NZ Projects enter Global IT Challenge

At least eight New Zealand information-technology projects that benefit people and communities will be competing for international prestige in the Global Bangemann Challenge.

The Stockholm-based awards program is inviting cities and regions from New Zealand and around the world to participate. The challenge is open to functional IT projects that help people reach new levels of prosperity, health and democracy.

The goal of the program, a successor to the European-wide Bangemann Challenge, is to attract at least 500 projects from 100 or more cities and regions worldwide. so far, 160 have entered from around the world, including seven entries from Wellington and one from Napier, according to program spokesperson Ulla Skiden.

"This international project offers an excellent channel for the marketing of cities, regions and the participating projects in the information society," according to the organisers.

"The Challenge mission is to help people share knowledge and experience in the field of applied technology and to learn from each other's accomplishments. The program wishes to create bonds and networks between projects and cities."

The Challenge runs for two years, from May 1997 until June 1999, and participation is free. Project applications will be accepted until 1 October.

CIT (Central Institute of Technology) in Upper Hutt has entered a project that provides a set of self-study learning guides via the Internet on a wide variety of computing topics. It allows people of all ages to increase their skills and enhance their learning for free.

About 16,000 people a week access the online education guides, some of which have been translated into Spanish and French, according to project co-ordinator Brian Brown. The guides are also used by CIT students to supplement traditional teaching programs.

"Our project is very much part of the philosophy of the Bangemann Challenge," Brown says. "By making it freely available, people who couldn't afford to are able to upskill themselves and that benefits communities in Upper Hutt and around world over via the Internet and around the world."

Jon Donovan, CEO of Actrix and Q Corporation, entered an electronic way of representing voting project designed for Wellington work and Hamilton city councils because he thought New Zealand should be represented in the International program. "New Zealand should be there from a business point of view," Donovan says. "Stockholm certainly sees the Challenge as a business development tool, a way of representing the city as a centre of technology. We should be promoting New Zealand there as well."

The electronic voting system is designed to implement democracy in the voting processes of local government. Councillors have access to a hand-held radio device that records their votes and displays them electronically in the council chambers. The mayor also has the ability to queue and manage speakers and speaker times. The system is interfaced to the council's IT network and transfers data between both Systems.

Other New Zealand organisations or projects that have entered so far are: Te Papa Museum, Active Lifestyles, Interlink, New Zealand Education Web and Stop Bully (all of Wellington); and Marineland of New Zealand (Napier). All projects entered in the Bangemann Challenge should be hosted by a major city or region, but it's not necessary that the cities fund and manage the projects. Any public or private office, organisation or company can enter their projects as long as they are hosted by a city.

Projects can be entered in eleven categories:

1. New business structures. The modern workplace and virtual organisations.

2. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Special applications of particular benefit to small businesses.

3. Electronic commerce. Everything from information exchange using electronic data interchange EDl) to on-line shopping, communication between government authorities and businesses.

4. IT in education. All stages of formal education, from the elementary level to university.

5. Lifelong learning. Applications that help people continue their education no matter where they live, what they do or how old they are.

6. Public services and democracy. Tools used to foster participation by citizens and promote public service by governments.

7. Health and community care. Applications that bring medical technology closer to patients and bring specialists together using data and telecommunications.

8. Culture and media. Multimedia that enhances access to local and global culture.

9. Improving traffic and transport. Intelligent systems for navigation and control of transportation by land, sea and air

10. Supporting the environment. Ways of reducing environmental impact, such as virtual conferencing and email.

11. Equal access to networking. Communication among people the world over via the Internet and other means.

All projects must be started and implemented when the jury of international experts begins its work in October. The final results will presented in June 1999. A trophy will be awarded to winners in each category at an awards ceremony in Stockholm. All projects will be exhibited on and linked to the interactive Web site of the Global Bangemann Challenge (www.challenge.stockholm.se). During the program, participating cities and projects will be able to participate in a series of conferences and seminars around the globe.

The program builds on the success of the European Bangemann Challenge. In 1994, Stockholm challenged all of the major cities in Europe for the best projects for the information society. A total of 110 projects were entered by 25 major cities. The winners were presented their prizes in January 1997 by His Majesty the King of Sweden.

Tom Romeo