The Salvation Army named as finalist in UK IT Industry Awards

Published 20th November 2009

-nomination recognises that third sector leads the way in IT security and training –

London, 13 November 2009, Valerie Maddock, Head of IT Learning and User Support at The Salvation Army, has been named as a finalist in the IT Service and Support Professional of the Year award at the UK IT Industry Awards 2009. The awards are given each year by the British Computer Society (BCS) and Computing magazine, in recognition of organisational or individual excellence in the application of information systems.


Valerie was nominated for her implementation of The Salvation Army’s IT Induction Online. This is a compulsory six part course that familiarises new staff with The Salvation Army’s IT systems, security policies and processes. As well as providing new employees with practical information about IT systems, it also reminds them of their responsibility for safeguarding the data held within those systems.


The course is mandatory for all new employees at The Salvation Army and is embedded in the service desk process. All employees have to pass the IT induction before they are allowed to have a user account. This ensures that the entire staff is aware of and adheres to the acceptable user policies regarding information systems and data access at The Salvation Army. To date, more than 700 new employees have taken the IT Induction Online course developed by Valerie.

IT Induction covers several areas including the Data Protection Act; the dangers posed by social networking; phishing and spam. It also educates staff on email etiquette, such as when it is appropriate to email specific groups rather than the entire organisation. For contract or temporary staff, a time limit is put on the account access and access rights are regularly reviewed.

Lieut.-Colonel David Hinton, Secretary for Business Administration at The Salvation Army said, “We are delighted to see Valerie nominated for this award. Her dedication to providing an online induction process for new staff has been of enormous value to our organisation, particularly because of the emphasis it places on information security. We take very seriously the need for data security and the requirement for our people to be aware of their responsibilities."

“We have to help our new employees to understand that they are joining an organisation that treats data as a precious resource and takes computer systems and security very seriously. We have a very strong reputation to protect and we want our new staff to share in this,” commented Valerie Maddock, Head of IT Learning and User Support at The Salvation Army. “I am very honoured to be a finalist in this year’s IT Industry Awards. We want the charity sector to lead the way when it comes to IT training, information management and security”.

The winners of the UK IT Industry Awards were announced on the 12th November. Further information on the award and a list of finalists can be found at http://www.ukitindustryawards.co.uk

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