A Working Sunday

Slideshow Day 3


Short lists of maximum 18 (from up to 80 products in some categories) have been signed off and panels are prepared to move to their next posting tomorrow morning, one category higher in numbering, as the jury 'should always move forward' as proposed and motioned by Ms. Dorothy Gordon.

Sunday morning began with opening plenary discussions including a lot of proposals for how to make the award better for coming years. Jurors spoke fervently about the need for better definitions for the categories, which are interpreted very differently across cultures and backgrounds of the various eminent experts around the world (about 150 nations submit products every year ).

Many jurors trudged on through rankings many of them had left only a few hours earlier, with one juror having finished his evaluations at 3 am the night before.

An evening plenary included a philosophical question from Cornelius Hopmann on the differences in education systems as applied to rankings in the e-learning category he was evaluating. Each panel had a spokesperson (or multiple spokespeople) give an overview for their shortlisting.

Panels had their short lists approved by the Chair and Co-Chair before the networking night at the restaurant. It was still unclear if Alexander Felsenberg had his request for flip charts from the morning session granted at the time of writing of this entry. I will seek the answer tomorrow morning at breakfast for daily readers.

Congratulations to the jurors for completion of the arduous task of the initial shortlist. Rumor has it, we have some really amazing projects.

First Day of Evaluations

Daily Slide Show - Day 2

The day opened with the first plenary. Jurors introduced themselves to a small group, then the groups introduced themselves to the room. The assembly learned that one juror was an open water scuba instructor, another had 27 microsoft certifications he claims he never uses in his career, and yet another was "working on babies" with his wife. The panels were formed before lunch. Rules, criteria, and decisions on process followed, leading into the very first round of evaluation.

At their panels, jurors were excited to see the first products in their selected categories. From e-government to e-business, jurors took it all in. The plenary discussion was cut short by a surprise visit from the Croatian President. After a late dinner, jurors continue to evaluate late into the night.


Panel compositions:

Panel I
• Category e-Government
• Tutor: Edward Yeboah

• MEMBERS
– Shem Ochuodho (Rwanda)
– Ahmed Yahia (Egypt)
– Dennis Anderson (USA/Korea)
– Alexander Felsenberg (Germany)

Panel II
• Category e-Health
• Tutor: Emilia Bruck

• MEMBERS
– Waheed AlBalushi (Bahrain)
– Titilayo Akinsanmi (Nigeria)
– Cid Torquato (Brazil)
– Kresimir Lugaric (Croatia)

Panel III
• Category e-Learning
• Tutor: Lea Venne

• MEMBERS
– Cornelius Hopmann (Nicaragua)
– Carina Felzmann (Austria)
– Faouzi Zaghbib (Tunisia)
– Manar Al-Hashash (Kuwait)

Panel IV
• Category e-Entertainment
• Tutor: Marko Ladika

• MEMBERS
– Luis Lopez (Colombia)
– Paul Hoffert (Canada)
– Dorothy Gordon (Ghana)
– Elisabeth Quat (China)

Panel V

• Category e-Culture
• Tutor: Sebastian Ladika

• MEMBERS
– Lucas Lim (Japan)
– Lumko Mtimde (South Africa)
– Alfredo Ronchi (Italy)
– Garegin Chugaszyan (Armenia)

Panel VI

• Category e-Science
• Tutor: Bruna Jaksic

• MEMBERS
– Anya Sverdlov (Russia)
– Jan Bieringa (New Zealand)
– Izzeldin Osman (Sudan)
– Peter Cernik (Venezuela)

Panel VII

• Category e-Business
• Tutor: Sarah Gojkovic

• MEMBERS
– Abu Talib Bachik (Malaysia)
– Maria Zaghi (Guatemala)
– Katri Ristal (Estonia)
– Rodolfo Laddaga (Mexico)


Panel VIII
• Category e-Inclusion
• Tutor: Martina Bajza

• MEMBERS
– Latif Ladid (Luxembourg)
– Zawan Al-Sabti (Oman)
– Paul Braund (USA)
– Osama Manzar (India)

Jak Boumans' Blog

Jak Boumans is also blogging daily about his experiences at the WSA 2007 on his personal blog at http://buziaulane.blogspot.com.

Ready, Set, Go.

Daily Slideshow

Tables Await Jurors in the Congress Hall

The Jury is about to begin. As jurors arrived by ferry, tutors met with Dr. Peter Bruck, the Conference Chair, for a quick briefing before the official schedule. Technicians are making the last checks on the computer panels sitting patiently set up with over 50 products on each.


The Welcome Dinner tonight was the first opportunity for jurors to see everyone else who is
here. With new judges arriving and those who participated before reconnecting, it's a very exciting time. We honoured not only those who came to judge, but those who came to support them, their wives, brothers, partners and companions in the room. One of the tutors, Martina from Zagreb, celebrated her 20th Birthday.


Now everyone heads off to bed for the last of not-too-too-early mornings as the opening plenary is scheduled tomorrow.


We've gotten wind of an unofficial blog for the Jury by Jak Boumans, Co-Chair, link to be posted tomorrow.

What is WSA?

For a brief introduction:

The World Summit Award (WSA) is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best e-Content, started in 2003 in the framework of the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). This is done through national contests, a global contest, held every 2 years, and numerous content-focused national and international conferences and workshops – the WSA Road Show. WSA is an invitation project and a global hub for everyone, who sees the crucial importance of excellent e-Content creation within the new Information Society. As of today, 168 countries are actively involved in WSA. New partners from all over the world are always welcome to join this global initiative!

What is the Digital Divide?

Digital libraries, new ways of storytelling and flash information have come to the living room. But what about people who are offline or do not speak English? Who don’t even know what Web or Internet mean? No, the problem is not that they don’t have a computer. The problem is that they don’t have access to high-quality contents that could change their lives.

What is the Content Gap?

As world economies focus on creating and improving technological products, the issue of content is considered insufficiently. Technology and what technology produces belong together – one cannot exist without the other. The ”what” however, the core of it all, remains a fraction of what it could be – due to an appalling lack of under financing. This is straight from our website at www.wsis-award.org

Welcome to the Blog

Welcome to the blog of the 2007 World Summit Awards for the top in Global E-Content!

My name is Xenia Maren Menzies and I will be your recorder for the next two weeks. I've been an intern at the International Center for New Media in Salzburg, Austria for the last three weeks helping the good people who organized this event get everything ready for this conference. As a Romanian-born Canadian student working in Austria this summer, I was chosen to be sort of an international insider voice for the event. I'd love to hear what you think as comments or feedback directly to me.

We'll be inviting guest bloggers and getting clips from the conference throughout, as well as daily updates of what everyone is doing. I'll start with preparations up until now and go through until the Summit starting on September 8th.