At a packed ceremony in London on 11 October, Stephen Timms MP, the Minister of State for Competitiveness at the UK Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, presented Childnet International an award for ‘Know IT ALL for Parents’ in the much anticipated Nominet Best Practice Challenge 2007.
The Best Practice Challenge is part of an initiative by Nominet, Department for BERR (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform’s) and key parliamentarians to create a UK Internet Governance Forum. The Challenge recognises organisations, groups or individuals that have delivered a safer, more accessible, diverse Internet experience.
Childnet was the overall winner in the Diversity Category and in presenting the Award Mr Timms praised Childnet’s entry as:
“Evidence of outstanding co-operation between all the relevant stakeholders who have clearly recognized the benefits of this resource”.
Since the launch of ‘Know IT ALL for Parents’ over 750,000 copies have been ordered by schools or distributed through other partners as well as retailers such as PC WORLD which in addition to making the resource free of charge to its customers, has also pre-loaded it onto computers aimed at the family market.
Stephen Carrick-Davies, CEO of Childnet says:
“We are delighted ‘Know IT All’ has been recognised as an example of best practice. When we produced it we consulted widely with parents who did not use the Internet and listened to what they said they needed. We made use of video and interactive elements rather than text to reach those challenged by lack of literacy in English or disability and made a summary section available in 8 languages, including British Sign Language, Urdu, Bengali, Arabic, Polish and Mandarin. We are already getting requests for its use in other countries.
This Best Practice Challenge is important as there is much to share from the experience in the UK. And from Childnet’s perspective we are committed to sharing this resource and the lessons learnt in its production and success so that parents everywhere can receive practical, accessible and positive advice in making the most out of the internet and keeping their children stay safe online”.
The Challenge was open to organisations, groups or individuals who supply a product or service that has improved Access to the Internet for the disabled or disadvantaged, provided more Security online, contributed to Openness, or encouraged online Diversity. All Winning entries will be exhibited at the Internet Governance Forum meeting in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007 at which Childnet’s CEO Stephen Carrick-Davies has been invited to attend and contribute.
In announcing Childnet the winner of the Diversity Category the Judges praised the resource saying:
“This product is practical and accessible and addresses the challenge of the digital divide by helping parents to overcome the fear they have of the Internet due to lack of knowledge and the anxiety they face about the risk to their children in terms of Internet safety. We particularly liked the ease and obvious way people could access the different language options and felt that the use of videos, quizzes made this an especially effective tool for people who don’t use the Internet regularly.”
Stephen Timms said:
“Judging by the quantity and quality of the entries received for this year’s Best Practice Challenge Awards, the UK has much experience to share and promote when it comes to Internet governance. Competition has been strong. The judges have seen a wealth of excellent nominees which showcase the best of the UK’s forward thinking Internet community. I would like to thank Nominet for their initiative in setting up this important awards scheme, which enables us to commend innovative organisations who are leading the way in making the Internet accessible and safe for all.”
At the end of Mr Timms presentation to Childnet he paid tribute to Nigel Williams, Childnet’s founder who died last year.
Other winners included Computer Aid International, Netcraft, and My Society. There was also a joint Special Award for The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and the Internet Watch Foundation.
The design, video and programming for ‘Know IT ALL’ was undertaken by Contrapositive, the design company which Childnet uses for the majority of its work.
For more information on Know IT ALL see www.childnet.com/kia
or contact Stephen Carrick-Davies on
For further information on the Best Practice Challenge, please contact:
Katie Judge or Gemma Griffiths at Racepoint Group
Tel: 020 8752 3211 / 020 8752 3205 / Email:
