Company news
21/12/2007
TelecityGroup wins the Annual Award for Innovation at the ‘Franco-British Business Awards 2007’
Paris, 21 December, 2007 - TelecityGroup, a pan-European provider of network independent data centres, has won the Annual Award for Innovation by the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the principle voice and representative body for the Franco-British business community in France. Stéphane Duproz, Managing Director, TelecityGroup France received the award on behalf of the company at the British Ambassador's residence in Paris on Thursday 13 December 2007.
The ‘Franco-British Business Awards’ are an opportunity for the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry to highlight its role in promoting business between Britain and France by recognising three enterprises which are very active in cross-Channel economic relations.
The British Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, and Françoise Crouïgneau, international editor-in-chief of Les Echos, presented TelecityGroup with the Award for Innovation for its Iris Recognition Biometrics System and its testing of fuel cell technology as an alternative power source.
TelecityGroup has been a consistent innovator in the data centre market. The company was the first commercial data centre operator in France to use iris-recognition biometrics as an advanced access-control system in 2005. As each iris is different such technology can be used to ensure improved recognition of individuals, helping to avoid identity fraud and, in turn, improving overall data centre site security.
In 2007 TelecityGroup continued to innovate by being the first data centre provider to test hydrogen fuel cells as an alternative power source at one of its Paris data centres. The fuel cell was tested to see if it could provide a highly autonomous backup in the event of a grid power outage, ensuring that control is maintained over vital site operations such as access control, CCTV surveillance, fire detectors and alarms, fire suppression methods, lighting, building technical management and telecommunications.
Stéphane Duproz stated: "We are delighted to receive this award. Just as we installed an iris-recognition biometrics secure-access system two years ago, we also wanted to be proactive in testing clean energy technologies. We are always looking for ways to use innovative technology which will deliver improvements in the quality and reliability of our services for customers, both today and in the future."
About TelecityGroup
TelecityGroup is a pan-European provider of network independent data centres offering a range of flexible, scalable data centre and managed services. TelecityGroup specialises in the design, build, and management of highly connected and secure environments in which customers can house their technical, web and internet infrastructure. Each of its data centres acts a connectivity and content hub facilitating the storage, sharing and distribution of data, content and media. Headquartered in London, TelecityGroup operates 18 network independent data centres across seven European countries. The data centres are located in prime positions for commerce and connectivity, including Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Manchester, Milan, Paris and Stockholm.
Telecity Group plc, the parent company of TelecityGroup, is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: TCY)
www.TelecityGroup.com
