XHIBIT's implementation programme in 99 Crown courts is due to be completed in March 2006. XHIBIT is a £20 million fixed term contract with EDS.
- Links Crown Courts and criminal justice organisations nationally, allowing for more police on the streets, making giving evidence in court much easier and updating police records much faster.
- is a business application that exploits new technology, including the Internet and text messaging, to improve the sharing of Crown Court information, such as post-trial documents including results, court orders, charge details and court lists automatically.
- Crown court clerks now record and update electronic logs of all key events that occur during the hearing of a case, such as jury sworn in, first witness giving evidence and the verdict.
- now operating in 65 Crown Courts, XHIBIT enables court users, such as the police, prosecutors and witness groups, to obtain necessary case details in minutes rather than days.
The public can also track court hearings online using the Internet or via public display screens in the court building.
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said: "I congratulate the XHIBIT team for winning these two awards. This recognition shows that use of technology can benefit all courts users, whether you work in court or are a member of the public giving evidence.
"The system has much improved the way that court information is managed. It reduces the need for paper records and duplication of work as each separate document is drafted, so freeing court employees to carry out other work.
"XHIBIT also enables documents to be processed faster than before which speeds up trials and makes the justice system more efficient."
XHIBIT is the first system to run on the new LINK infrastructure introduced by Her Majesty's Courts Service in 2002 to provide court staff and the judiciary in criminal and combined courts with modern technology.
The public service success follows XHIBIT also winning the top prize in the Telecoms Innovation category at the 2005 Good Communication Awards earlier this month. The Good Communications Awards recognise excellence in public sector communications, information sharing and joined-up government.
There were 14 categories in the Guardian Public service awards and 19 categories in the Public Sector Enterprises Limited awards.
In 2003, XHIBIT won the BT Syntegra Award for Innovation, 2004 XHIBIT won a Criminal Justice Award for Innovation, presented by the Prime Minister and was runner-up in the e-Government Awards. In 2005 XHIBIT won the Government Computing BT awards for innovation.
Quelle: Publictechnology, 06.12.2005
