Dallas, TX – Dave Dahms, boating law administrator for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, accepted the Innovations in Technology Award on Sept. 12 at the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators’ conference. The award, which recognizes initiatives that use technology to advance boating safety, is sponsored by Kalkomey Enterprises Inc., parent company of Boat Ed®.

Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation received the award for developing an online grant application that replaced the agency’s time-consuming paper process. In Idaho, enforcing the Safe Boating Act is the responsibility of county sheriffs. They obtain funding to implement marine law enforcement and boat education programs through the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation by applying for grants.

“We’ve received lots of positive feedback from the counties on this new online grant application process,” said Dahms. “They really like the new system because it’s much easier to submit a grant than our old system, and it saves them time. This allows our valued county sheriff partners to spend less time on paperwork and more time working to make the waters safer for Idaho boaters.”

The Innovations in Technology Award is presented annually to the program or initiative that demonstrates the highest level of innovation leading to advances in boating safety. The award is part of the Innovations in Technology Initiative, which was established by NASBLA and Boat Ed to bring greater visibility to outstanding state, corporate or public-private partnership programs and projects.

“This award was developed to recognize excellence as well as to encourage others to adopt these initiatives,” said Cindy Kalkomey, vice president of product development. “Sponsoring this program is a great fit for Boat Ed. We’re always working to lead the way in delivering online safety education so today’s student can receive a quality learning experience anytime, anywhere.”