BCS honours VoIP pioneer

One of the pioneers of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) technology has been honoured by the British Computer Society (BCS).

Based at the University College London, Mark Handley has been awarded the Roger Needham Award by the British Computer Society (BCS).

The BCS said "Mark Handley…has fundamentally reshaped the way the internet is used on a daily basis through his seminal contributions to the engineering of the internet."

Working with Henning Schulzrinne of Columbia, Mr Handley developed SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) which forms the basis for internet telephony and on which a billion dollar industry has been created.

In praise of Mr Handley's achievements, David Clarke, BCS chief executive said: "There is no doubt that Mark has earned the Roger Needham award through his achievements to date, and it is obvious to all that Mark will continue to make important and valuable contributions to IT in the future.

"His development of the internet, including telephony, media distribution and architecture has had an enormous impact on the IT industry with many large companies adopting his developments."