The World Summit Award (WSA) is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best e-Content, started in 2003 in the framework of the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). This is done through national contests, a global contest, held every 2 years, and numerous content-focused national and international conferences and workshops – the WSA Road Show.

 

 

On November 2007, WSA winners from all over the world presented their awarded projects and share their visions on the topic of “ICT & Creativity” . The aim of the WSA Winners Conference in Venice was to produce a truly optimistic showcase for bridging the Digital Divide and Content Gap.

 

Taking place in the wonderful facilities of Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, the Global Forum/Shaping the Future was held on November 5th and 6th, 2007. "We are very proud to host the WSA Events as part of the Venice Global Forum 2007",- says Sébastien Lévy, the Global Forum partner and one of the main organizers of the Event.

The 16th Edition of the Global Forum, under the thematic of “Global Convergence 2.0, Integration & Innovation, Building the Collaborative Knowledge Society” highlighted a number of innovative projects from around the world in order to forge stronger networking on a global basis and foster new international initiatives. During the two-day meeting, the event focussed on ways in which the digital convergence of platforms and channels can help develop a genuine multimedia and knowledge society.

 

All Winners from the WSA 07 have been invited to present their projects and discuss for two days with peers topics from e-Learning to e-Health and from e-Entertainment to e-Inclusion. The NeuroVR project joined the event as one of the Italian national contest winners: best e-Content for e-health.

 

 

 

Presentations and workshops provided a platform for knowledge exchange and first-hand information for all participants and visitors. The panels were designed interactively and additionally serves as a meeting hub and networking opportunity.

Projects which have won a WSA award came from the following countries:

Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, China, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Togo, Uganda, United States of America, and Venezuela

The conference was co-chaired by

• Peter A. Bruck, Chairman, World Summit Award
• Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator, UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID)