Winners

Ngpay is India’s first mass market mobile commerce service. Functioning on every telecom network, consumers all over India are able to bank, pay bills, book tickets, make donations, shop, order food, and more - from a single place on their mobile handsets. Transactions with 80+ businesses across 10 sectors can be completed following a simple download of a free, 64kb application to a mobile handset. ngpay is easy, fast, and secure. Upon selection of a merchant, the user is guided through their m-commerce transaction - step-by-step - via ngpay's interactive, menu-driven interface. In this way, ngpay is able to deliver the true PC-Based e-commerce experience with mobile internet technology. Once the user gets to the payment stage, multiple options are available - all securely stored in ngpay's mobile wallet. All conventional forms of electronic payment are possible, including redeeming ngpay loyalty points. Data and over-the-air transactions are fully encrypted and require multi-level authorization to be accessed. Users receive SMS and, where applicable, email verifications of their transactions, and can view their transaction history on the ngpay main menu. ngpay is one of the few services able to bring low-cost electronic commerce and financial services to the rural and working class. For more information visit the website www.ngpay.com.

With its new SanierungsCheck software, Austrian building society ‘Bausparkasse’ is providing its customers with an easy first step to improving energy efficiency in their homes. Users of the website can get a first impression of the necessary improvements to be made to their properties in just a few minutes – all from the comfort of their own homes. This unique software guides users through the many solutions available for exploiting the maximum energy-saving potential of their properties in a simple and straightforward manner. It identifies the necessary improvements, calculates a building cost estimate based on the data entered, evaluates the subsidies available in the respective federal province and calculates potential mortgage options. The software is divided into several modules to achieve optimum results that meet specific user requirements. These modules can be used on their own or in combination, according to individual needs and interests. Sanierungscheck.at features a modern and self-explanatory design to facilitate access and provide all the necessary information at a glance. For more information visit the website http://www.sanierungscheck.at.

AvaGuide is a sophisticated combination of top quality interactive video and text-to-speech technology that enables the creation of virtual characters able to hold customized conversations. In less than 10 minutes, AvaGuide can provide businesses with a perfect virtual employee who will work 24/7, serving tens of customers at a time. Record your video or choose one of the professional pre-recorded characters, add a stylish background and a dialog, and remember that you can customize it the way you want. Copy the code and paste it into your site and your AvaGuide is ready to work for you. AvaGuide gives businesses the opportunity to attract more customer attention, convert visitors into paying customers by simply making their lives easier, plus distinguish themselves from competitors still using traditional text solutions. AvaGuides can help visitors navigate though sites and find answers to their questions – instantly, in an intelligent way. No previous solutions could do that. This product guarantees the most intuitive online experience site visitors can have. For more information visit the website www.avaguide.net.

After almost 10 years of brand-building, AWEB has become China’s largest agricultural portal website, with daily visits topping 1 million. It offers a rich source of farming information, such as news, network promotion, online trading, supply and demand, and online recruitment for farmers and agricultural enterprises . Farmers and major farming households can consult experts via the forum, and receive answers to their questions free of charge. They can also post supply and demand information on a “Business Platform”, and a “Comprehensive Services Platform” functions to regulate and control the quality of the material submitted, as well as the content of online stores. In order to strengthen the protection of farmers, a “credit star” program has been developed, which uses an electronic tag to establish a low-cost credit system for small and medium sized enterprises, providing basic online credit management services for their electronic business and trading activities. For more information visit the website http://www.aweb.com.cn.

The karma currency foundation was set-up to revitalize the philanthropic landscape in Australia. Karma currency is Australia's first online gift voucher website for charitable donations, offering non-profit agencies - big and small - the chance to use the site as a new fundraising channel, with 100% of all donations going to their charity. The site explains this new concept in an easy and straightforward manner to users, providing an intuitive user experience for a diverse target audience, in the hope of converting browsers into purchasers. Charities that sign-up for the first time are reviewed and approved by karma and, once accepted, are able to complete their profiles and upload products for customers to purchase. With new charities signing up and content changing daily, the workflow and approval process demands that karma have complete control over all content on the site. A Content Management System platform has therefore been developed to give karma staff complete autonomy in managing the site, with the tools to manage charity partners, content workflow, financial reporting and the generation of reports for the Australia Taxation Office. For more information visit the website www.karmacurrency.com.au.

Newstin is an innovative technology that incorporates a new approach to content organization. Comprising over 100 million documents and 5 billion metadata items, it is the largest news database in the world with up to 250,000 articles processed daily. Newtin?s mission is to help corporate and government clients optimize intelligence efficiency and improve performance management by providing fully automated news and data categorization solutions in all the major world languages. Newstin technology is a unique system that features multi-language and cross-language document categorization. It is a powerful engine which harnesses a variety of cutting-edge technologies and implements linguistic processing with semantic analysis and multi-tier content categorization. With 2 million users globally, Newstin patented technology has the potential to become a core platform for organizing any form of unstructured textual data. For more information visit the website http://www.newstin.com.

Videolectures.Net provides free and open internet access to high quality videos of lectures presented by distinguished scholars and scientists at prominent academic events in the field of Science. The portal aims to promote science, facilitate the exchange of ideas and foster knowledge sharing by providing high quality didactic content, not only for the scientific community, but also for a more general public. All lectures, accompanying documents, information and links are systematically selected and are classified during the editorial process according to user comments. For more information visit the website http://videolectures.net.

The old Linz Water Works is home to “Water World”  - an exhibition and guided tour which has been specially designed and staged by Vogel Audiovision. From source and processing through to disposal and renewal, the visitor is taken on a fascinating journey of water, illustrated with interactive and audiovisual installations. The range of expectations of the broad spectrum of “Water World” visitors can be catered to thanks to the flexible design of the technology. Whether geared at school children or experts, the interactive system makes it possible to directly access single elements within the large information-store, in order to produce tailor-made tours. Immediate reactions to new visitor situations are therefore made possible by changing the order of the elements or adding or subtracting individual pieces of information. In addition, an accompanying programming tool allows processes to be compiled and directly executed. This tool also enables visitors to integrate their own contributions into the tour, such as PowerPoint pages or photos. For more information visit the website http://www.vogel-av.at.

“Fossil Web” is becoming ever more popular in fossil-rich China, where the number of knowledge-thirsty internet users has reportedly reached 253 million. With its commitment to promoting paleontology, Fossil Web acts as a bridge between the world of science and the general public. Website visitors are able to access various resources, including up-to-date research, paleontology news, and pictures of fossils, in order to obtain an insight into the evolution of once-living creatures.
Visitors are also able to take advantage of a website forum to share their pictures and experiences with other enthusiasts. More importantly, a wealth of scientific articles summarized in an easy-to-understand way by young paleontologists is readily available on “Fossil Web” for all visitors. With a focus on “interactive learning”, Fossil web offers an appealing and dynamic learning experience. For more information visit the website http://www.uua.cn.

Genomics Digital Lab (GDL) is an animated software tool which is designed to help users understand plants and their significance. In an interactive laboratory, users are able to alter the environment around a dying plant, zooming in and out of the major plant cell organelles, and using what they learn to figure out how to make the dying plant survive and thrive. The software is divided into three modules representing the mitochondria, chloroplasts and nucleus, whilst reinforcing the "Genomic" concept that organelles are inter-dependent. The Genomics Digital Lab learning environment uses visually stunning games and puzzles to engage learners and encourage a deeper understanding of biological processes, promoting higher-order thinking skills in a fun and entertaining format. The software comes complete with accompanying teaching material, geared towards the curricula of high-school grades 7 to 12. For more information visit the websites http://www.vivetechnologies.com/gdl/home.html and http://www.exploreGDL.com.

Our Space aims to forge communities and explore identities through a user-generated, interactive digital media experience. This venture, of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, guides visitors through virtual and physical exhibition spaces, where they are not only able to view images submitted by the public, but can manipulate this media to create individual representations of national identity. In order to become a part of the exhibition, users join a web community and upload images or videos which are subsequently incorporated in a database. The media is then tagged to allow it to be easily accessed. Although these are well-established social media functions based on the Flickr model, Our Space is unique because of its connection to a physical on-site experience. Visitors to the actual museum are invited to manipulate the material, completing the experience through aural, tactile, and visual stimulation and interaction. By recognising and inviting media from the great plurality of perspectives on life in contemporary New Zealand society, Te Papa is creating a vital resource for exploration and learning. For more information visit the website http://ourspace.tepapa.com.

CELL (Centre for Experiential Learning) has been established to offer training solutions which radically transform conventional CME refresher courses for Medical Practitioners. CELL is a multimedia and interactive learning environment, which delivers effective and engaging learning projects in accordance with the latest andragogy principles. It is the only training centre in Europe to exploit new technologies supporting Natural Interaction and New Media applications within the medical and scientific fields, offering physical settings for clinical simulations, thereby promoting the active participation of physicians in their vocational training. State-of-the-art technologies, skills, content and learning methods converge to make the proposed training solutions extremely effective. An absolutely unique learning environment is created, where the excitement of being involved in a new and meaningful experience favours learning and the intake of information. For more information visit the website http://www.qbgroup.it.

Dyslexia is often regarded purely as a reading and writing difficulty. However, the under-lying problems that cause these difficulties also impact on many other life skills. Although internet-based exercises already exist to help train specific skills of dyslexia sufferers, such programmes are generally targeted at children, tending to patronise adults. E-DysGate is an interactive website which provides a highly motivating and stimulating learning environment for a range of skills known to be important for young dyslexic adults. The material has been selected according to research which suggests that it will stimulate parts of the brain that are active in many activities, including reading. Reading and writing abilities are not separate entities, but require a series of brain processes. If these key areas are stimulated, neurological links will develop and the brain will be more receptive to learning, including learning to read.  The project targets the following seven areas through direct and indirect stimulation: Auditory Discrimination, Auditory Memory, Auditory Sequence, Visual Discrimination, Visual Memory, Visual Sequence, and Spatial Position. The principles behind the exercises are not specific to any given language - they will work for all individuals across Europe. For more information visit the website http://www.edysgate.org.

Lingorilla is a broadband video community where linguaphiles from across the globe can brush up on their language skills. Offering a diverse and effective platform for language learning, lingorilla uses interactive activities and entertaining video clips to offer glimpses of every-day life, while conveying useful vocabulary and authentic accents. lingorilla's specially developed language-learning functions also enable its members to network and interact through video chat. The combination of entertaining content, innovative technologies and proven learning methods makes learning languages easy and exciting. The lingorilla platform is available to log into 24/7, accommodating every single member, and making over-booked classes a thing of the past. Such advantages make lingorilla the ideal solution for the global spread of languages, from those essential to international communication, to those that are more obscure or in danger of dying out. For more information visit the website http://www.lingorilla.com.

“Human and Nature” is an ICT-based integrated course of natural sciences for 12-14 year-old Lithuanian pupils. Based on thorough pedagogical research and results of pilot projects, natural science meets modern information technology in a fully comprehensive online environment. Virtual learning and teaching content is attractively packaged in the form of over 1700 learning objectives, which are presented via site-demonstrations, laboratories, and quizzes. An online encyclopedia and thesaurus complements course content.  Coordinated by SPC, a department of the Lithuanian Ministry of education, the project has been integrated into the curriculum of schools throughout the country. A team of educational experts colloborated during the process to produce literature on methodological recommendations for practice and changes to the natural sciences curriculum, alongside developing a comprehensive user manual. Following the project’s success, proposals are now being drafted for similar courses in Lithuanian language, and natural sciences for 15-16 year-olds. For more information visit the website http://mkp.emokykla.lt/gamta5-6.

Royal Court Affairs is an electronic evaluation system, which works by receiving, evaluating and short-listing job applications via SMS technology and a mediator programme. Applicants can apply for Royal Court of Affairs vacancies by sending an SMS with their MoMP (Ministry of Manpower) registration code (a database containing citizens’ CV details) and their chosen job code. A mediator system matches the applicant details from the MoMP with the job requirements from the RCA recruitment office. If the match is successful, the candidate is short-listed. Should the candidate fail to satisfy any of the requirements, the application is rejected and an SMS is sent with valid rejection grounds. Once the candidate satisfies all the requirements, he receives an SMS with a registration number and congratulatory message. The whole process is incredibly fast and efficient, normally taking 5-10 seconds from receipt of the SMS to response. For more information visit the website http://www.rca.gov.om.

The National Broadband Map is a visual representation of New Zealand’s broadband landscape. It has been created to graphically represent broadband supplier network footprints alongside geocoded points, which indicate potential broadband demand locations. The Map takes publicly available government location data from various sources and combines it in such a way as to provide information and tools to aid in demand aggregation and infrastructure planning. The National Broadband Map also allows any citizen, business or government agency to reuse, reanalyse or visualise the demand point data in any manner, providing an environment in which extra value can be created from data which was once dispersed and inaccessible. Huge data reuse opportunities are already apparent as a result of this work, and both the public and private sectors in New Zealand are becoming aware of the value of having accurate, precise, data which is accessible to all. For more information visit the website http://www.broadbandmap.govt.nz/map.

E.V.A. (Enhanced Vehicle Automation) is an innovative system for emergency vehicles. It enables control of the territory, its features being activated by operator voice commands, as well as by manual use of its touch-screen. The system can be installed on any vehicle and consists of two units: an internal heart of the system, located on the dashboard, and an external device comprising an emergency alert system (light and sound), an infra-red camera to record the surrounding environment, and a back-panel to display alert messages. A set of back-office servers completes the distributed architecture, linking to terminals such as police force databases, updated mapping information, and enabling the exchange of messages. For more information visit the website http://www.carabinieri.it.

Integrated Court System comprises three main systems; a Community and Advocates Portal, a Case Management System, and a Court Recording and Transcription System. CAP and CMS are fully web-based applications that are centrally hosted at Sarawak Information Systems, an industrial standard data centre. CAP serves as an information technology channel of communication and operations among the public community, which includes the clients, their advocates, and the judiciary. CMS functions to facilitate judiciary processes within the court, in particular the management of court cases. CRT is a specialized system for the real-time recording and transcribing of courtroom events. As a package, the Integrated Court System promotes productivity and efficiency for judiciary processes that benefit three main groups of people; namely the judiciary or court officials, the advocates, and the public community who are parties (plaintiff and defendants) in trial cases. The project has been successfully implemented in two eastern states in Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. For more information visit the website http://www.highcourt.sabah.sarawak.gov.my.

The Government Information Center (GIC) is a single, electronic, trilingual (Sinhala, Tamil and English), online knowledge base of 1,600 services available to citizens from 77 key government organizations. The related procedures that need to be followed in order to make use of each of these services are also stored in the database. Obtaining a particular government service used to involve navigating through a thicket of organizations and making multiple personal visits and repeated telephone calls. Language was a further barrier for the 25% of Sri Lankan citizens who speak Tamil. The GIC was established as a public/private partnership to provide a single point of access to information concerning government services in an effective and friendly manner. The knowledge base, stored in an SQL database, is available through multiple channels, including a Microsoft Visual Basic interface for call center staff, a web based interface for the IT-literate general public, and, to accommodate future expansion, a web services API. For more information visit the website http://www.gic.gov.lk.

Mark of Uru is an exciting web-based animation from Nigeria. Developed to fill the void of authentic African animation, the series combines digital expertise with local folk story, imagery and culture. Azuka is a girl born with a birthmark identical to the tattoo of the sinister sorceress Uru, who was banished from her village long past. Tales of agony and doom are woven around Uru and everything associated with her. Despite the efforts of Azuka?s mother's to conceal the birthmark, it is eventually discovered, and the annihilation of the child becomes imminent, in order to protect the village dwellers from the curse of Uru. The intervention of a fallen elemental being, Isi-Agu, and his apprentice Etido, forestalls Azuka's execution, and she is taken to a sacred mountain out of the reach of her family, friends and foes. She embarks on a gruelling journey through treacherous terrains to unravel the mystery behind her bizarre birthmark.

You Tour uses the latest generation iPods to offer a multimedia tool which enables tourists to conveniently and fully explore the cultural heritage of their holiday destinations. In an educational, entertaining and interactive way, the user is guided round their chosen destination, their route enriched by a wealth of content. Not only are the tours well documented with location maps, digital reconstructions, photographs, illustrations, animations, videos and instructions; a regularly updated directory of museums, restaurants, shops and services ensures that the tourist wants for nothing. Under the title ‘survival kit’, information on embassies, currency, and emergency phone numbers can be accessed. And that’s not all: You Tour ensures that the hapless tourist is never stuck for words, offering an audio/photo dictionary which contains useful phrases in the local language. Available in multiple languages and for an ever-growing number of cities and heritage sites, this comprehensive package can be downloaded free of charge from the iTunes store. For more information visit the website http://www.utour.travel/utour/home.html.

The oldest culture in the world meets the newest technology. Following the world-wide success of Oscar winning feature film ‘Ten Canoes’, the indiginous Yolngu people of Ramininging, Australia have colloaborated with filmmaker, Rolf de Heer, to further showcase their prided culture in the first ever feature film to be specifically made for and released on the internet. The Twelve Canoes site is an immersive digital experience based around twelve visual “poems”, which paint a compelling portrait of the culture, history and homeland of the Yolngu people. The website has been designed to exploit the strengths of the online environment, offering a highly immersive state of engagement, and thereby providing a platform that challenges the cinematic status quo. The visitor is guided through the intuitive content, yet his path is never dictated; design and navigation enhancing, rather than over-powering, film quality. This beautiful and unique project has provided one of the oldest cultures in the world the opportunity to connect with new generations worldwide and keep its culture alive through modern technology. For more information visit the website http://12canoes.com.au.

Rigorous censorship is an issue with which the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) are well-acquainted. In a country where most official journalists support the government in order to receive protection, working as an independent journalist is far from easy. Thanks to Internet blogging, however, the founder of Congoblog.net found a platform for freedom of speech where he could publish his articles without fearing the censorship that ordinary newspapers are subject to. Congoblog proved to be a huge hit amongst the republic’s population, and soon was transformed into a platform enabling other Congolese citizens to themselves freely. Eight young citizens were trained by the founder on blogging techniques, and were provided with a camera – previously unthinkable in the former dictatorship, whereby anyone caught taking an unlicensed photo was promptly arrested and thrown into jail. Step by step, with the support of the journalism school of Lille, these young bloggers are being encouraged to take the lead on the website, in the hope that the project will motivate them to train others in the technique of blogging. For more information visit the website http://www.congoblog.net.

“A Journey into Time Immemorial“ is an interactive website, offering users the opportunity to see and learn about the ancient St?:lo people of Canada. The website transforms museum content into a virtual online environment, which offers visitors infinite ways to explore and enjoy animated scenes from the past. Text descriptions, visual renderings, and photos describe the St?:lo daily life, and with innovative Flash video content, users are transported three thousand years back in time. This exciting website dynamically loads sound, video characters, and educational content via a customised Flash panorama engine. The website navigation is intuitive, with linear navigation offered as an alternative. Visitors can choose their own path through the virtual St?:lo village, thereby creating a different experience with each visit. Objects of interest can be clicked on in order to learn more about ancient technologies. In addition to the Flash website, a fully accessible accompanying HTML site is available, in accordance with the strict technical specifications of the Virtual Museum of Canada. For more information visit the website http://www.sfu.museum/time/en/flash/.

Mamaherb.com is an internet platform, enabling users from all over the world to access and evaluate information on alternative remedies. Having become the world’s largest free Natural Health resource, its goal is to function as a paradigm-changing tool in the field of alternative - and perhaps all - health related knowledge. Users are able to research, rate, comment on, or discuss particular treatments and thus, with the help of other assessment tools, such as links to external references, be part of a huge project which aims to assess the effectiveness of natural and alternative treatments. Exploiting the universality of the internet, Mamaherb.com seeks to address two main issues: “What’s out there?” and “What actually works?” For more information visit the website http://www.mamaherb.com.

Malaria kills over a million a year: a simple SMS could prevent 20% of those deaths. In order to fight the deadly consequences of the growing global counterfeit pharmaceutics market, MPedigree enables anyone in a developing country with access to a cell phone to authenticate their drugs before use. It works via a simple SMS, accessible by default on all phones, and available on all cellular networks. Akin to the very popular scratch card method for replenishing cellular talk-time, users reveal a single-use code on drugs and SMS it to a provisioned mobile shortcode, which, in turn, generates an automated verification response. There is no cost to the drug patron – genuine drug manufacturers are eager to bear the entire cost due to the entrenched benefits they stand to reap when counterfeiters are driven out of the market. Armed with a simple cell phone, users can finally rely on the quality of their medicine. For more information visit the website http://www.mpedigree.org/home.

The main aim of the BioMAP project (Monitoring and Assessing of Biodiversity of Egypt) is to create a comprehensive IT-based database of existing Egyptian biodiversity records. Linked to up-to-date data through internal and external monitoring of Egypt's Protected Areas, the project enables an analysis to be made of changes in the status of the country's biodiversity. The web-based information centre contains five operational sites. One of these is the Egypt's Biodiversity website, which was authored by Image House and includes a large number of photographs and illustrations on all topics of relevance to biodiversity, enabling users of all types to access credible information, in order to inform decision-making at all levels.  For more information visit the website http://www.biomapegypt.org.

New Zealanders are constantly bombarded with ‘green’ messages, and it’s all too easy to switch off. The Tree People team has therefore purposely avoided the ubiquitous carbon calculator, and has created an easy-to-use website to make the environmental campaign more attractive to children – the ?heirs? to the Earth. With the idea of ‘every little helps’, Tree people encourages users to adopt a virtual native tree in a remarkably detailed online forest, complete with its own miniature eco-system. In order to nurture the tree, users make pledges in the form of small lifestyle changes, and can watch as the tree grows according to a sophisticated algorithm. Each time a tree is viewed, a unique Flash Application graphically builds it to the correct height, as well as calculating a real-time growth-rate. Users are able create and join groups, give animated gifts to friends? trees, and win prizes. The constantly changing online environment gives members a powerful incentive to return to the website again and again to renew their pledges. For more information visit the website http://www.treepeople.co.nz.

The Catalonia Shared Medical Record is a database which seeks to maximise the quality of healthcare services by making available information on patients from Catalonian care centers. Selection and visualization of specific registers of information regarding the patient?s medical history and care is carried out by a browser that can be accessed by health professionals and patients alike. The basic principle of the initiative is to allow an information exchange among different health organizations in order to facilitate and potentiate continuity care, and to speed up diagnostic procedures by avoiding the repetition of unnecessary examinations. Citizens have access to their own clinical history via a personal digital certificate, and professionals through a federal certification system. Providing greater access to relevant information and better communication among professionals, the Shared Medical Record has the potential to save valuable time, money, and more importantly, lives. For more information visit the website http://www.gencat.cat/salut/depsalut/html/ca/dir2495/index.html.

‘MyMachine’ is a unique online project which builds bridges between three different levels of education: primary, secondary and higher. Via an attractive interactive web-site, children in primary schools produce ideas to create their own ‘dream machine’, the focus being on creativity and imagination over functional usage.
Subsequently, higher education students, such as those studying engineering courses, translate these ideas into workable designs, publishing their endeavours to a virtual online community. Finally, pupils from technical secondary schools use the online material in order to produce real prototypes of the machines. In this way, the ‘MyMachine’ lifecycle (invent, design, make, show, patent) starts with the imagination of children and ends with ‘products’. The project has been adopted by the local and regional government (Flanders) and by various companies which have become corporate partners of ‘MyMachine’. During the entire process, children and students can collaborate online and appeal to the know-how and support of the partners, unifying the world of education and entrepreneurship with a key focus on ‘creativity and innovation’. For more information visit the website http://www.mymachine.be.

Wreckamovie unites the Internet and the film industry by unleashing the creative potential of Internet communities, thereby changing the whole chain of filmmaking. Film-makers and amateur enthusiasts alike can collaborate online to extend their resources in order to produce professional quality audio/visual material of all genres; from music videos to full-length feature-films. Wreckamovie applies the open source software ideology to film production. It helps get films completed faster and at a considerably lower cost, through crowd-sourced work on production tasks and online resourcing of expertise and corporate funding. In addition, it facilitates the viral promotion of films throughout and beyond their production. Wreckamovie enables film makers of all backgrounds to create, produce and license quality films at a fraction of the cost, harnessing the wealth of talent that exists outside the world of blockbuster budgets. For more information visit the website http://www.wreckamovie.com.

"Street Dance School - the Center" has become a hit among Bulgarian fans of hip-hop culture. Functioning to promote a school of street dance, this interactive website aims to persuade even the worst couch potatoes to get into the groove. Not only does the site make users want to get moving, SDS the Center is also attractive from a technological perspective. Video, image and text content are combined, animated and allow for user interaction. Each time the user logs in, the contents can be viewed in a different manner, whilst clarity and functionality of design are maintained. The project requires no significant resources, making it accessible to the masses. Visitors to the site can listen the music used for training, leave comments, view recordings of performances, read biographies of the choreographers and, having been convinced, subscribe to actual dance classes themselves. For more information visit the website http://www.csdance.net/en.

Casebook is a forensic investigation game which utilizes patented AREO technology to enable the player to fully explore 3D photoreal crime scenes. Gameplay is interspersed with over 30 minutes of cinematics, featuring real actors starring in genuine sets, and convincing crime scenes. These scenes can be subsequently navigated and investigated in real-time by the player, whose task is to find and analyse clues in order to ultimately solve the case. The AREO technology captures the film scenes with tens of thousands of digital photos which, when stitched together, create an interactive environment which is rich in detail. Considering the massive amount of data captured, the 'magic' of the technology is that the game, which contains 100,000 plus digital photos, ships as a 1GB size file and is downloadable. For more information visit the website http://www.casebookthegame.com.

“IQ” Training & Testing is an entertaining and educational software package for PCs. Suitable for anyone with a reading age of 7+, the software stimulates users to improve their logical, mathematical and visual intelligence via a series of questions and games. It promises to tune up mental focus, improve intellectual productivity and enhance concentration, promoting faster thinking and learning. Users can compete with others at problem and puzzle-solving tasks and display their results – making learning appealing and fun. For more information visit the website http://www.dominativ.hr.

The Voices of Africa programme gives young Africans with little or no journalistic experience the opportunity to make a living by pursuing careers as mobile reporters. The foundation provides individuals with the basic technological equipment and financial means to be active in the media sector. Participants are given training and support with specific small scale assignments, and are also encouraged to participate in specific media projects initiated by partners of the foundation. Their efforts are displayed on the website, www.voices-of-africa.com, which hosts over 300 examples of mobile reports supported by the programme.

Esoko is an innovative technology that links mobile phones to web-based management systems. It enables agri-business, agri-associations and other agri-projects to systematically build polls, and automatically scouts participants for critical field information. The scout technology can be programmed to send or receive text messages from participants in the field in order to track activities and inventories or evaluate crop behaviour. The project incorporates an SMS-based and Java-based application that connects mobile handsets with a powerful online toolset, enabling large-scale tracking from the field,  and dramatically reducing the cost of real-time distribution and recovery of responses from thousands of participants. Already almost 800,000 price records have been entered from 10 countries, making this the largest SMS-based MIS system on the African continent. Over 12,000 registered users are profiled in the system, and almost 500 markets are covered. For more information visit the website http://www.michaelocansey.com.

Before the arrival of Impaired Aid, no attempt had been made in Sri Lanka to harness the power of ICT to improve the teaching and quality of life of two disadvantaged segments of the population; the aurally and the visually impaired. Impaired Aid comprises a suite of software programs that opens up the world to these marginalized groups, giving them the chance to be equal partners in society. An engine developed to convert Sinhala text to Braille, and vice versa, offers the visually impaired the facility to read daily newspapers, use word-processing software and read and write emails. Messages typed in Braille are converted into Sinhala and sent to the recipient. If the recipient is also visually impaired, he can read the mail using a refreshable Braille display. Impaired Aid has also produced interactive multi-media software to teach written language skills to the hard of hearing. Likewise a series of programmes exists to give hearing impaired students a grounding in mathematical concepts, ensuring that such students are able to keep up with the rest of the mainstream class.

HomelessNation.org is the world’s first website created by and for the homeless community. This participatory new media project allows voices from the street to engage in peer-to-peer dialogues and convey experiences to the broader public. By sharing similar stories with a network of peers, participants can experience the therapeutic power of self-expression, build self-esteem, and feel a greater sense of belonging. Born from documentary filmmaking, this collection of voices is interactive, living, and constantly evolving; it is designed to build confidence, communities and a sense of control and motivation. Online discussions are meant to spur real-world solutions – the public is asked to learn more about their fellow citizens and take on greater social responsibility. Mobile technology and new media are used to help bridge the digital divide for homeless Canadians, allowing them access to the tools and information necessary for their successful transition from the street. For more information visit the website http://www.homelessnation.org.

ICT for Illiteracy Eradication (ICT4IE) aims to utilize advanced information technology to convert the learning content of literacy classes into simple, interactive computer-based tutorials. Basic reading and writing skills are presented in 3 multi-media CD-ROMs, which are designed for both classroom use and self-study. Content is geared especially towards women, who represent more than 70% of illiterates in Egypt, especially in rural and remote areas where the culture mainly prevents them from leaving home for classes. Lessons are designed in such a way that learning activities are embedded into familiar contexts of every day life and are dramatized using sound and music effects. The e-content emphasises relevant topics such as health, education, political rights, environment, and family care. As a result, trainees' retention and understanding are improved and their motivation and interest are maintained due to more satisfaction being derived from the learning process. For more information visit the website http://www.ictfund.org.eg.