THE Information Systems Division of the Department of Economic Development has achieved Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).

The accreditation has been awarded for high standards of information security for the Connect Mann service which is provided by Manx Telecom.

It was originally granted in 2005 but is constantly reviewed by Lloyds of London assessors who carry out an audit of processes and procedures in order to determine whether an organisation still merits the LRQA certificate.

The current accreditation will run until January 2014.

Since 2004 Connect Mann has supplied all of the network and telephony services used by the Isle of Man Government which includes fixed lines, mobiles and internet services.

Connect Mann won the CISCO IP Network of the Year Award in 2005 and was also a gold medal winner in the 2006 British Computer Society Awards. Manx Telecom also has ISO 27001 accreditation.

Mike Dee, chief executive officer of Manx Telecom, said: "We understand the need to provide the highest levels of security for our clients and this award is an endorsement of the standards achieved by the Information Systems Division, Connect Mann and Manx Telecom."

Allan Paterson, director of the Information Systems Division, commented: "Quality of service is all important to us even more so where information security is concerned.

"The provision of Connect Mann as a managed service by Manx Telecom continues to meet and exceed the service level criteria we set. The external assessment processes we go through to get and maintain our ISO accreditation provides demonstrable proof of that."