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Ten NZ projects seek slice of glory in Stockholm-sponsored global challenge

By MALCOLM MCDONALD

INTERNET projects linking New Zealand and British teenagers, a system that allows councillors to vote by radio, and an online self-study system are among the 10 New Zealand entries for Sweden's Global Bangemann Challenge.

The Global Bangemann challenge, an initiative of the City of Stockholm, is a competition designed to highlight information technology projects that benefit citizens and communities.

At stake are awards in 11 categories covering areas such as education for children and adults, traffic and transport, culture and media, and electronic democracy.

The competition is named after European commissioner Martin Bangemann, who headed a similar competition in 1996. Though the deadline for entries is October, there are already rune New Zealand entries from Upper Hutt, Napier and Wellington.

Wellington's Jon Donovan has entered his Celatium Voting system which is used by Wellington and Hamilton city councils to allow councillors to vote at meetings using handheld radio devices. The system allows the chair of the committee to queue and manage speakers and speaking times.

The Central Institute of Technology, which offers online courses on a range of computing subjects through its Internet site, has entered its Internet self-study system into the competition under the lifelong education heading.

Also in the education area, for both teachers and students, is the Interlink program, develo1 by Wellington's Copeland Wilson Associates which saw British and New Zealand teenager linking up in a variety of on-line pursuits last year.

CWA has also entered its New Zealand education Web, which provides a way for teachers find Internet education resources, and its NoBully site, which is aimed at educating children adults about how to break the bullying cycle.

There are a brace of other Web sites. including the Hillary Commission's Active Lifestyles and those of Te Papa and Napier's Marineland.

Interested parties can contact Earl Mardle, of Wellington City Council's 2020 Communications Trust, or point their browser to

www.challenge.stockholm.se