Author: Manuela Wagner
A PARTICIPARTORY LEARNING CONFERENCE
INGENUITY TO SOLVE REAL PROBLEMS - FROM OVER 120 COUNTRIES
More than 700 participants from around 100 countries met in Vienna, turning the city hall into a global hub for start-ups and content developers on the subject of "Social Impact through Digital Innovation". With a focus on solving real problems, working towards the UN SDG's and evoking positive change on society, the participants of the WSA Global Congress exchanged knowledge and shared inspiration.
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WSA Global Congress Vienna 2018
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WSA Global Congress Vienna 2018
The World Summit Award Congress Vienna 2018 recognised the important part that digital innovation plays in creating sustainable social change and impact world-wide.
The 3 days event took place at the Vienna City Hall, hosted by the city of Vienna and organized in partnership with the federal government of Austria, sponsoring partners and strategic partners locally and globally.
WSA Global Congress Vienna featured the 40 WSA global winners in the 8 categories, as well as the 5 WSA Young Innovators and connected them with international thought-leaders, ICT experts and regional stakeholders to enable a knowledge transfer. On invitation of the City of Vienna, WSA Global Congress Vienna provided a stage for best practices and shared experience on how social innovation and entrepreneurship can be encouraged and play a key role to have a sustainable impact on society.
Prof. Peter A. Bruck, Chairman of the World Summit Award Board of Directors: "Thanks to the City of Vienna, we have brought this Austrian initiative to Austria for the first time and opened a showcase for products from all member states of the United Nations that make a difference. The WSA network shows that innovation comes primarily not from the pursuit of profit and quick money, but from the commitment to avoid suffering and alleviate the need. This results in a sustainable positive transformations of our society. "
With a unique selection of inspirational keynotes, interactive workshops and the showcasing of 45 best practice examples on digital innovation with social impact, the WSA Global Congress once more turned out to be a networking and learning experience of a different kind. Please find the full conference program and catalogue here.
THE WSA GLOBAL CONGRESS 2018 VIENNA FEATURED THE FOLLOWING FORMATS:
- Welcome Reception at the Wien Museum
- Site-Visit to the Social City Vienna
- Pitch Perfect Training for Winners
- WSA Global Experts Reunion
- Innovation Shots and Inspiration Talks by international and local speakers
- Panel Discussions
- SDG Bingo
- WSA Innovation Pitches by WSA Winners
- World-Cafe Session
- 1:1 Mentoring Session between social entrepreneurs and international mentors
- Fuck-Up Night Vienna in partnership with WSA
- Business Matching Hackathon
- Interactive Hands-On Workshops and Skills Training
- WSA Luncheon @ the United Nations Vienna
- Vienna Sightseeing Tour
- Josef Umdasch Research Prize in the framework of WSA
- WSA Award Ceremony and Gala
- How to Vlog Workshop for UNESCO Schools Students Vienna
Sachi Wickramage, WSA national expert from Australia and COO of i4Tradies: "During this summit, the best problem solvers from around the world gather under one roof and take part in interactive knowledge sharing sessions, smart discussion forums and various networking events. Eminent speakers take the stage and disseminate knowledge across various fields of expertise, providing thought-provoking inspiration to all attendees. WSA always treats everyone like family. By just participating in the WSA, one learns and grows more within few days that would have in months."
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
WSA GLOBAL CONGRESS WELCOME RECEPTION @ WIEN MUSEUM
The WSA Global Congress opening for the international delegates from over 80 countries was organized in partnership with the Wien Museum. To provide the international WSA network with the right context of the city of Vienna.
The Wien Museum kindly offered to open their museum and the Otto Wagner exhibition exclusively for the WSA delegation.
WSA national experts from over 60 countries joined together in Vienna to discuss the local pre-selections and the digital developments in their regions. WSA national expert Dritan Mezini commented:"WSA Global Congress was such a wonderful, successful event. My remaining impression is that WSA is like a big family. This is a great asset to take WSA further."
A special highlight of the WSA Global Congress is the Business Matching Hackathon on March 22, 2018. WSA partners Atos, GIZ, Erste Bank, Telekom Austria Group, FFG, Wiener Stadtwerke will be presenting their challenges to hackathon participants in order to obtain solutions from international and national social entrepreneurs.
JOSEF UMDASCH RESEARCH PRIZE & UMDASCH CLUBBING
On occasion of the 150th company anniversary of Umdasch Group, WSA and Umdasch Group developed a partnership to enable a sustain-able partnership between innovative tech start-ups and the Umdasch Group. All WSA nominees from the last 4 award years were invited to submit an innovative concept for 3 challenges addressed by the companies of Umdasch Group.
The idea is to work with experienced and creative teams and invite them to come up with new ideas or modified version of their already existing products for specific challenges of Umdasch Group. A specially assembled Jury selected three winners during the WSA Global Congress.
Dr. Andreas Ludwig explained: “In each case, the winner can look forward to receiving an order to implement their proposal. The Josef Umdasch Research Prize 2018 is thus not just a spark of light in the form of an award, but it will become an integral part of our business which focuses on new technologies and methods in all areas within our group of companies.”
The cooperation with the WSA was a logical one for the Umdasch Group, “because the WSA has access to precisely those companies which we have not only had our eye on as a target group for the tasks in hand, but also with a view to the sustainability of the entire group: young, ambitious start-ups with unconventional digital ideas and technological innovations.”
KEY PARTICIPANTS
The WSA Innovation Shot Speakers rocked the audience's mind set with their insights, expertise, and learnings, the workshop leaders tought the participants how to create new skill sets, and the inspirational performers didn't let anyone leave the room without new motivation and ideas.
JOIN WSA GLOBAL CONGRESS 2018!
AVAILABLE CONFERENCE TICKET CATEGORIES
FULL
FULL WSA GLOBAL CONGRESS TICKET (March 20-22, 2018 )
- incl. Umdasch Group Afterparty
- excl. Gala and Award Ceremony & Event at the UN HQ Vienna
- "FuckUp Nights Vienna" require seperate registration!
1
DAY 1 WSA GLOBAL CONGRESS TICKET (March 20, 2018)
- Full price day pass for the WSA Global Congress Program on March 20, 2018
- "FuckUp Nights Vienna" require seperate registration!
2
DAY 2 WSA GLOBAL CONGRESS TICKET (March 21, 2018)
- Full price day pass for the WSA Global Congress Program on March 21, 2018
3
DAY 3 WSA GLOBAL CONGRESS TICKET (March 22, 2018)
- Full price day pass for the WSA Global Congress Program on March 22, 2018
- incl. Umdasch Group Afterparty
- excl. Gala and Award Ceremony & Event at the UN HQ Vienna
PLEASE NOTE: Student discount tickets are only valid upon presenting a valid student ID at the registration desk. Max. age 27 years.
All tickets include lunch and coffee breaks as stated in the program.
WSA GLOBAL CONGRESS PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
*with your ticket purchase you agree that you get signed up to the World Summit Awards Newsletter. You can unsubscribe any time!
15 YEARS OF IMPACTFUL WORK TO NARROW THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
WSA long term strategic partner Digtial Empowerment Foundation (DEF), led by WSA national expert in India, Mr. Osama Manzar, celebrates it's 15th year of impact. Osama Manzar is the Founder-Director of Digital Empowerment Foundation and Chair of Manthan and mBillionth Awards.
Established in 2002, Digital Empowerment Foundation aims to connect unreached and underserved communities of India in an effort to bring them out of digital darkness and equip them with access to information. With the belief ‘Inform, Communicate and Empower,’ DEF finds sustainable digital interventions to overcome information poverty in rural and remote locations of India, and empower communities with digital literacy, digital tools and last mile connectivity.
In 2017, the Digital Empowerment Foundation celebrates 15 years of impactful work to narrow the digital divide.
Through the award mechanism of the Manthan and mBillionth Awards, DEF selects and promotes best practice in the use of ICT 4 Development in South Asia. That way, DEF shapes the content industry in a way to address the needs of the poor as part of digital normality in the country.
DEF is a lighthouse example of the multiple fruits of the seeds sown by WSA and WSA wishes Osama and his team heartfelt congratulations.
WSA Young Innovators is a special recognition for young social entrepreneurs under 30 years of age, using ICTs to take action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Together with the WSA winners of each year, they are honored as outstanding digital innovation with social impact.
From nearly 500 submissions, this years WSA Online Jury had a hard time to select the 5 winners of the WSA Young Innovators.
In a 2 phase online Jury process, 5 digital solutions of young innovators under the age of 30 were selected as the best practice examples for 2017.
Together with the 40 winners of WSA,the winners of the WSA Young Innovators will present their solution and get awarded at the WSA Global Congress in Vienna, Austria in March 20-22.
THE WSA YOUNG INNOVATORS 2017
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oPerception | SUDAN
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giftedMom | CAMEROON
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Erase All Kittens | UK
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OneLamp | UGANDA
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SCARLETRED®Vision | AUSTRIA
CHECK OUT ALL WINNERS 2017 HERE...
ICT’s FOR SDG’s - THE NEXT GENERATION OF CHANGE MAKERS
Check out the nearly top Young Innovators that made it to the second round of WSA Young Innovators Jury!
WSA Young Innovators is a special recognition for young social entrepreneurs under 30 years of age, using ICTs to take action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
FIND THE WSA YOUNG INNOVATORS SHORTLIST HERE…
WSA ONLINE JURY CLOSED – THIS IS THE SHORTLIST 2017
For over a month the WSA Online Jury evaluated almost 400 entries from over 90 countries.
How innovative were the this year´s nominees using digital solutions to take action on local issues? How much impact do the projects make? Do they evoke change in their communities?
Carefully weighing all those options, WSA presents with the first Jury results a unique shortlist of global ICT development for 2017.
The shortlist now will be evaluated in a 3 days process by the WSA Grand Jury in Berlin to select the 5 winners per category.
FROM TALKING BOTS TO POCKET SIZED AED's - THE AUSTRIAN INNOVERS GO TO THE INTERNATIONAL RACES FOR THE WORLD SUMMIT AWARD
The eight winning projects of the WSA Austria 2017 were awarded at the Digital Days, an event of the Digita City Vienna, on Thursday, September 22 . State Secretary Muna Dudzdar and CIO of the City of Vienna, Ulrike Huemer, presented the awards to the winners together with Tanja Whesely.
The 8 winning projects, such as the CapitoAPP, a tool that enables barrier-free communication, or Indoo.rs, a positioning solution for interior spaces, show how digitization and technical innovation from Austria generate social value.
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WSA AUSTRIA WINNER HEARONYMUS ©David Bohmann
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WSA AUSTRIA WINNER CAPITOAPP ©David Bohmann
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MUNA DUDZAR, TANJA WHESELY, ULRIKE HUEMER ON STAGE ©David Bohmann
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WSA AUSTRIA WIENBOT ©David Bohmann
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WSA AUSTRIA WINNER POCKETDEFI ©David Bohmann
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WSA AUSTRIA WINNER WALTZING ATOMS ©David Bohmann
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WSA AUSTRIA WINNER PEGELALARM ©David Bohmann
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WSA AUSTRIA WINNER WATHERCOCKPIT ©David Bohmann
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WSA AUSTRIA WINNER INDOO.RS ©David Bohmann
Together with the national winners from over 90 countries, the Austrian winners of the WSA Austria are now entering the race for the international World Summit Award.
The 40 winners of the World Summit Award will be awarded in March 2018 at the WSA Global Congress, which will be held for the first time in Vienna.
HERE’s THE ULTIMATE SELECTION OF CHANGE MAKERS 2017
WSA 2017 CALL CLOSED - 391 DIGITAL INNOVATIONS NOMINATED FROM OVER 90 COUTRIES
How are innovative people using digital solutions to take action on local issues? How do entrepreneurs evoke change in their communities or how can we use local content for social impact?
WSA provides a unique global selection of how digital applications providessolutions to solve local issues. With almost 400 entries in total from over 100 countries WSA once more provides a collection of global mobile development.
Article by WSA national expert Sachi Wickramage
Even with all the advancements in technology, the world today is still on a “Digital Divide”. Although countless individuals and companies are working tremendously to bridge the digital divide, there is still a bigger gulf that’s untapped. With the existing inequitable access to digital resources between developed and developing countries, it is of utmost importance that the joint effort of the entire international community is achieved, in order to bridge digital divide.
Digital divide can be coined as a gap between the information rich and the information poor, underlining the reality that not only individuals but also companies and nations must have access to the latest technological advancements in order to enjoy the many benefits that globalization brings.
As a strong believer of, ‘one man can make a difference’, my contribution to narrowing the digital divide is through conceptualization of multiple mobile-first strategies that brings the world to a common platform. Having co-founded several mobile-first endeavours, my aim was to find a suitable platform to showcase these software solutions to a broader global audience. My efforts were recognized by World Summit Awards (WSA) as a result of this.
WSA aims to bridge this digital divide by connecting all ICT passionate individuals, social entrepreneurs, start-ups and digital innovators from around the world, through its highly democratic awarding platform. WSA is open to 178+ UN member countries, to showcase their cutting-edge examples on how ICT can have a positive impact on society.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a unique United Nations summit that began with the goal of achieving a shared commitment to building a people-centric, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society where everyone can create and share information. Therefore, World Summit Awards (WSA) was established to put into action, the goals of United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (UN WSIS).
WSA invites all its winners to an all-expenses paid extensive programme at the WSA Global Congress which consists of multiple trainings, knowledge sharing and brainstorming sessions which expands individuals’ mind-set to go back to their countries and share experiences with their societies.
My journey with WSA started when one of the mobile-first endeavours which I Co-Founded, became a winner in 2005.
During this summit, the best problem solvers from around the world gathered under one roof and took part in interactive knowledge sharing sessions, smart discussion forums and various networking events. Eminent speakers took the stage and disseminated knowledge across various fields of expertise, providing thought provoking inspiration to all attendees. I admired the perfect planning and execution of each aspect of the summit, where WSA panel treated everyone like family. By just participating in WSA, one learns and grows more within few days, than would have in months.
Through my work and experience with WSA, I recognized the importance of capitalizing on 3 key ingredients to bridge the digital divide.
1. Information Accessibility
I see information accessibility as a very important starting point to bridging the digital divide. After all, we do live in the information age where access to information generates many opportunities for everyone in society. Despite the society we live in, people consume information in many forms to make decisions about their daily lives. This can range from actions such as being able to read and understand a train schedule to accessing synchronised personal medical records online. No longer should societal barriers of preconception, infrastructure, and inaccessible formats stand in the way of accessing and utilizing information in daily life.
2. Information Equity
Information inequities already exist in all societies, facilitating mostly the affluent to have access to better hardware, faster internet, that gives them better choices of quality information. In order to gain societal information equity, there should be a minimum level of information quality below which nobody falls. This means, within a community, everyone should have equitable access to information resources and opportunities. Equity implies a need for fairness and not necessarily equality; because at times, too much information will result in information overload where people wouldn’t know to make productive use of them. Therefore, it will be wise to focus on equitable availability of information which supports in justifiable distribution of gains and losses, and the entitlement of everyone to an acceptable quality standard of living.
3. Information Perception
Finally, how a society perceives information is also very important. The state-of-the-art technology available today brings information to our fingertips. This also gives the power to use the available information for good or evil. The floods of information that is out there if not understood wisely, can create a storm that no one wishes to see. Therefore, societal information perception is a key ingredient today. Focusing on the good, the information provided through the internet, has transformed the way we think and do things on a daily basis. It brings communities together, advocates peace, harmony and growth.
Countries today are attempting to build a connected sustainable ICT sector. We can do this only if all nations focus on a common perception on how information can help bridge the digital divide. This can be achieved by creating SMART content and innovative ICT applications.
Being part of WSA helps an individual, group or a company use these 3 ingredients and take few steps closer to bridging the Digital Divide.
It can be a Mobile App which promotes content creation for children’s education, aiming to reach a broader audience under Learning & Education sector, OR a cloud based Web Application, optimized to work on minimum bandwidth which lets people have access to curated news & information even on the slowest networks, allowing people in rural areas to not be left-out. This combines information accessibility, equity & perception assuring a narrowing of the gap in digital divide.
I believe and have already witnessed WSA being a global stage for this great cause of narrowing the Digital Divide.
As a Jury Member and the National Expert spearheading the WSA local call for Australia, I invite All and especially the Millennials, to embrace the newest technological advancements out there. Use technologies such as IoT & Smart Home Tech, AR & VR, Automation & Autonomy, Machine Learning & AI to contribute to bridge the digital divide effectively. By being a part of this technological revolution, I believe one day the world can enjoy information accessibility and perception, creating an equitably connected society.
More on Sachi Wickramage...
August 5, 2017 | New Delhi
Thirty-two initiatives won hearts and the mBillionth Awards 2017 at Eros Hotel, New Delhi, on August 4, 2017 amid much celebration and powerful discussions.
On the occasion, winners of the World Summit Award Mobile Content from South Asia were also felicitated.
Now in its eight year, mBillionth Awards South Asia was conceptualised to recognise and felicitate mobile-based initiatives that are leading the world towards development and change. Over the years, the platform has created a knowledge hub and network of more than 2,000 initiatives from eight South Asian countries — India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
“In the last eight years, the mBillionth platform has moved from recognising telecom-based initiatives to purely mobile-based initiatives,” Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) Founder-Director Osama Manzar said, welcoming Finalists, speakers and guests. “When we first laid the foundation of the mBillionth Awards, mobile penetration in India stood at 600 million.
Today, there are more than one SIM cards in India. However, gender parity is still an issue. As many as 72 per cent women in India do not own mobile phones.” Taking forward the conversation of connectivity, access and gender, the floor was opened for a panel discussion on ‘Emergence of Mobile Societies’ moderated by GoNews Founder and Editor Pankaj Pachauri. Panellists in the discussion were Adviser for Communication & Information at UNESCO South Asia Al-Amin Yusuph, CEO of Real Time Governance in the Government of Andhra Pradesh Babu A, Vice-President of Government Affairs at Qualcomm India & South Asia Parag Kar, Chairman & Managing Director of RailTel RK Bahuguna, President of Internet and Mobile Association of India Subho Ray, and Osama Manzar.
This year, mBillionth Awards received 294 nominations across 10 categories — Health & Well-Being, Government & Citizen Engagement, Learning & Education, Early Stage, Business & Commerce, Agriculture & Environment, Smart Settlements & Urbanisation, Media & Entertainment, Culture & Tourism, Inclusion & Empowerment — from eight South Asian countries. A rigorous Jury process shortlisted 65 Finalists from these nominations. These Finalists got together on the day to share with each other what they are doing, before the awards ceremony commenced.
The Awards Gala began with the felicitation of winners of World Summit Awards (WSA) Mobile Content 2016 from South Asia. The Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka won in the Health & Well-Being category; the Government of Andhra Pradesh won in the Government & Citizen Engagement category; Sankalptaru Foundation won in the Environment & Green Energy category; and Bangladesh’s PreneurLab won in the Smart Settlements & Urbanisation category. The WSA Awards felicitation was followed by the announcement and felicitation of those who were recognised with the mBillionth Award 2017.
At the Awards Gala, 25 initiatives were announced Winners, 04 received Special Mentions and 03 were recognised for the Chairman’s Distinction. A complete list of Winners can be accessed here and the annual awards book ‘Mobile Societies’, released on the occasion, can be read here. For more information, please write to sachin.ralhan@defindia.net.
Please find all pictures here.
Together with WSA’s long term partner and regional initiative mBillionth Award for South Asia, WSA is delighted to invite the WSA-mobile 2016 award winners from the South Asian region to the most prestigious mBillionth Award ceremony in Delhi, on August 4, 2017.
The mBillionth Award, founded in 2010 by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), spun off from its highly successful Manthan Awards as separate award, recognising excellence in mobile innovations for development in South Asia.
The mBillionth Award ceremony hosted by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), will be bringing together the most innovative social entrepreneurs, experts as well as representatives from governments, private sector and academia from the region.
DEF organizes this special regional WSA Mobile award ceremony exclusively for the winners of the Asia Pacific region, facilitated in tandem with the mBillionth award and WSA.
WSA-mobile winners 2016
VON AUSKUNFTSFREUDIGEN ROBOTERN ZU MINIDEFIBRILLATOREN -
DIGITALISIERUNG UND TECHNISCHE INNOVATION AUS ÖSTERREICH KANN NICHT NUR SMART,
SONDERN NÜTZLICH
WSA Austria Juryentscheidungen stehen fest – Österreichs digitale Innovationen spielen in der ganz großen Liga mit.
Die JurorInnen der WSA Austria Jury Sitzung am Donnerstag, dem 29. Juni waren sich nach einigen Diskussionen rasch einig: Die 8 GewinnerInnen des dieses Jahr erstmalig stattgefundenen nationalem Wettbewerb sind bereit als Vorzeigemodelle für die Weltbühne.
Die Gewinnerprojekte gehen für Österreich ins Rennen um den UN basierten World Summit Award und treten gegen 178 andere teilnehmende Länder an.
WSA@WSIS Forum 2017
WSIS Forum.
With the digital age our world is becoming more and more connected. Data is the new oil, the fourth industrial revolution is in its starting point and people’s fear to lose their jobs to robots is growing.
WSA Chairman Prof. Peter A. Bruck states:
Community means a lot of different things, but needs to be built by each new project or enterprise."
In this workshop, WSA presented young inspiring and useful solutions developed by young entrepreneurs, three of the WSA Youth Ambassadors, from all around the world, tackling the UN SDGs, and showcased how a global initiative like the World Summit Award can help to build an exclusive knowledge society:
Sharmishta Sivaramakrishnan is the UN Youth Representative for Caring for Cambodia and a current Master in Development Studies candidate at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. She presented the project CARING FOR CAMBODIA and stated:
Jon Mark Walls leads the overall GovFaces project, particularly working with international organizations, potential investors, and strategic partners of GovFaces. Jon Mark pointed out:
Sanny Gaddafi, WSA Youth Ambassador, Jury member and WSA Winner from 2016 states:
Jordi Serrano Pons, WSA Speaker and Jury member, presened his winning project from WSA 2014:
Volunteering for International Professionals (VIP) Fellowship Programme
Zikry Kholil, Chief Brand Officer, Co-Founder Incitement Global and WSA Workshop leader, has informed us about a great opportunity to those who would like to contribute their expertise and are hungry for a new challenge!
Volunteering for International Professionals (VIP) Fellowship Programme
How does it work?
What’s in it for the VIP Fellows?
- You’ll volunteer with Asia’s leading NGOs for 4 months
- Your flights & visas fully taken care of
- Your accommodation arranged for you
- You’ll even receive a monthly allowance
- Your job is to help your Host Organisation create more social impact
- You have a minimum of 3-5 years working or volunteering experience
- You have at least a Bachelor's degree or the equivalent
- You are proficient in English (reading, writing, and speaking)
- You are able to commit full-time to the 16 week programme
- You are willing to work with low-income populations and demonstrate good interpersonal skills
- You are committed to returning to your home country after immediately upon completion of the Fellowship
http://www.vip.org.my/apply/fellow_application
On 17th of May – the international Telecommunications and Informationn Society Day – finals of Lithuania‘s national contest for "World Summit Awards" took place, and best digital products for all 8 categories of WSA 2017 were selected.
The final event, which took place at the Martynas Mazvydas National Library of Lithuania, in Vilnius, concluded the selection process that took almost 2 months. 50 digital products were submitted for national contest called "Naujasis knygnesys" ("New Enlightener" in Lithuanian), covering various areas of digital worls, from government to business, from environment to inclusion.
According to Ieva Zilioniene, Lithuania‘s WSA National expert and part of WSA International Jury, this national contest provides opportunity to see and to evaluate what new, interesting and original innovations have been created by Lithuanian digital developers.
The right to present Lithuania in "World Summit Awards" this year goes to 8 digital developers and their products:
- State Enterprise "Centre of Registers" for "Cash Limitations Information Sistem"(category "Government and Citizen Engagement")
- Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) and JSC "Citrus" for "LRT for Children" (category "Health and Well being")
- JSC "Šviesa" for "Eduka Class" (category "Learning and Education")
- Mr. Remigijus Pakštys for "Farmis" (category "Environment and Green energy")
- The Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and JSC "Hnit-Baltic" for "Forgotten Vilnius" (category "Culture and Tourism")
- JSC "ITO" for "Tele2 Mobile Station" (category "Smart settlements and Urbanization")
- Mr. Andrius Rinkevičius for "Profittools" (category "Business and Commerce")
- Vilnius University Institute of Mathematics and Informatics for "Raštija.lt" (category "Inclusion and Empowerment")
The World Summit Award will contribute also in 2017 to the WSIS Forum.
On June 12th, WSA will conduct an interactive workshop under the title Impact on Society through Digital Innovation
With the digital age our world is becoming more and more connected. Data is the new oil, the fourth industrial revolution is in its starting point and people’s fear to lose their jobs to robots is growing.
On the contrary, the ongoing movement of using ICTs to drive development and empowerment, to reach new communities and to provide low threshold access to information,proves the potential of digital innovation to have a positive impact on society.
Young people prove that entrepreneurial and technical skills can be used to make our world more inclusive and educated and to tackle the UN SDGs.
The World Summit Award provides a platform for such start-ups, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, governments, private sector and academia to exchange best practice solutions in IT applications from all over the world.
Initiated in 2003 in the framework of UN WSIS, WSA since then is active in 178 UN member states. By the means of a global contest WSA identifies, promotes and connects digital applications with a local impact on society.
In this workshop, WSA presents not only inspiring and useful solutions developed by young entrepreneurs from all around the world, tackling the UN SDGs, but how a global initiative like the World Summit Award can help to build an exclusive knowledge society.
A panel of international experts in the field of using ICT to take action on the UN SDG’s will share their insights and latest developments. And interactive discussion invites the audience to share their thoughts and their own experiences.
WSA was initiated in 2003, responding to the global challenge of the Information Society and the UN Agenda, the government of the Republic of Austria decided to initiate a member states activity on creative e-Content for the Word Summit Conference.
The government decided to mandate the International Center for New Media and its honorary chairman Prof. Dr. Peter A. Bruck to launch the World Summit Award in order to present to the global UN family of states and all delegates to the World Summit the richness and diversity of creative use of ICTs.
WSA PRESENTS 64 OUTSTANDING PRODUCTS FROM OVER 40 UN MEMBER STATES – THE 2016 SELECTION OF REAL CHANGE MAKERS
Mining 178 participating countries for the spirit and visons of making an impact on society by using digital technologies, WSA has gathered over 451 unique digital projects worldwide in 2016.
An especially assembled multi professional Jury has selected 40 WSA and 16 WSYA winning applications for 2016 with hight local impact to be presented to the world.
PROVIDING SOLUTIONS FOR EVERYDAYS CHALLENGES: GET A FIRST PEEK ON THE WSA mobile TOP 40
The 40 Winners of WSA mobile represent the richness and diversity of digital content globally. They make our society more inclusive, efficient, offer new services and contribute to a sustainable knowledge society.
Presenting a diameter spanning an Austrian solution for the aging society, a health data monitoring system from Sri Lanka, to a Mexican knowledge base and an AR solution to make elections more transparent.
You’ll find a German orientation platform for refugees as well as a Bangladeshi app to promote and control the public lavatories. South Africa presents itself with a project not only providing FreeWifi, but offering a platform of selected content to introduce users to what the Internet has to offer.
VOICES FROM FORMER WINNERS:
THE SPIRIT OF YOUNG DIGITAL INNOVATION – MAKING CHANGE HAPPEN
24 OUTSTANDING YOUNG INNOVATORS UNDER 30 FROM OVER 14 COUNTRIES - THE WORLD SUMMIT YOUTH AWARD WINNERS OF 2016 SURPRISE WITH THEIR MANIFOLD PROJECTS
In a nutshell, the World Summit Youth Award awards young digital innovation by people under 30.
The 2016 edition presents 17 winners and 7 Runner Ups - outstanding young leaders that offer unique digital solutions for their communities.
Be it a platform for urban people around the world to invest into organic farms in Indonesia, a Kenian online network supporting woman suffering from infant loss or a hardware/software combination stimulating people to recycle electronic waste, these young winners from over 14 nations prove that innovation knows no age.
CriticaLink empowering the Surfer Girls of Bangladesh
CriticaLink, WSA winner 2015 in the category Health and Environment from Bangladesh, has created a network of volunteer First Responders who are connected and dispatched through location-based mobile technology; a first of its kind of in the developing world. With the goals of both saving lives and maintaining a quality of life and function that allows citizens to continue to work and be active participants in their home life and community, CriticaLink trains volunteer First Responders in life-saving emergency medical skills (bleeding control, splinting of fractures, triage, burn care, CPR, etc.) and uses an innovative, location-based mobile network to quickly dispatch the closest volunteers to the scene of an accident. So far, CriticaLink has trained 2500 First Aiders and treated 700 people in medical emergencies.
Last week, the team of CriticaLink, led by Co-Founder Rahat Hossain, has joined the exceptional project “Surfer Girls of Bangladesh” to empower the girls over a 2 days training:
- First-Aid & CPR certification to encourage the girls to help save lives and work as life-guards
- Self-Defense Workshop with the help of karate experts to empower the girls and keep them safe
- Women's Health Workshop so the girls can stay healthy!
“These brave, beautiful girls inspire me beyond belief. So excited that CriticaLink got a chance to work with the next generation of international surf champions in Bangladesh. But more than being surf champions, these are girls who are unafraid to rise up against all challenges to follow their dreams, they are true heroes! These girls are braving the waves and challenging stereotypes to show the world that that no matter where you come from, you can follow your dreams.”
WSA mobile is happy to announce the first results of the WSA-mobile Jury 2016!
Selected from over 400 international nominations, the expert WSA Jury panel has selected 124 products to be evaluated in the second round of the Jury process.
From February 2nd to February 28, 2017, the WSA Jury panel will choose the final 40 winners. The WSA mobile winners of 2016 will be announced in the first week of March! Stay tuned!
Find out which projects made the first round of Jury evaluation here.
WSA congratulates the shortlisted nominees!
