BPN 1327 2009 WSA Grand Jury – Day 4

After all the excitement of the trip to the tallest minaret in New Dehli and the first round, the eminent experts of the Grand Jury went into the second round. First they had to change from category. This is a typical ritual dance. Either you go one category forward or one backwards. Once this matter was settled, the eminent experts could start evaluating the 18 tot 20 entries of the shortlist. Their assignment now was to investigate the entries and compare them to each other, basically selecting 8 entries for the nominee list. The second round is quite different from the first round. In that first round jurors throw out the entries that they do not want to see anymore. In the second round the jurors look for the top quality in that category and nominate 8 entries for selection of the final 5 winners.

The WSA is different from the Webbys or the EPPYs, the electronic newspaper awards. In those competitions you have a winner and runners-up, who are forgotten after a year. In the WSA contest you have five winners which represent the world’s best. They will be shown around the world in the road shows and during summits.

For the WSA process a spreadsheet program is used, calculating the individual scores of the eminent experts. The aggregated scores of the jury panels show a list with technical scores, a strategic score and an accessibility score.

Technical Criteria
1. CONTENT: Quality and comprehensiveness of content
2. INTERFACE: Ease of use: functionality, navigation and orientation
3. INTERACTIVITY: Value added through interactivity and multimedia
4. DESIGN: Attractiveness of design (aesthetic value of graphics/audio)
5. TECHNICAL REALISATION: Quality of craftsmanship (technical realisation)

Strategic Criteria
S. Strategic Score Innovation and Creativity - Show case for the global development of the Information Society
A. Accessibility according to the W3C (http://www.w3.org)

During the luncheon break there was a WSA board meeting, mainly concerned with the Grand Gala to be held in Monterrey, Mexico. For the 2009 edition a winner of the 2007 edition, Indigo Brain Media, has taken it upon him in order to organise the Grand Gala. But as a representative of Indigo, Angeles, told the board, the event has grown into four related events: The 2009 WSA Summit, the UN Gaid meeting, the WSYA Award ceremony and the 2009 WSA Gala. So it will not just be a WSA party, but it will also be a UN meeting. And from the program it looks that some important dignitaries will be present such as the first lady of Egypt and the president of Mali as well as officials of the United Nations.

The networking dinner was very relaxed and was the right occasion to meet many of the old and new jurors to exchange idaes and get to each other better. On the photograph, you see eminent experts from New Zealand, Tunisia, Philippines and Egypt.

Blog Posting Number: 1327

Tags: contest, competition