The exceptional accomplishments of B.C.'s public service employees from Vancouver Island were recognized with the annual Premier's Innovation and Excellence Awards.

"I would like to thank each of the recipients for their achievements and the benefit they deliver to British Columbians," said Premier Christy Clark. "These programs have sparked important dialogue, used new technology in innovative ways, safeguarded consumers and helped make our communities safer for families."

Public service employees were recognized for creating new and better ways of providing services to citizens of British Columbia, including:

• Developing an online public engagement site for dialogue with educators and the public to help improve education for school-aged children.
• DriveBC Mobile, a website that gives travellers access to current information about road conditions using their mobile devices.
• A Ministry of Finance-led project that ensures B.C. meets exacting standards that safeguard stored data for payment cards at point-of-sale terminals and online.
• Reducing criminal activity among program graduates of the Nanaimo Correction Centre's Guthrie House Therapeutic Community treatment program.

John Dyble, deputy minister to the premier, announced the award winners via a streaming online video presentation. Similar webcasts have honoured Northern, Interior and Lower Mainland employees. The final celebration will take place in Victoria at a provincial awards ceremony.

This year, more than 200 employees and teams from Vancouver Island were celebrated for outstanding achievement and received awards in five categories including: Cross Government Integration, Innovation, Partnership, Organizational Excellence and Leadership.

Learn More:

Videos of all Premier's Award finalists can be viewed online at: http://www.youtube.com/user/BCPublicService#p/p

A backgrounder follows.

Contact:

Sara MacIntyre
Director of Communications
Office of the Premier
250 580-7701

Jamie Edwardson
Communications Director
Ministry of Finance
250 356-2821

BACKGROUNDER

April 20, 2012 Office of the Premier

Ministry of Finance

Premier's Awards honour Vancouver Island recipients

More than 200 public service employees from Vancouver Island received awards in Leadership, Cross Government Integration, Innovation, Organizational Excellence and Partnership.

Ministry of Education, B.C. Education Plan - Engagement

CROSS GOVERNMENT INTEGRATION CATEGORY - Using new technologies has allowed the Ministry of Education to launch government's first comprehensive online public engagement project. B.C.'s Education Plan is the blueprint document for creating an improved education system. It is being developed collaboratively through a website that allows the sharing of information between teachers, students, parents, school administrators and members of the public. The "Get Engaged" site, advertised through social media, poses three questions to the public each week to help spark dialogue about education policy. The feedback is then collected, analyzed and returned to the public to continuously engage the public and refresh the plan.

Ministry of Finance, Nicholas Krischanowsky

LEADERSHIP CATEGORY - Thanks to the management skills of Nicholas Krischanowsky, the Province is the first government in Canada to meet a comprehensive set of requirements for enhancing payment account data security. System enhancements safeguard consumers' card security to prevent financial loss at more than 1,500 point-of-sale terminals and 25 government online services. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) were developed by industry to reduce the possibility of fraud involving payment cards. Krischanowsky was able to ensure government systems comply with these high standards by focusing the project on monitoring and controlling access to systems, protecting stored cardholder data and testing security systems to lower the risk of cardholder data breaches and measuring compliance and risk reduction.

Ministry of Transportation, DriveBC Mobile Team

ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE CATEGORY - Travellers in B.C. can access current information about changing road conditions by tapping into a new site using their mobile devices. DriveBC Mobile incorporates traveller information into a simple, accessible format displaying current road condition information and saving travellers time by informing them about road closures or delays, or warning them of difficult conditions. The DriveBC Mobile team created a site that can handle a high volume of users by creating a unique way of publishing information that reduces server demands and lessens the chance of system crashes. The site links to BC HighwayCams to display images from more than 170 webcams provincewide, as well as connecting to Environment Canada's weather forecasts.

Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Guthrie House Therapeutic Community, Nanaimo Correctional Centre

INNOVATION CATEGORY - An innovative treatment program in the Nanaimo Correctional Centre is integrating offenders into their communities and reducing their criminal behaviours by up to 33 per cent, resulting in safer communities and lower costs for the criminal justice system. The Guthrie House Therapeutic Community is a four-month substance abuse treatment program involving three phases: orientation, primary treatment and re-entry/transition. Participants must complete each phase, taking on increasing responsibilities and accepting responsibility for their behaviours. Corrections staff work with the offender as role models, mentors and partners as part of a segregated community.

Contact:

Sara MacIntyre
Director of Communications
Office of the Premier
250 580-7701

Jamie Edwardson
Communications Director
Ministry of Finance
250 356-2821