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Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet selected as finalist in the Stockholm Challenge 2001

The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet was announced on 6 June as one of the 12 finalists in the 'Health and quality of life' category of the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award 2001.

The Stockholm Challenge is 'a unique awards program for pioneering information technology (IT) projects worldwide. It is a way of building networks between entrepreneurs who will benefit from contacts across borders, cultures and economies. The Stockholm Challenge focuses on the positive effects of today's information society, and the benefit information and communication technology can bring people and society. The technology itself is not the issue, but the benefit IT can bring people, society and the environment, used in a creative way within the local context. The big challenge is to bridge the digital divide.'

The seven categories in the Stockholm Challenge 2001 reach the whole spectra of today's society: New economy; Health and quality of life; Culture and entertainment; Public services and democracy; Education; Environment; and A global village (a new category for new-thinking projects crossing borders between societies, cultures and scientific fields).

Creativity and innovation, as well as the desire to stimulate and share knowledge, are some of the qualities taken into account by the Stockholm Challenge jury, a group of 28 international senior experts. Their evaluation is based on four main criteria:

· Innovation - How is the technology being used? (There is no need for the most innovative and new technology - new, innovative ways of using older technology is sometimes the best solution.)

· User need - Does the project increase the quality of life for many people or a smaller group? (The benefit of the project can be judged as bigger if the target group is big, but degree of increasing quality of life also comes into the evaluation.)

· Sustainability - For how long will the project continue? And for how long will this solution keep on bringing benefit to its users?

· Transferability - Can the project be transferred to other groups? Is the concept easy to copy? (This is certainly a criterion that shows the dimension of bridging the digital divide.)

The single most important criterion is how the project benefits people, society and the environment. Technology itself is not the issue. Special attention is given to projects that promote democracy, counteract segregation and discrimination or support gender equality.

In announcing the finalists for the 2001 Stockholm Challenge at a press conference at INET2001, A Net Odyssey - Mobility and the Internet, the 11th Annual Conference of the prestigious ISOC, the Internet Society, Professor Alfonso Molina, Chairman of the Stockholm Challenge Jury, noted that 'the Challenge continues to offer a unique and privileged window into the advancing frontier of the emerging information society'.

Professor Molina continued: 'the trends this year reveal a deepening of the "network" or "knowledge" society. Another important overall trend is the stronger participation of governments in services such as health, education and environment, with many powerful projects and information portals emerging in collaboration with other organisations. In addition, networks using advanced IT are emerging in developing countries, helping to improve life and work in deprived areas and helping to bridge the digital divide'.

Finalists are invited to the Final Events that will take place in the last week of September. The program starts on 24 September with a seminar called World Café - 'a new way to reach the questions that matter through open discussions between all participants'. On 25 September, finalists will display their work to the public at an exhibition held at the Stockholm Cultural Centre. The winners of each of the seven categories will be announced at a prize-giving ceremony in the Stockholm City Hall on September 26.

The HealthInfoNet was the only Australian finalist in the 'Health and quality of life' category, and one of only six Australian finalists overall.

(Details of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet's entry can be found by searching for HealthInfoNet at the Projects section of the Stockholm Challenge Internet site.)

Last updated: 12 February, 2002