Random Winners
The World of the Habsburgs is a virtual exhibition in a multimedia presentation. In addition to the representatives of the dynasty, the virtual exhibition spotlights the political history and the general social developments of the Habsburg era. The website draws a colourful picture of the world of the Habsburgs from the 13th until the early 20th century, going far beyond any similar presentations, whether text or other media, of virtual historical exhibitions. The World of the Habsburgs links the exhibits through topics and key issues, thus assembles storylines, objects and texts like a museum exhibition, accompanied by multimedia presentation of texts, maps, a genealogical table and a navigable timeline opening up completely new contexts and connections. In all, there are more than 500 chapter modules contained within about 100 key topics and over 1,400 images or exhibits, including objects that are never on public view. Despite the enormous archives, The World of the Habsburgs is neither a Wikipedia nor an encyclopaedia. It is a virtual exhibition with an innovative user interface that turns exploration of history per mouse-click into a unique pleasure. Moreover, www.habsburger.net casts light with a critical slant on the current status of research on the history of the Habsburgs and their epoch.
HootSuite is a web and mobile social media dashboard aimed mainly at professionals who need to leverage sites such as Twitter and Facebook for their business needs. HootSuitehelps both individuals and organizations to spread messages, monitor conversations and track results across multiple networks, relying on a freemium business model. Its free version allows you to add five networks and supports Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, MySpace, PingFm and WordPress.HootSuite enables organizations using the social web to launch marketing campaigns, identify and grow audiences, and distribute targeted messages across multiple channels. With HootSuite’s unique social media dashboard, teams can collaboratively schedule updates to Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Wordpress and other social networks via web, desktop or mobile platforms, plus track campaign results and industry trends so as to rapidly adjust tactics. Best for actively managed accounts, HootSuite is designed to focus on streams which are housed in customizable tabs, organized by account, network or content. This flexibility makes it easier to monitor a specific type of feed more closely. Launched in December 2008 by Invoke Media, HootSuite’s rapidly growing user base includes governments, artists and organizations like the White House, Martha Stewart Media, SXSW and Zappos. Accolades include awards from Mashable’s Open Web, Canadian New Media, and Shorty Awards.
Vaeggen (The Wall) is a massive but mobile interactive video installation on the streets of Copenhagen that allows citizens and visitors to explore in depth the cultural past, present, and future of the city together with its diverse ethnic and cultural communities. Open and inclusive in its philosophy and operating mode, Vaeggen also provides a vehicle for citizens to contribute their own material to the experience via its innovative street level and web user interfaces. Multi-touch and multi-user, the interface uses a strong graphical idiom understandable by all community groups and encourages them to not only explore the 14,000 cultural assets accumulated to date, but to also create new original contents that enrich, comment on or incorporate the heritage collection. The giant on-screen touch keyboards make it possible to email these assets around the world and insert them into their own social media networks. Based initially on the rich heritage collections of the Museum of Copenhagen, Vaeggen is also a public multimedia repository for new discoveries emerging from the large-scale archaeological excavations being undertaken in the old city centre for the next 7 years. In the first half year of operation, Vaeggen has attracted more than 400,000 users, who viewed more than 2 million cultural media assets, sent more than 60,000 digital postcards, and uploaded 2,500 new contributions of their own. The idea is already being taken up by other cities in Scandinavia and attracting interest around the globe.
All fledgling musicians are familiar with the gap between the fantasy of playing a musical instrument and the frustration involved in learning how to play it. JoyTunes bridges that gap and motivates kids to play through interactive computer games activated by real instruments. According to the JoyTunes team - world-renowned musicians and music educators, game developers, signal analysis experts and graphic designers - this unique, patent-pending technology will increase the motivation to practice and shorten the learning process for millions of music lovers. The interactive games work with your very own instrument and a simple microphone so they are easy and natural to use. The first game in the series, JoyTunes Recorder, a web-based music instruction game, teaches crucial initial skills on a simple instrument. The different game levels are actually musical lessons designed to develop a variety of important musical skills - from the production of a single note to the rhythm and timing of complete melodies. More games with other instruments are on the way. The game has won several prestigious awards and is being supported by leading music educators from around the world. Through this innovative computer game, JoyTunes creates a fun and interactive doorway to the world of music, as the young musician's motivation to learn is directly correlated with his or her motivation to beat the game.
Technology and Civilization in Ancient China is an e-learning and education website for the development and dissemination of ancient Chinese scientific techniques. China is the birthplace of silk and porcelain, where paper-making, printing, gunpowder and the compass were invented. The website contains a vast amount of information, with over two hundred thousand words of text, 1,500 images, and more than 100 movies divided into a Chinese-language section, an English-language section, and a discussion forum. The website is keenly devoted to disseminating scientific understanding, explaining the creative process behind scientific principles, and using modern multi-media methods to make ancient inventions come alive. Technology and Civilization in Ancient China uncovers their underlying scientific reasoning, displaying the value and wisdom of ancient Chinese technology, a centrepiece of our human heritage, to today's world.
Launched in 2009, Monaqasat is an online state-of-the-art eTendering solution/platform that enables users to work with their tenders in an easy, secure, cost and time efficient way. The platform contributes greatly to reducing administrative overhead for clients and increasing productivity. With over 600 active customers, Monaqasat has quickly grown to become the largest private provider of eTendering solutions in the United Arab Emirates. The majority of large UAE construction companies now registered. What makes Monaqasat stand out from the crowd is the implementation of the complete tendering process from beginning to end: users create tenders, invite participants, upload, stamp and verify documents, submit and compare bids and award tenders, all from one place.
Blue Planet Network's program, Peer Water Exchange (PWX), is an online global platform and network of 90+ water, sanitation and hygiene funders and implementing organizations, designed to encourage collaboration, increase impact, and promote a cross-sector focus on project process and lessons learned. Nearly one billion people lack access to safe drinking water and 2.7 billion people lack access to a toilet. To solve these mammoth global challenges requires changes in the way the entire value chain operates. Through PWX, Blue Planet Network brings together all stakeholders in the water sector: funders, service providers, project implementers and beneficiaries. The web-based multimedia exchange platform enables stakeholders to adopt a new mindset and to collaborate in bringing safe drinking water and hygienic, dignified sanitation to all. The only scalable, map-driven, and transparent platform in the water sector, PWX is the first truly participatory decision-making system in development work, allowing empowered applicants to weigh in on funding decisions. All the data on the exchange is generated by the users. Blue Planet Network's PWX combines people, process, and technology to help make a sustainable dent in the global water crisis. Blue Planet Network is an award-winning nonprofit with a mission to exponentially increase the impact of safe drinking water and sanitation programs for people around the world. Since 2002, Blue Planet Network 90+ member organizations have equipped more than 830,000 people in 25 countries with safe drinking water and improved sanitation.
Erada is a specialized portal addressing the needs of people with disabilities (PWD) in Egypt. Information empowerment for PWD ensures their full participation and inclusion at all levels of society. Free, accessible, comprehensive, user-friendly, the Erada portal provides knowledge of concern to PWD in all categories of impairment: hearing, visual, physical, mental, as well as, autism and learning difficulties. Important topics such as definitions of disabilities, laws & rights, early intervention, genetic diseases etc. are covered. Erada also provides a web creation & technical support service to ensure sustainable knowledge for concerned communities. According to 2007 WHO statistics, approximately 11% of the Egyptian population, around 9.4 million, live with some kind of disability/impairment. Given a helping hand, they can get along independently and contribute meaningfully to society.
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Redress Remix is an award-winning project comprised of a 3-part documentary series and an interactive living documentary. Redress Remix tackles one of the most controversial Canadian government decisions in recent years: the official 2006 apology to the Chinese Canadian community for the Head Tax and Exclusion Act of 1923. The documentary film uses a unique approach that includes animation techniques, newly composed music and testimonial interviews, to reveal to audiences the events that shaped the Redress movement and led to the official Government apology and its influence on a new generation of Chinese Canadians. The interactive web project, developed in conjunction with the film, allows Canadians to contribute to the national dialogue on the issue through a ground-breaking ‘living documentary’ experience. Users are invited to explore 180º panoramas featuring subjects from the film who represent a certain theme related to the Redress movement. The panoramas offer information about the subject, the theme, and a thematic video featuring repurposed documentary footage. Redress Remix invites the user to respond to what they have learned by turning on their webcam and becoming a part of the discussion.
Areoscan is a web-based service that enables the user to create a 3D model of any area or object using digital photography. In industries such as surveying, architecture and design, Areoscan is proving to be a cost effective, flexible and time efficient solution for all sorts of jobs, ranging from complex land surveys through to creative art projects. Whatever the need, Areoscan takes a real-life subject and automatically generates a 3D model in the same way a 3D laser scanner does, without specialized equipment. The 3D models can be downloaded in several formats for manipulation by a range of computer-aided design (CAD) programmes. There are a number of guides available online to assist the user in maximising their experience and getting great results. This project cements New Zealand’s reputation as an innovative global developer.
