improve government's service delivery and operational performance through the effective and innovative application of technology. ACT-IAC provides a unique, objective and trusted collaborative forum where government and industry executives are working as partners to address critical issues, apply best practices and pioneer innovative solutions. ACT-IAC also provides high-quality learning and educational opportunities to improve the knowledge and expertise of the government workforce – both public and private. Further information about ACT-IAC can be found at www.actiac.org.

The annual Igniting Innovation Conference and Awards is hosted by ACT-IAC's Institute for Innovation. Established in 2012, the ACT-IAC Institute for Innovation provides an objective and non-partisan forum for strategic thought leadership to advance government missions through the innovative application and management of information technology.  The Institute focuses on high-impact projects that affect multiple government business functions and/or organizations   The Institute is sponsored by MITRE, Perspecta, ICF, OnPoint, and Evolver. The Igniting Innovation 2019 Conference and Awards was underwritten by Century Link, Leidos, Perspecta, SAIC, OnPoint, Hughes, REI Systems, and Accenture Federal.  For more information on Igniting Innovation 2019, contact Mike Howell at [email protected] or 703-208-4800 ext. 228.

SOURCE The American Council for Technology - Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC)