[Chapter-delegates] World Summit Youth Award

[David McAuley]

Dear Chapter Delegates:

One of the important activities which ISOC sponsors and supports is the
World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) program - an international Internet
competition. It is an exciting program - as the saying goes "Youth is where
IT is at!" Organized in the framework of the United Nations' World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS) in partnership with the WSIS Youth Caucus, it
is a program aimed at empowering youth by creating digital opportunity.

There is an application deadline coming up - it is September 18th as noted
below. 

The Youth Award program office has asked us to put out the information below
and we are quite happy to do so. We encourage you to disseminate this widely
among your members and circle of contacts, especially schools and
universities. Please take a look below and also at the website at
www.youthaward.org.

Thank you,
David

David McAuley
Membership Director
Internet Society
703-326-9880, ext 104
703-963-5887 (mobile)
mcauley at isoc.org


WSYA Overview
 
Are you under 27 with a cool emerging project on the web?  Are you a young
designer, web developer, social entrepreneur, music producer or artist
looking for international exposure?  Are you passionate about using
technology for social change?  Enter now at www.youthaward.org and showcase
your project to the world!
 
Sponsored by the Internet Society, the World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) is an
international competition for youth-led projects that bridge the content gap
in the emerging Information Society. It is the first global “youth for
youth” initiative; promoting best practice in e-content and technological
creativity and demonstrating young people’s potential to create digital
opportunities.  WSYA is not only a showcase to the world for young
designers, technologists and e-content creators, it also contributes on a
global scale to reducing poverty, protecting the environment, sharing
knowledge and empowering marginalized young people.  We invite all local and
national chapters of the Internet Society to promote WSYA and support this
dynamic, youth-led initiative.
 
Online projects may be submitted by all applicants less than 27 years of age
until September 18, 2005 (by midnight, GMT) in three e-Content categories:
 
*Development: Rewards the best online platform for youth centred around
issues of poverty reduction, environmental sustainability, social justice,
health or peace 
*Creativity and Culture:  Celebrates the most innovative online platform
highlighting young people’s potential for producing creative content,
promoting multilingualism, creating new contemporary forms of culture and
preserving indigenous knowledge and/or traditional culture 
*Community Engagement: Showcases the most engaging online platform
facilitating young people’s participation in global, national or local
decision-making processes and sharing news/ideas to empower youth and build
community 
 
World Summit Youth Award finalists and category winners will be selected by
members of the WSYA Jury. Comprised of 8-12 global experts in youth
engagement, new media and social entrepreneurship, their creative minds
bring diversity of perspectives and know-how to the WSYA.  Projects will be
evaluated on the basis of five criteria
 
*Content: Quality, comprehensiveness and impact of content 
*Design: Usability and aesthetic value of site and graphics 
*Innovation & Creativity: Demonstration of significant originality and
initiative. 
*Interactivity: Level of engagement and action offered by to site users 
*Sustainability: Level of project sustainability over time. 
 
WSYA is organized within the framework of the United Nations World Summit on
the Information Society in partnership with the WSIS Youth Caucus.  WSYA is
sponsored by the Internet Society, Siemens AG and Logitech and is operating
under the patronage of Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for the
Information Society and Media.  The WSYA Coordination Team is headquartered
at the International Center for New Media (ICNM), an independent non-profit
organisation based in Salzburg, Austria.
 
For all media enquiries or to obtain a printed press kit, please contact:
 
Thomas Biebl, WSYA Project Manager
World Summit Youth Award Office 
ICNM - International Center for New Media
Moosstraße 43a. 5020 Salzburg, AUSTRIA
Email: biebl at icnm.net/
Phone: + 43.662.630408.40 
Fax: + 43.662.630408.22