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New media awards 2003 - Special Supplement - innovation in wireless technology is recognized

Since the crash of internet stocks in the year 2000, it has become apparent that new media is just like any other business. There are good and bad ideas, ingenious and indifferent applications of technology, entrepreneurs and dodgy dealers. This is particularly important to remember when so many new ideas are hitting the market place. To reflect this rapidly moving world, we introduced a new category to the New Statesman New Media Awards 2003: "On the move". This award seeks to find the best use of mobile phone and wireless communications in the public sector.

Over the past year, there has been an explosion in the use of wireless technology, and a "third generation" of mobile phones has been launched. Yet, as excerpts from our survey show (page vii), many of us are unaware of these developments or fail to see how they would benefit our lives.

Providers should pay heed. It is often promised that the internet, mobile phones and other new technologies will solve a plethora of problems, yet what is sometimes forgotten is that, to be successful, it is vital to choose the right medium for your users. It's no good having a flashy website, WAP-enabled information or text-messaging if those you are trying to reach do not have the facilities to access the service.

This applies to the government as much as to anyone else. By setting up Online Centres (places where you can use computers and the internet--the IT equivalent of public libraries), the government has tried to improve internet accessibility, but the future funding of these centres already hangs in the balance.

Much of new Labour's drive to improve the nation s access to the internet has been based on the presumptions that it is both cost-effective--cutting down administrative expenditure--and that it offers more convenient ways to access services and benefits. This may be so, but there are alternatives worth considering.

The government of Malta announced recently that most of its services would now be available by using a mobile phone. It has introduced a system based on text-messaging--called "m-government"--which allows citizens to access most public services with ease. The rationale behind this development was that a larger proportion of the Maltese public had a mobile phone than had a computer.

Closer to home, Test Valley Borough Council in Hampshire is also using mobile phone technology to communicate with its constituents (page iv). It has launched a free text-messaging service providing the latest information on a range of topics including special events, the arts, sports and Test Valley council news.

As Deepanshu Bagchee reports (page xv), wireless technologies are being used by some councils to improve efficiency and reduce paperwork for council tradesmen, refuse collectors, parking attendants and so on.

Despite the alternatives offered by these new technologies, the web remains an excellent and flexible means of communication and transaction when used appropriately, able to create a strong sense of community. It has proven to be particularly successful when an online community is combined with a geographical location--take, for example, Netmums, a local information network for parents (page v), and Meetup, the latest resource being used for political campaigning in the United States (page xv).

The aim of the New Media Awards is to encourage innovations such as these, which are both accessible and efficient, and this year has been no exception.

Kathryn Corrick is the New Statesman's online manager

Winners on the move

Test Valley Borough Council

www.testvalley.gov.uk

Test Valley Borough Council has made innovative use of text-messaging to highlight community and leisure events in the local area. Residents can register their interests by mobile phone, website or post, and then receive free news, updates and offers via their text-messaging service. Working with other local leisure providers--for example, leisure centres and theatres--this scheme ensures its users are the first to hear of new developments and special offers.

Winners safety on the net

Kid Smart

www.kidsmart.org.uk

Kid Smart is a practical internet safety advice website for schools produced by the children's internet charity Childnet. It focuses on five SMART Safety Tips which children need to remember when they use the internet or mobile phone--whether at school or in the home. The site offers access to a whole range of resources, from lesson plans to a specially commissioned drama on the theme of internet safety. It includes a directory of, and links to, websites for children, and also serves as a portal linking to a wide range of internet safety resources.

Commended

Parents Information Network

www.pin.org.uk

winners e-government

Essex Grid for Learning

www.e-gfl.org

Essex Grid for Learning is a curriculum website intended for all who teach and learn in Essex. Launched in November 2000, the site is now used in almost 600 schools and colleges. It was created to meet a demand in Essex for high-quality, online content for all the county's learners and teachers. Additionally, it was felt that parents, carers, school governors and, most importantly, young people should have a vibrant, interactive website to which they could contribute--a real community resource for learning. The site is free and accessible 24 hours a day. A principal aim is for users to be writers of the internet, not merely consumers of it.

Commended

Kikass: South Hams and Teignbridge Drug Implementation Groups www.stonerlemmings.com

winners contribution to civic society

Perfiliate Technologies

users.buy.at

The website buy.at/ is an innovative fundraising tool that offers schools, charities, clubs--in fact, any common interest group or cause--the opportunity to earn substantial income. The site provides groups with a free, personalised web shop that they can promote to members, parents, friends, and so on. Every purchase made in the shop earns commission for the club, school or charity. Users can shop at a wide range of retailers, knowing that every purchase helps their favourite cause. The site is free to join and requires no technical knowledge.

Commended

DisabledGo www.disabledgo.info

Netmums www.netmums.com

Manx Telecomputer Bus www.compurerbus.com

Winners best school Internet award

SECONDARY SCHOOL WINNER King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys

www.pupilvision.com

Pupil Vision was created by a teacher and his pupils as an online "factbook" and atlas providing data on 267 countries, with around 150 facts each. The site is housed on a school server using MySQL and php programming to interrogate a database of countries. Summary data is provided for each country, as is full data. A unique feature is the last page, which is titled "compare data", where up to ten countries and five pieces of data can be immediately compared.

PRIMARY SCHOOL WINNER Saint Ambrose Barlow School

saintambrosebarlow.wigan.sch.uk

This website contains children's pages and adults' pages. The children's pages include all sorts of activities to help pupils with their work, some of which have been created by the pupils themselves. There are also links to other websites to help children in all areas of the curriculum. The adults' pages aim to inform parents about the school and its ideals. Users can "meet" members of staff and see pictures of the school and the surrounding area. There are also links to other sites to help parents to help their children. This site has made a big difference to the many children who use it, providing both information and inspiration in many areas of the curriculum.