A team from NICTA Australia's Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence accepted the Innovation Award in front of Senator Kate Lundy and 120 ICT professionals at a presentation at The Lobby restaurant in Parkes on Wednesday.

The award recognises the development of a product or service that breaks new ground but is yet to be commercialised.

The AutoMap project uses Linux-based technology to detect and classify geometric shapes from video footage. This data can then be sent to GPS providers to keep their maps up to date.

Australian Computer Society chairman Kumar Parakala said the awards were initiated to recognise outstanding performances in the capital's ICT community. He hoped they would encourage continuing effort and investment for years to come.

The Australian Crime Commission, which last month became the first organisation to become fully Green ICT certified by Computers Off Australia, won the Green ICT Award (Corporate) for its efforts in reducing server numbers by 45 per cent and becoming a carbon neutral operation.

ACT Government IT manager InTACT won the Education Award and a team from the Australian National University won the Student Project Award for the myBikeSetup project.

Society chief executive Bruce Larkin said the level of interest in the awards reflected the depth and breadth of ICT in Canberra.

''While the Australian ICT industry is well regarded internationally, we need to continue to develop highly technical and dedicated ICT professionals who have soft skills and are entrepreneurial, to ensure we remain competitive in a global context,'' Larkin said.