The President’s Medal is one of The OR Society’s most prestigious awards for the best practical application of OR.

The President’s Medal 2023 has been awarded for a Government project that combined technical expertise in a tool that delivered a variety of application. It has been seen through to implementation in supporting planning and policy decision making. Tackling the complex challenge of achieving Net Zero emissions targets requires collaborative efforts across various government departments.

To help decision makers better understand and navigate this intricate landscape, Adam, and his team collaborated with a number of other government departments, including DfT, Defra, Cabinet Office, and DLUHC, to design and create an innovative interactive visualisation tool using systems approaches known as the Net Zero Systems Tool (NZST).

The NZST is helping decision makers to understand and navigate the interconnected nature of this landscape, enabling identification of opportunities, and driving further collaboration across government. It complements other tools and models that are used by policy professionals and analysts alike.

A mix of hard and soft OR techniques were used in the development of the tool. The combination of excellence of process, technical challenge, impressive impact and the longevity of the tool made this project a worthy winner in the judges’ eyes, mirroring the sentiment of the audience at the conference.