A finalist in The Next Big Thing Award for 2005 is the Imation Disc Stakka CD & DVD manager and OpdiTracker software, database and search engine.

The Award and its accompanying Innovation Expo 2005, showcases Victorian innovations with the winner to be announced on Wednesday, 11 May.

Both events are organised by INNOVIC, an independent not-for-profit organisation, partially funded by government.

The Imation Disc Stakka makes traditional disc management such as pouches, racks and shelving obsolete. It also makes lost or damaged discs a thing of the past. Disc Stakka is an automated carousel that stores, protects and manages 12 cm discs, including data CDs, DVDs, music and game discs.

OpdiTracker, which comes bundled with Disc Stakka, manages CDs and DVDs and the content stored on them. Compatible with Mac and Windows, OpdiTracker runs in the background on the computer. It detects whenever a new disc is inserted into the CD or DVD drive, and automatically adds the disc’s name and content (file structure or audio track details) to the database.

Once stored in the database, discs and their content are available to be browsed or searched “virtually online”. Whenever a file or disc is needed, OpdiTracker helps locate it within seconds — there’s no need to remember where the disc was stored. For added security, discs can be password protected to eliminate unauthorised access.

The compact Imation Disc Stakka unit holds up to one hundred 12 cm discs and links to a computer via a single USB connection for both power and data. Units can be stacked up to five high to create a tower that holds up to 500 discs, or over 4 terabytes (4000 gigabytes) of data storage without needing additional cables or desk space.

Larger businesses can expand the system further by creating more than 100 towers that can be linked via powered USB hubs to store, manage and protect 50,000 discs all from the one computer.

The OpdiTracker software is available in 10 languages, with the Disc Stakka now sold around the world.

The Imation Disc Stakka is on display at the i-expo until 27 May 2005 at Level 1, 257 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Media enquiries: INNOVIC on (03) 9650 4733 Brent Marcombe for the Disc Stakka/OpdiTracker on (03) 8805 2202/0408 742 178