The 2012 ISIF Asia Awards recognize projects that have already been implemented, or are in the final stages of implementation, and have been successful in addressing their communities needs. During the 2012 call for nominations, the program received 32 nominations across the 4 categories from 13 economies in the Asia Pacific.
 
Each winner received a cash prize of AUD 3,000 to support the continuation of the project or the organization conducting the activities and a travel grant for a project representative to participate at the 7th Internet Governance Forum (Baku, Azerbaijan. 6-9 November 2012) to showcase their project, make new professional contacts, and participate in discussions about the future of the Internet.

ISIF Asia, FRIDA and FIRE Africa award winners, with Jens Karberg (Sida) and Vint Cerf (Google) at the first Seed Alliance joint awards ceremony (7 November 2012. IGF - Baku, Azerbaijan). For more photos, visit ISIF Asia Flickr photo set.

Meet the 2012 award winners:

  • Innovation on access provision / Nepal Wireless Networking Project. E-Networking Reseach and Development. Nepal: The project connected the first village in 2002 to the Internet using simple indoor Wi-Fi radio (Dlink 900AP)and satellite TV dish as modified antenna. The range of the first link was 40 km from the nearest city called Pokhara where the Internet connectivity was available. By 2005, the project had connected 22 villages to the network and provided tele-medicine services in two rural clinics by connecting them to a hospital in the city. Until the middle of 2012 the project has connected 140 villages in the 15 district of Nepal. The number of schools connected in those villages is 80 and the clinics is 10. It is expanding the Wi-Fi network to more villages and by end of 2012, there will be at least 175 villages connected in the wireless network and to the Internet. Nepal Wireless Networking Project is not limited to connect the villages with wireless technology. It is also working hard to develop different application to provide useful ICT service for the rural people. It is also involved in research and development activities such as making simple ECG machine, developing poacher monitoring system in the national parks, and developing trekkers tracking system in the mountain trails using wireless technology.

  • Innovation on learning and localization / Ligtas Buntis: Safe Motherhood Project using SMS Technologies. Movale Development Foundation Inc. Philippines: This is an application specific e-Health Promotion and Tracking System for Maternal Health Community Care. It enhances general recording & reporting of maternal health data, and supports the process of maternal health behavior change. It address the current maternal health challenges of the public health sector, especially in recording and reporting prenatal and postnatal registry, in providing health messages to pregnant women, and in increasing utilization of maternal health services of the Rural Health Unit and designated district hospitals & other health facilities.
  • Code for the common good / Empowering Non-Profit Organizations and Micro-enterprises with ECHO. Corpcom Services Sdn Bhd. Malaysia. ECHO is an internet--mobile collaborative cloud tool on an integrated platform enabling one person to efficiently coordinate unlimited number of people in diverse locations to achieve group level social economic missions such as activity coordination, income-generation and bulk distribution/group production. The use of SMS/MMS as an alternative communication channel for the home-bound urban poor enabling them to earn income through micro-enterprises attached to a self-help e-community (www.ehomemakers.net) without leaving the home while the administrator coordinates them in the office without tedious phone calls or face-to-face visits. This application has enabled the dissemination of information and earning opportunities to an underserved community whose ICT literacy rate is low and the local ICT infrastructure is unable to support direct interaction with more sophisticated devices. 26 NPOs also use ECHO to organise volunteers/affiliates and beneficiaries for purposes such as meetings, voting for council members/activity options, trainings, activity coordination, surveys, announcements and income-generation for members. One staff can organize thousands of volunteers, the volunteer leaders can also organize volunteers in own groupings for multiplier effects. Simplicity within the context of community empowerment is ECHO’s contribution to non-profit deployment as it is a tool for community organizing, sourcing, distribution and information collating.
  • Rights / Climate Radio - Climate Voice. Machizo Multimedia Communication. Bangladesh: This is an on-demand online radio from Bangladesh that started on May 2009 to publish the voice of climate victims. The main purpose of this initiative is to disseminate news of Bangladeshi climate victims with their own voice in a global stage through global media intervention. The small local content publishing initiative aims to reach in global policy makers and a larger internet audience that may influence to establish climate justice worldwide.
  • Community Choice Award / HajjLocator, Mobile Interactive Monitoring and Tracking System for Hajj Pilgrims. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Malaysia: HajjLocator is a GPS tracking system in a mobile device that provides sequence hajj pilgrim locations. When a pilgrim is lost in a crowded and unfamiliar environment, by only pressing a button the assistance will be send to his/her mobile and also it sends his location to his family and the related agencies.

Profiles about all the award nominees, including the winning projects, are available online:
http://www.isif.asia/projects