Childnet were awarded the Nominet Best Practice Award in the category of ‘Personal Safety Online’ for the new KidSMART website at the 2009 Nominet Best Practice Challenge Award Ceremony held last night.
Joining, other charities, trade bodies and public sector departments at the awards ceremony at the Banqueting House, Westminster, London, CEO Will Gardner said,
“Winning this award is a fantastic achievement, and we are delighted that KidSMART has been recognised in this way. It is a really innovative website featuring young people talking to their peers and we are delighted to celebrate the input of these young people as well as the hard work of the Childnet team behind the resource.”
The 2009 winners and commended entries will be promoted by Nominet at the next international Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting in Sharm El Sheikh in November 2009, where Childnet will also be sharing the voice of youth as heard through the Youth IGF Project. Nominet will share the best practice illustrated by innovative Internet achievements from the UK, including Childnet, and inspire the other countries participating to follow these successful models.
Lesley Cowley, CEO at Nominet said:
“This year’s entrants were of a high quality and show that the Internet industry in the UK is leading the world in addressing important issues such as digital inclusion and safety online. The self-regulatory environment in which this industry has thrived continues to enable such exciting projects to take root and grow. We are confident the other countries attending this year’s IGF meeting in Egypt will be impressed and will be keen to find out more details about the BPC winners’ projects.”
The Rt Hon Alun Michael MP said:
“The Nominet Best Practice Challenge Awards is a great resource for the Internet industry both nationally and internationally. It enables us to highlight exceptional initiatives which range from minute companies with just two employees to major companies, charities and public initiatives. Sharing this learning and best practice is what Britain’s contribution to Internet governance is all about.”
The BPC 2009 brochure for further information on individual winners and runners up at:
www.nominet.org.uk/digitalAssets/36431_BestPracticeChallenge_winners2009.pdf
The Best Practice Challenge is an annual UK competition organised by Nominet that recognises organisations, groups or individuals who have embraced the challenge of delivering a safer, more accessible or diverse Internet experience.
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was established by the United Nations to accommodate comprehensive multi–stakeholder policy dialogue in the field of Internet governance. It aims to bring together all stakeholders in the Internet governance debate each year, whether they represent states, the private sector or civil society, on an equal basis and through an open and inclusive process.
Childnet International are currently running the Youth IGF Project to capture the voice of children and young people to take to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) a UN mandated meeting in the Autumn.
Historically the IGF has had little or no input from young people. Childnet’s Youth IGF Project aims to capture the voice of young people so that they can be represented at the forum in November.
To reach the widest possible audience in a short space of time, Childnet have created primary and secondary project packs for schools who want to get involved in the project and would welcome as wide participation as possible. They have also created a film to support the secondary lessons. The lesson plans and film can be viewed and accessed at: www.kidsmart.org.uk.
Contact: [email protected]
