The Welsh Assembly, BBC, Childnet and The British Library make the final reckoning

17 June 2009

Nominet, the national registry for .uk domain names, today announces the shortlist for its annual Best Practice Challenge Awards Ceremony. The Welsh Assembly, BBC, Childnet and The British Library are just four of twenty eight organisations shortlisted by a panel of independent judges (full shortlist below).
The awards recognise British organisations, groups or individuals who have embraced the challenge of making the Internet a secure, open, accessible or diverse experience for all. The awards comprise of the following six categories:

• Best Development Project
• Best Security Initiative
• Raising Industry Standards
• Personal Safety Online
• Internet For All
• Open Internet
  

The judging panel made up of twelve Internet experts including Roger Darlington, OFCOM consumer panel member, Peter Robbins, Internet Watch Foundation, and the Rt Hon Alun Michael MP, decided on the shortlist and winners earlier this month.

The winners will be announced on 2nd July 2009 at a London based award ceremony and will be promoted as examples of best practice to industry, Government and academia in the UK and internationally. They will also play a leading role in the next Internet Governance Forum meeting (IGF) in Sharm El Sheikh on 15th - 18th November 2009 where they will showcase the workings of their Internet project that won them fame in the UK. 

Rt Hon Alun Michael MP comments: "Nominet's Best Practice Challenge now plays a pivotal role in highlighting outstanding work across the public, private and voluntary sectors in the online world. The 2009 competition will enable us to raise the UK's profile at this year's Internet Governance Forum in Sharm-el Sheikh by promoting exemplars of UK Best Practice on the international stage."
Lesley Cowley, CEO at Nominet adds: "Each year we are excited by the high standards of Internet innovation in the UK. It's great to see the broad range of examples of projects from many different sectors and to be able to showcase the best of UK Internet talent on the global scene."

Please see below for the entire list of shortlisted companies. For further information on individual entries please contact Racepoint Group on 020 8752 3205 / 3203 or email nominetuk@racepointgroup.com.

The Press Association is the media partner for this year's award.

Category 1: Best Development Project

• ACE IT (Age Concern Edinburgh Information Technology)
• BBC World Service Trust - ZigZag Academy
• Citizens Online - EverybodyOnline Northern Ireland
• Digital Birmingham - Keeping IT in the Family
• Rafi.ki.
  

Category 2: Best Security Initiative

• Business Crime Reduction Centre
• Information Security Awareness Forum
• Open Web Application Security Project
• The Security Awareness Special Interest Group (SASIG)
  

Category 3: Raising Industry Standards

• Get Safe Online
• Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA)
• Namesco
• SafeBuy
  

Category 4: Personal Safety Online

• Beatbullying - CyberMentors
• Childnet International - KidSMART
• Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
• The E-Victims Organisation
• Welsh Assembly - E-crime Wales
  

Category 5: Internet For All

• Advice NI
• British Computer Association of the Blind (BCAB)
• Describe Online
• Interskills - The Life Guide
• Screenreader.net - Thunder
  

Category 6: Open Internet

• British Library - 'Taking Liberties' web resources
• Cambridgeshire Libraries and Learning Centres - The CAVE (Community Access Volunteer Exchange)
• Culture 24
• Disposal Services Authority (DSA) e-disposals
• True Tube
  

Notes to Editors

About Nominet

Nominet operates at the heart of e-commerce in the UK, running one of the world's largest Internet registries and managing over seven million domain names. Nominet maintains the register of .uk domain names and runs the DNS infrastructure that keeps .uk working.

It runs the technology that locates a computer in the Internet hosting the web site or email system you're looking for when you type in a web address or send an email to an address that ends in .uk.

Nominet is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee that has members not shareholders, pays no dividends and its charges only cover its running costs. Anyone with an interest in the Internet may become a member. Nominet has over 2,800 members representing all areas of the Internet industry.

Nominet also runs the Tier 1 registry for UK ENUM, a new UK registry service that combines telephone numbers and the Domain Name System to simplify the way telephone calls over the Internet work.  ENUM lets callers know that you can receive VoIP calls - it allows more VoIP calls to be connected directly over the Internet, for no charge, rather than via the traditional PSTN network.

About the Internet Governance Forum

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.

About The Press Association (Nominet's media partner for the Best Practice Challenge)

The Press Association is the national news agency for the UK and Ireland, providing a continuous feed of text, pictures, video and data into newsrooms around the country. At the heart of the media industry, the Press Association supplies services to every national and regional daily newspaper, broadcasters, online publishers and a wide range of commercial organisations. Founded in 1868, the Press Association has an unrivalled reputation for providing fast, fair and accurate information.

The Press Association and PA Business are part of the PA Group Limited, a private company with 27 shareholders, most of whom are national and regional newspaper publishers. The biggest shareholders are Associated Newspaper Holdings Limited, News International plc, Trinity Mirror plc and United Business Media plc.

Visit the PA Group web site for more information at: www.thepagroup.com


For further information on the UK IGF or the Nominet Best Practice Challenge, please contact:

Gemma Griffiths or Blaise Hammond at Racepoint UK
Tel: 020 8752 3205 / 3203
Email: nominetuk@racepointgroup.co.uk 

An archive of press releases is available for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.