Northern Territory Police and its advanced technology partnership with NEC were recognised last night with one of Australia’s highest IT accolades.

The Watch House Project was awarded top honours in the ‘Infrastructure and Platforms Innovation of the Year’ category at the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) iAwards in Melbourne.

The Watch House project is a facial recognition program which identifies offenders brought into custody in less than 10 seconds, and uses software designed, customised and implemented by NEC and NT Police.

The software, called NeoFace, accurately matches any CCTV footage or image from body-worn cameras or phones against Police databases.

The system can also help identify members of the public with medical issues or who might pose a risk to themselves, the public or Police.

Sergeant Chris Brand said it was an honour to win the award.

“It’s an amazing project,” he said. “Our facial recognition technology makes a significant contribution to how we conduct investigations and combat crime.”

He said the technology also improves overall safety of officers and allows them to spend more time on the front line.