iomart Group plc Calls on UK Government to Make Kitemark for Child Online Safety Compulsory for Public Sector

GLASGOW, Scotland, February 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

iomart Group plc, one of the UK's leading Web hosting companies, is today calling on the UK Government to insist that all public sector organisations with a duty of care to children should only purchase software products that have been awarded the BSI Kitemark for Child Online Safety.

iomart Group's stance follows the announcement today (2^nd February 2012) by the Science and Technology Select Committee, that the UK Government should consider imposing safety standards on software sold if self-regulation isn't adopted by the IT industry.

iomart's Web security software Netintelligence, which provides Internet protection for 100,000s of school children and families in the UK, is the first and only such software to carry the BSI Kitemark for Child Online Safety. Netintelligence was awarded the Kitemark by Children and Families Minister Tim Loughton in January 2011. So far, no other UK software company has taken up the accreditation and the government has not supported the Kitemark publicly.

The BSI Kitemark for Child Online Safety is a certification scheme for Internet website filtering software produced by software manufacturers. These products can be bought as stand-alone products from computer retailers or come as part of an operating system or ISP package. The software's ease of use, reliability, and performance must meet the scheme's strict criteria.

Angus MacSween, CEO of iomart Group plc, said: "Back in 2007, iomart along with the British Standards Institute, OFCOM, the Home Office, several major UK child safety organisations and other private sector companies spent a considerable amount of time working on the specifications required for PAS 74 (Access control systems for the protection of children online), which ultimately became the BSI Kitemark for Online Child Safety.

Rather than yet another clarion call for more action, the UK Government could make a bold stance now. It should insist that all public sector organisations with a duty of care towards protecting children online, for example schools and local authorities, should only purchase products that have been awarded the Kitemark. That way other commercial companies will have to follow the lead of Netintelligence and iomart to provide software that the public can trust."

iomart Group plc is ranked as one of the top Web hosting companies in the world by HostReview and is Scottish Digital IT Company of the Year 2011. Bill Strain was recently named IT Leader of the Year 2011 by IT Pro.

For more information about iomart Group plc visit http://www.iomart.com    

Notes for editors:

About iomart Group plc:

iomart Group plc (AIM:IOM) is one of the UK's leading providers of managed hosting and cloud computing services. From a single server through to private cloud networks, iomart specialises in the delivery and management of mission-critical hosting services, enabling customers to reduce the costs, complexity and risks associated with maintaining their own web and online applications.

By physically owning and managing its own global network infrastructure, iomart offers world-beating levels of service to its customers. The Group offers a unique 100% uptime guarantee with all hosting services being engineered to ensure no single point of failure.

iomart Group operates in its chosen markets through a number of subsidiaries: iomart Hosting, RapidSwitch, Easyspace, EQSN and Westcoastcloud. The group has been listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) since April 2000.  For more information about iomart Group plc visit http://www.iomart.com

 For more information please email jane.robertson@iomart.com  or call +44(0)141-931-6474 (dir), +44(0)141-931-6400 or +44(0)7827948993 (mob).