buergermeldungen.com from Austria receives nomination for UN-based Award in Sri Lanka

Buergermeldungen.com from Austria is nominated by an international jury of ICT experts to enter the next round of the 2013 World Summit Award (WSA) in e-Government. Buergermeldungen.com (citizen reports) will compete against almost 500 outstanding e-Content products and applications from 168 countries in front of the WSA’s Grand Jury from Aug. 29 to Aug. 31 in Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn.

"There is no faster and closer way to connect citizens and their municipality together." Markus Gwiggner, CEO of buergermeldungen.com

In the first round of the international competition, an online jury will now valuate the ventures, creating a shortlist of 15-20 projects in each of the eight categories.

After this, in a three-day process in late August, the WSA Grand Jury, consisting of international renowned ICT experts and industry leaders, will meet in Tallinn/Estonia to evaluate the submissions from the remaining nominees and select the 40 best products. The jury members of the Grand Jury come from all continents and have backgrounds in the creative industries, telecommunication, advertising, journalism and research, as well as in teaching. The jury will be hosted by national partners such as the Estonian ICT Cluster.

Finally, the 40 world's best e-Content applications (5 products in each of the WSA categories) are selected to present their products in front of an international audience in Colombo/Sri Lanka from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25.

The categories of the World Summit Award (WSA):

• e-Government & Open Date
• e-Health & Environment
• e-Learning & Science
• e-Entertainment & Games
• e-Culture & Tourism
• e-Media & Journalism
• e-Business & Commerce
• e-Inclusion & Empowerment

WSA World Congress 2013 in Sri Lanka

After the selection in Estonia, the 40 WSA winners will get the chance to present their products at the WSA World Congress in Sri Lanka, Oct. 23 to Oct. 25. The event will offer a platform for high level experts, industry leaders and government representatives to discuss innovation in mobile content. At the event, an on sight jury will again evaluate the products to select eight overall winners: The WSA Global Champions 2013.

"With the winners from World Summit Award in e-Content, Colombo will host the best digital producers, interaction designers and content developers from all around the world. They will demonstrate the richness and diversity of the content industries. With Estonia, a country where the access to free internet is a fundamental right of the people, we are glad to have found the perfect location for the Grand Jury." (Peter A. Bruck, chairman of the World Summit Award)

About the World Summit Award

The World Summit Award (WSA) is the global follow-up initiative of the United Nations World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) organised by the International Center for New Media (ICNM), Salzburg, Austria. It partners with the key UN organisations and agencies in the framework of the UN Geneva Agenda and the Tunis Action Plan and selects and promotes the world's best e-Content and innovative ICT applications; to date more than 160 countries are actively involved. Through national pre-selections and contests together with a global jury process, WSA demonstrates the local diversity and rich creativity of ICT use. WSA is a global hub for everyone who values the crucial importance of local content to make today’s information society more inclusive.

Visit us on www.wsis-award.org, facebook.com/WorldSummitAward and twitter.com/WSAoffice