Results: Telkom – Highway Africa New Media Awards 2010, in Association with the Open Society Institute for West Africa

The Telkom – Highway Africa New Media Awards took place on Sunday 4 July, 2010 at the Opening Dinner of  2010 Highway Africa conference.

These are the 2010 winners and runner-ups:

Not-for-Profit Category

• Winner: African Woman and Child Feature Service – www.awcfs.org (represented by Wambui Gicheru, IT Director)

Judges' Comments: The well articulated presentation of women and children's issues both in design and content, make this a sure winner. AWCFS builds capacity to report on gender issues and addresses the needs of a marginalised community. It is very extensive and covers many areas affecting women in Africa.

• Runner-up: Kalahari People's Network – www.kalaharipeoples.net (represented by Lesley Beake, Editor/Manager)

Judges' Comments: This website provides a virtual space for networking and exchange of information among contemporary Kalahari communities and individuals throughout Southern Africa. The judges said it was a useful community portal and its focus on a marginalised community makes it stand out.  

Individual or Student Category

• Winner: Simon Dingle -  www.zatechshow.co.za

Judges' Comments: The ZA Tech Show is a weekly technology podcast, hosted is by Simon Dingle and regular panellists. Judges said the website reflects innovations in the use of new media, combines audio and video download, as well as streaming. It builds understanding of new media development for both journalists and the audience.

• Runner-up: Remmy Nweke – www.itrealms.blogspot.com  

Judges' Comments: This is a personal and extensive blog that updates on ICT developments. It integrates RSS feeds, Picassa and Twitter feeds and also regularly updated at least 50 articles a month since January 2010.

Corporate Category

• Winner: Zoopy.com – www.zoopy.com  (represented by Jason Elk, CEO, Zoopy)

Judges' Comments: Zoopy is an online and mobile social media community, where users upload, share and interact with videos, photos and audio. One judge said they were very impressed with the backend work that must take place to make all this possible. The content is also regularly updated, varied and fresh. Comments from visitors provide platform for interactivity and the views on the videos provide proof that the site is actually visited regularly.

Runner-up: Dispatch Online Blogs – http://blogs.dispatch.co.za/ (represented by Jan Hennop, Online News Editor)

Judges' Comments: This is the breaking news blog of the Daily Dispatch and all from the Eastern Cape. Judges described it as a very interesting concept backed by a well designed and presented website. One judge described a post titled "Dying to Live", as "one of the most in depth online reports I have ever come across. The level of research, use of different types of media sets a standard for other newspapers across Africa to follow".

Prices included the elegant Highway Africa Globe Trophies; $1000 for winners and $500 for runner-ups complements of OSIWA, and gadgets from Telkom.

The judges for the 2010 Telkom-Highway Africa New Media Awards were:

• Mr. Kwami Ahiabenu (Chair of the Jury) – Director, www.penplusbytes.org
  
• Ms. Natasha Primo – Senior Projects Coordinator, Association for Progressive Communications
• Ms. Nnenna Nwakama – Founder and CEO, NNENNA.Org.
• Mr. Fungai Tichiwangana – Founder and publisher of www.zimbojam.com

--
International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org

ICT and Civic Engagement in Nigeria: the 2011 Presidential Election and Beyond

A Public Symposium
19 July 2010
Abuja, Nigeria
Sponsored by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Digital Bridge Institute, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and the Berkman Center. 

Visit the   main website      http://www.e-nigeria.org/  For this event, which includes registration, the agenda, and more information.

Objectives

The objective of this ongoing series is to stimulate discussion of, engagement with, and reflection upon the role and uses of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in civic engagement. We will specifically examine and advocate around the upcoming 2011 Nigerian presidential election, exploring ICTs as environments to educate, discuss, deliberate, choose, and act. The meetings will draw on relevant experiences from Nigeria, the rest of Africa, and elsewhere around the world, bringing together thought leaders, practitioners, activists, and citizens, with a particular focus on civil society actors.

Of particular interest are the various ways in which ICTs can be enabling key functions of democracy, including how they help people to access and share relevant news and information, organize and coordinate activity, and generate and utilize data. While these endeavors are always important in the drive to create transparent and accountable government and rich civic engagement, they are perhaps never more essential as in the period around (and including) elections, where they represent a unique resource.

Background

Nigerians, and indeed the world, are collectively holding their breath in anticipation of the 2011 presidential election. Indeed this election's importance to the citizens of Nigeria and the good functioning of the government cannot be overstated. And no longer is there doubt as to the tremendous promise – and associated risks – of using information and communication technologies to enhance the effectiveness of both electoral activities and new approaches to reform, monitoring, and civic participation in the democratic process.

This upcoming symposium and workshop emerged from a July 2009 conference in which diverse non-governmental organizations (NGOs) made plain the requirements of robust state accountability and transparency for civil society to succeed with its missions – and the concomitant potential of ICTs to support these goals of participatory, inclusive and deliberative processes of decision-making. What became eminently clear from these NGO participants was that Nigeria now sits at a critical juncture with respect to this civic engagement, with all eyes focused upon the upcoming election.

Conveners

The symposia are co-organized by the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University (USA), hosted by Digital Bridge Institute (Nigeria), and sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Format/Venue/Audience

The series begins with a large, daylong public symposium at the Yar' Adua Centre in Abuja on July 19, 2010, followed by a smaller invitation-only interactive workshop on July 20 at the Digital Bridge Institute in Abuja. Facilitators are leading researchers, activists and organizations in the field and will come from Nigeria, across Africa and around the world. Participants will overlap, drawing from across sectors, including NGOs, donors, academics, activists, policymakers, technologists, and entrepreneurs.

The public symposium will introduce the big picture making the issues widely accessible and compelling to a diverse public audience. It will include a small number of plenary talks from eminent personalities designed to give framing overviews to the topics. However, most of the day will consist of panel discussions that will combine case studies and critical analysis with policy engagements including next-step provocations.

The subsequent workshop will consist of highly interactive plenary sessions separated by two hands-on breakout sessions focusing on relevant skills, strategies and tools. This invitation-only workshop will be limited to at most 100 participants.

Visit the main website for this event, which includes registration, the agenda, and more information.

--
International Institute for ICT Journalism
www.penplusbytes.org