The 40 most innovative ICT projects will be selected and announced in Tallinn
Games that stimulate the learning habits of kids in an enduring way, gadgets which promote the integration of people with disabilities by advanced technological means: What are the most innovative e-Content initiatives of 2013? The answer lies in Estonia since from August 29th-31st, the capital city of Tallinn will become the world’s ICT centre. The Grand Jury of the World Summit Award (WSA), an international team of ICT experts and industry leaders will meet in the web-affine Baltic country to select the 40 best digital content developers for the WSA 2013. The UN-based initiative promotes e-Content that helps to reach a real information society.
A multicultural jury for multicultural projects
In a three-day process, the WSA GRAND Jury will carefully select the 40 best products and ventures from among the 461 nominees. The 19 jury members come from all continents and have diverse backgrounds in the creative industries, telecommunication, advertising, journalism and research and teaching. The jury will be hosted by national partners such as the Estonian ICT Cluster.
Every product already won in one category of the Word Summit Award competition in his or her home country against numerous other contestants. It will be a tough decision for the jury to find the best of the best!
Local best e-content with a global relevance
The nominees compete in eight contest categories: e-Government & Open Date, e-Health & Environment, e-Learning & Science, e-Entertainment & Games, e-Culture & Tourism, e-Media & Journalism, e-Business & Commerce and e-Inclusion & Empowerment. Amongst them are such diverse products like news applications, information websites and innovative games.
Estonia, the host of the Award, is nominated in seven of the eight categories: “Stories of The Ancient Estonia” for example (category: e-Culture & Tourism) is a free-to-play browser game which teaches the kids of Estonia about their rich folklore in a fun and modern way and helps to develop their own cultural identity by doing so. The “EstWin”-project, on the other hand, nominated in the category of e-Inclusion & Empowerment, helps to eliminate the digital divide between urban and rural areas by creating an extensive digital network. The aim is to give every residential house, business and authority access to next-generation broadband network connection by the year 2020.
WSA Chairman Prof. Dr. Peter A. Bruck emphasises the fact that the Grand Jury will judge the value of the content of the product as well as its design and technical realisation. Each nominee’s contribution to bridging the digital divide, one of the main goal of the initiative, will play a central role for the jury: “Our aim is to find out what works in different markets and in parts of the world and what really makes a difference for the people in remote villages and global megacities. We want to show the potential of e-Content to create a true information society”, states Bruck. The Worlds Summit Award is a global initiative which promotes the regional diversity of its products.
The Big Goal in the tropics: WSA World Congress 2013 in Sri Lanka
40 winners will be selected during the three days, 5 in each of the categories. The winners will get the opportunity to present their products at the WSA World Congress in Sri Lanka, October 23rd-26th. The event will serve as a platform for high level experts, industry leaders and government representatives to discuss innovation in e-content. It will include workshops for the WSA winners, innovation sessions, panel discussions and speeches by ICT experts. At the event, an on sight jury will again evaluate the products to select the final eight overall winners: The WSA Global Champions of 2013.
