Thursday, February 06, 2003

Tech industry recognizes best

by Kim Peterson


The WSA found plenty to celebrate last night at its Industry Achievement Awards, even after a year in which the tech industry could not climb out of a prolonged economic downturn.

The eighth annual awards event, at the Westin Hotel in Seattle, highlighted the big and small of the region's tech companies.

Bellevue software maker AskMe was named the most promising new company.

Other winners yesterday included Microsoft's .NET framework, recognized as having the most promising new technology. The company has developed .NET as a way for computers and devices to talk with each other over the Internet.

The technology is being integrated into many Microsoft products, and the framework is becoming a standard in the growing field of Web services.

Singlestep Technologies won the reinvention award, which recognizes a company that has refocused because of changes in market conditions or other factors.

The Seattle company, which changed its management team and business model in recent years, has rolled out software called Unity. The software integrates information from different sources into one system.

Service provider of the year was Applied Discovery, which develops electronic technology for the legal industry. The Seattle company's service displays electronic documents in a searchable and secure file.

NetMotion Wireless' Mobility software was named business product of the year. The software from the Seattle company enables mobile users to move across networks and coverage gaps while maintaining a connection to their data.

Renton-based Classmates Online won the consumer product of the year for its workplace directory, which allows people to find and contact former co-workers from more than 1 million companies in North America.

The directory offers e-mail communication, message boards, live chat and photo sharing.

The state's Department of Social and Health Services won the award for outstanding contribution to digital government.

The department has created a Web site that allows employers and individuals to pay child support online.

Knowledge Anywhere took the award for outstanding contribution to the community. The Bellevue company donated hundreds of online courses to an employment and training program created by the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.

John Stanton, chairman of Bellevue-based T-Mobile USA and chief executive officer of Western Wireless, delivered the keynote at the event.