New Media Awards 2008

Democracy in Action Finalists

BBC RADIO 4'S YOU & YOURS PROGRAMME.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/careintheuk/index.shtml

You and Yours is BBC Radio 4's award winning Consumer programme. It is broadcast every weekday between 12 o'clock and 1, attracting 3 million listeners a week. Online, thousands of people access additional information about the stories covered, download podcasts, access Transcripts, email the programme, and use the 'Listen Again' facility.

derek wyatt mp

http://derekwyatt.tv

You need to experiment and play with a new site and this is what I have been doing for the past nine months with a six video screen option. They represent five tv or video links udner the titles: Parliament TV, Yes Minister, MPTV, Sittingbourne TV and Sheppey TV; the sixth screen is given over to an anotated google map showing my work in the comstituency (it links back to www.derekwyayt.co.uk). The video entries are seemlessly hosted on a variety of social networking sites including YouTube and google.

I think with the onset of IPTV that it is inevitable thta all public sector sites will have to move from largely text-based to a video solution(s).

This is a first attempt for me and the challenge in 2008/09 will be to merge it more completely with www.derekwyatt.co.uk.

What Do They Know?, by mySociety

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/

What Do They Know? is the new latest site from mySociety. Users choose the public authority they'd like information from, then write a brief note describing what they want to know. The site then sends your Freedom of Information request to the public authority. Any response they make is automatically published on the website for the user and anyone else to find and read.

Inform and Educate Finalists

Dad Info

http://www.dad.info

Dad Info is the first universally available information service for dads in the world.

The service consists of:

- www.dad.info - a brand new website for dads with information on pregnancy, birth, babies, kids, parenting issues and separation/divorce, all from a dad’s perspective.

- The “Dad Card”; a credit card sized info card, distributed FREE to the maternity services of the UK for midwives to hand out to the half a million expectant dads they meet each year – directing them to the site.

- Free emails based on their baby’s due date take new dads through the essentials of new fatherhood. Comments and live chats on the site form the basis of this new online community.

Futurelab's Power League

http://www.powerleague.org.uk

Futurelab is a not-for-profit organisation that pioneers ways of using new technology to transform the way people learn (www.futurelab.org.uk). In April 2008, Futurelab launched Power League (www.powerleague.org.uk), a free online resource for schools which supports pupils of all ages to explore, debate and discuss any topic in a fun and easy way – by creating leagues, visual representations, of students’ opinions on the chosen topic.

School of Everything

http://www.schoolofeverything.com

Great teaching is all about inspiring someone and for that, there's nothing quite like face-to-face communication. School of Everything is all about facilitating this kind of offline interaction using online tools to draw on the long tail of teaching talent that exists out there.

But School of Everything isn't just about connecting people, it's also about changing the way we learn and how we think about education. Traditionally, education has been a top-down affair. Teachers talk; pupils listen, whilst the system decides what it is they should know, how they should prove they know it and what they will get out of knowing it. School of Everything turns this on its head: everyone has something to teach - whether you're a professional tutor, a committed hobbyist or simply someone with something interesting to share. Learning is all about pursuing what you're passionate about, meeting new people and having fun - it's an end in itself, not just a means to an end.

The team has just secured their first round of investment and they're working away building a strong community of users, with support from the likes of the Young Foundation and Channel 4 Education.

Community Activism Finalists

do-it.org.uk

http://www.do-it.org.uk

do-it.org.uk is the first and only UK-wide volunteering database. Created and managed by YouthNet and launched by the Prime Minister in 2000, do-it.org.uk uses new media technology to connect people, communities and organisations and inspire positive change.

Today, do-it.org.uk holds almost one million volunteering opportunities. Website visitors simply enter their postcode and their area of interest, find an opportunity that excites them and then apply online.

Patient Opinion

http://www.patientopinion.org.uk

Patient Opinion has grown from start up (Jan 05) into an organisation that is 100% supported by subscriptions from NHS and other organisations. There are now over 100 organisations participating in Patient Opinion and over the next few months we will begin accetping postings about mental health trusts, ambulance trusts, and directly provided PCT services (District Nurses etc) across England.

Patient Opinion is also exploring how patient feedback can be used by a wide range of groups including over 30 national patient organisations, a small groups of MPs, Scrutiny Commitees and emerging LINks organisations.

We believe Patient Opinion's on-going commitment to learning how best to use the new tools fo the web to further local engagement and discussion around health is unique and likley to yield significant results and some deep insights into how best to use these new techniques to expand civil society.

Patient Opinion's innovative track record has been the main topic discussed in articles in both the Guardian and the Economist.

Savvy Chavvy

http://www.savvychavvy.com

A community forum for young gypsy travellers, established in partnership with UnLtd and funded by Mediabox. Participants we trained in social media distribute content on the networking site, which now has more than 1000 members.

Combining social purpose and social life, Savvy Chavvy encourages members to see media as a democratic means of self-expression through which they can control how their community is perceived.

(Chavvy is the Romany word for child.)

Campaign for change Finalists

Anti-Apathy

http://www.thenag.net

TheNag.net is world saving made simple, a nudge in the right direction. The cheeky site helps its members do 1 thing a month to make their lifestyles, and the world, more sustainable.

The Big Green Switch

http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk

This is a consumer-facing website empowering people to make choices that help them live a greener life.
It offers independent information and advice for those who want to be more environmentally-friendly and encourages visitors to share their own ideas and experiences via community message boards, comment panels and blogs.
Its aim is to encourage people to learn about being green without feeling pressured or lectured. The site also includes tools and features such as a green products shop, environmental jobs search engine, carbon footprint calculator and a directory of other green websites, businesses and organisations.

Who Do I Call

http://www.whodoicall.eu

The media is full of stories about the intrigue and insider deals about the appointment of the President of the European Council. Who do I call demands a more democratic process and open debate.
The aim of the website is straight forward: the Commission President and newly created President of the European Council should be the one and same person.

Innovation Finalists

Futurelab's Power League

http://www.powerleague.org.uk

Futurelab is a not-for-profit organisation that pioneers ways of using new technology to transform the way people learn (www.futurelab.org.uk). In April 2008, Futurelab launched Power League (www.powerleague.org.uk), a free online resource for schools which supports pupils of all ages to explore, debate and discuss any topic in a fun and easy way – by creating leagues, visual representations, of students’ opinions on the chosen topic.

Horsesmouth

http://www.horsesmouth.co.uk

horsesmouth connects people who want informal advice with people who want to give it through safe and secure ementoring platform

UnLtdWorld

http://www.unltdworld.com

UnLtdWorld is an online platform aimed at connecting social entrepreneurs, social innovators, socially-minded people and organisations that invest their efforts in changing the world for the better, and enabling these
audiences to find and share targeted information, and to co-create social insight and social capital.

What Do They Know?, by mySociety

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/

What Do They Know? is the new latest site from mySociety. Users choose the public authority they'd like information from, then write a brief note describing what they want to know. The site then sends your Freedom of Information request to the public authority. Any response they make is automatically published on the website for the user and anyone else to find and read.