Building the best and most creative global e-content network

The World Summit Award (WSA) in 2003, a small but significant event within the bigger umbrella of World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), provided for the first time the opportunity to shift the focus from technology, networks and access issues to the actual applications, the resultant digital content and visibility.

The conceptual shift addressed in these awards for digital content to become available on a broader more inclusive scale is timely and very much in line with New Zealand Government thinking - see The Digital Strategy : creating our digital future.

The WSA is a global showcase of 40 outstanding projects, in eight categories, with a special emphasis on those which show the benefits of information and communication technology for the development of communities and society at large.

NZ was enormously successful in 2003 with two projects in the top 40 globally. Again in 2005 we received two Special Mentions and 2007 saw not only 2 winners but also 3 special mentions from NZ and a winner from the Pacific. These successes were subsequently shown around the world within the WSA global Roadshow.

The eight categories are:

• e-Health
• e-Learning
• e-Science
• e-Culture
• e-Government
• e-Business
• e-Entertainment
• e-Inclusion