PNNL-created software earns 2nd award

September 16, 2009

• Frances White, PNNL, (509) 375-6904

Lab ranked in InformationWeek 500 list for project management software

RICHLAND, Wash. – Developing an original project management software has earned the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory a second award - this time placing it in a list of the nation's 500 most innovative users of business information technology.

PNNL was ranked 210th in the annual InformationWeek 500 list that was revealed yesterday by the technology magazine InformationWeek. This is the third year in a row that the magazine has recognized PNNL. Other notable companies in this year's list include Hewlett-Packard Co. (No. 12), Google Inc. (No. 32) and Motorola Inc. (No. 215).

The laboratory was also recognized with a CIO 100 award earlier this year for creating the same collaborative project management software, Project Central. The software is designed to provide a central framework for managers and staff to measure, monitor and report on the progress of their projects.

"Project Central is valuable tool that creates one key place for managers to keep tabs on their ever-changing projects," said PNNL CIO Jerry Johnson. "It can consolidate isolated computer applications and allow PNNL researchers to concentrate on what they do best - develop and deploy science and technology that addresses big challenges in energy, the environment, national security and basic science."

PNNL staff integrated three existing commercial software systems that the laboratory uses — Oracle Business Intelligence, Hewlett-Packard TRIM and Microsoft SharePoint — to create the one-of-a-kind software application. Project Central is designed specifically to streamline management for the approximately 3,000 research, development and other projects that PNNL does each year. The software should dramatically decrease the need for physical document storage and enable quicker access to important records.

Until May, Project Central was used at PNNL on a pilot project basis. The laboratory then began incrementally rolling out the software for wider use at the end of May and expects to have most new projects managed with Project Central during the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

The complete InformationWeek 500 list can be found online.

 

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, national security and the environment. PNNL employs 4,650 staff, has a $918 million annual budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. Follow PNNL on Facebook, Linked In and Twitter.