Bentley Systems Inc., the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, announced recently that it is accepting entries for the 2011 Be Inspired awards competition. Be Inspired brings together infrastructure professionals from around the world as well as members of the academic community to “advance the best practices and innovation in information modeling leading to higher-performing infrastructure and more cost-effective project realization and promoting the achievements of architects, engineers, constructors, geospatial professionals, and owner-operators in sustaining infrastructure empowered by Bentley software”. Since its inception in 2004, the Be Inspired awards program has recognized more than 1,300 world-class infrastructure projects, along with the teams responsible for creating them. It is the only program of its kind that is global in scope and comprehensive in categories covered, encompassing all types of infrastructure projects. All nominees in this year's program will receive an invitation to the Be Inspired: Thought Leadership in Infrastructure event in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from Nov. 8 to 9, 2011, and will have their projects profiled in Bentley's globally distributed Year in Infrastructure publication. An independent panel of jurors from the infrastructure community, academia, and the media will choose three finalists from each of the competition's 20 categories. The finalists will receive an all expense paid trip to the Be Inspired event, where they will have the opportunity to present the best practices behind their projects before the jurors, senior executives at leading infrastructure organizations, and more than 50 key business and trade press journalists. In addition, the finalists and winners will be acknowledged during the Be Inspired awards ceremony. Bentley Systems' CEO, Greg Bentley, said, “The Be Inspired awards provide an opportunity to commend the outstanding achievements of highly talented and imaginative professionals in sustaining infrastructure. At the same time, we are able to acknowledge the inspiring designs and higher performance of their extraordinary projects accomplished through innovative information modeling technology and best practices.” In keeping with Bentley's commitment to sustaining infrastructure, the Be Inspired program also includes special recognition awards for “Sustaining our Society,” “Sustaining our Environment,” and “Sustaining the Infrastructure Professions.” “Our Be Inspired awards program presents us with an opportunity to foster well-deserved recognition for our users' innovative and inspiring work improving infrastructure around the world,” said Bentley Systems' Chief Marketing Officer Ed Mueller. “We profile each of the nominated projects in our Year in Infrastructure publication, which is distributed to more than 150,000 key media, government, and industry influencers. We also actively engage members of the press to generate coverage of Be Inspired projects in print and digital media. Through these efforts we enable our users to demonstrate the tremendous value they add to projects, enhancing their competitive edge in the marketplace.” Bentley's mission is to empower its users to leverage information modeling through integrated projects for high-performing intelligent infrastructure. Its solutions encompass the MicroStation platform for infrastructure design and modeling, the ProjectWise platform for infrastructure project team collaboration and work sharing, and the AssetWise platform for infrastructure asset operations – all supporting a broad portfolio of interoperable applications and complemented by worldwide professional services. To learn more about the 2011 Be Inspired awards program or to submit an entry, visit www.bentley.com/BeInspired or email [email protected] Bentley users wishing to have their projects considered for this special recognition in the 2011 competition must submit their entries by July 15. __