A St. John�s company that is developing software to automatically record time spent on workplace activities has received funding from the Provincial Government. ACZEN Innovations Inc. has received $26,320 from the Commercialization Program to secure the necessary equipment to write software.

Employees of companies that charge billable hours typically have to complete daily timesheets to record their activities � which is often a time-consuming exercise itself. ACZEN Innovation is developing software that automatically records the time spent on computer-based activities and assigns that to different projects or tasks. This eliminates the need to fill out timesheets.

"This is an innovative application that will enable employees to increase productivity and avoid the stresses of logging their time," said the Honourable Trevor Taylor, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development. "ACZEN Innovations� Time and Productivity System (TAPS) is an example of the rising number of software development companies in the province. There is considerable market potential for a product of this nature as accountability in the workplace increases."

ACZEN Innovations has conducted focus groups to test market acceptance of TAPS and the response has been favourable. Accounting, engineering, and legal firms, along with other consultancy-based businesses, have expressed a strong interest in the product, which is expected to be ready for testing early this summer.

"TAPS is designed for organizations where employees typically use timesheets to track their time and daily activities," said Ron Peddle, President of ACZEN Innovations Inc. "The biggest complaint from employees about filling out timesheets is that it eats into productive time. Consequently, they are often the last things filled out at the end of the day, and often from memory, which sometime results in less than accurate information."

TAPS requires little user input and automatically generates a timesheet based on an individual�s computer activity, which varies from existing software that relies on manually-entered data. The system will be trained to automatically determine which activities get allocated to which projects. The user reviews the final time sheet and adjusts if necessary.

Delivered by the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, the Commercialization Program bridges an identified funding and investment gap between product research and product marketing. Through this program, the Provincial Government supports private sector enterprises in activities leading to the development of innovative, market-ready products and services. Proposed initiatives must demonstrate innovation enhancement consistent with the province�s innovation strategy, Innovation Newfoundland and Labrador: A Blueprint for Prosperity. The program provides assistance of up to 75 per cent of total costs, to a maximum of $500,000 per project.

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2008 07 02                                                       11:10 a.m.