New York, NY, March 15, 2006 - The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) will present the 2005 Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions to the leaders of the Nakuru Local Urban Observatory (LUO) project in Kenya. The project leaders are Albrecht Ehrensperger of the Centre for Development and Environment of the University of Berne, Switzerland, and Solomon Mbuguah and Ernest Siva of the Municipal Council of Nakuru. They led the successful effort to provide local community access to a spatial information tool that provides information on geographic data for the municipality. This tool is accessible in libraries, schools, and non-governmental agencies. The Eugene L. Lawler Award for Humanitarian Contributions Within Computer Science and Informatics carries a $5,000 prize.

As a result of the Nakuru LUO project, community members have access to local news and services stored in a geographical information database. This information is accessible through an easy-to-use software that provides simple global information system (GIS) functions such as storage, retrieval, mapping, and analysis of geographic data. For the first time, community members have the necessary data on issues like sanitation, water supply, and other public facilities to do their own town planning and assert their local needs. The project has also enabled local authorities to make decisions based on input from their community.

The Nakuru project facilitates participation in local government, and demonstrates how to implement community participation in a developing country. It is also creating a tool kit that enables participants to conduct survey and data collection and analysis, and it is providing a framework for sustainable urban planning and management practices for other cities in Kenya.

ACM will present the Eugene Lawler Award at the annual ACM Awards Banquet May 20, at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. The award, initiated in 2000, is given once every two years. Financial support for the award is provided by individual contributions.

About ACM
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery http://www.acm.org, is an educational and scientific society uniting the world's computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.