PNNL Project Management Software Earns 2nd Award 

Lab ranked in InformationWeek 500 list  

PNNL takes home its 2nd award for the creation of a unique project management software

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 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.