[December 14, 2016] |
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Nominet Trust unveils 2016's 100 most inspiring examples of tech for good
Nominet
Trust today unveils the 2016
NT100 - a celebration of the 100 most inspiring social innovations
using digital technology to drive social change around the world. Now in
its fourth year, the 2016 NT100 gives special recognition to 'Everyday
Tech Heroes' - the inspirational people who have first-hand experience
of the challenges they are tackling with tech.
The organisations chosen for this year's NT100 have wide-ranging
purposes, from those determined to democratise access to quality
education and healthcare, to those connecting minority communities and
evoking empathy.
Key themes in the 2016 NT100 include:
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Social inclusion: 10% of 2016 NT100 ventures are using
technology to help people live more inclusive and autonomous lives.
Projects include EVA Park - a virtual environment to help those
with aphasia recover communication skills; Hand Talk - a
Brazilian innovation introducing Hugo, a virtual interpreter that
translates between spoken languages and sign language; DisruptDisability
- which has created the world's first open source wheelchair designs;
and the South-West Open Youth Orchestra (SWOYO) - the
UK's only disabled-led regional youth orchestra. Both
DisruptDisability founder, Rachael Wallach, and the SWOYO musicians
are celebrated as Everyday Tech Heroes.
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Economic Empowerment: Eight NT100 ventures are trailblazing
routes towards economic empowerment for people who are
disenfranchised. Giraffe is a free recruitment app to help
tackle high levels of unemployment in Cape Town, while Bim is a
ground-breaking mobile money platform, opening up financial services
to rural communities in Peru. Everyday Tech Heroes Nova Credit
watchedtheir families struggle financially when emigrating to the US,
so they set up the world's first international credit reporting
agency, helping people to access essential funds to get established as
new arrivals.
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Health: Health remains a strong theme this year, with a greater
emphasis on mental health. Three projects focus on helping those with
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - estimated to affect 7-8%
of the US population alone. Projects include MyBivy, which
helps PTSD patients to avoid night terrors and BraveMind, a
virtual reality therapeutic game that supports those recovering.
Pioneering research from the team behind SimSensei has shown
that a virtual human clinician can help PTSD sufferers and others to
open up, enabling more effective mental health diagnosis and treatment.
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Education: 10 projects show how technology can deliver
education to excluded groups. One example, Kiron, is an online
tool providing a world-class education to refugees who are five
times more likely to be out of school than the global average.
Other ventures include OneUni, which aims to give everyone
access to a university education through a mobile phone, and iScoil
- an Irish online education system to help those who left school early
to get back on track.
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Safety: Safety covers projects such as Mine Kafon
Drone, an airborne drone that quickly and systematically clear
landmines, and tootoot - a safe and anonymous online reporting
environment inspired by Everyday Tech Hero Michael Brennan who was
bullied as a child.
Vicki Hearn, Director of Nominet Trust commented: "NT100 provides a
platform that amplifies the collective power of the tech for good
community. It has a valuable role to play in inspiring those with the
influence and resources to accelerate the adoption of tech for social
good and brings together entrepreneurs, innovators, NGOs, charities,
technologists and others to share knowledge, experiences and skills to
introduce social change on a global scale."
"Our recognition of Everyday Tech Heroes this year shows that you don't
have to have influence and a big budget to play an inspirational role.
With the right tech tools and a powerful desire to change the status
quo, these heroes are tackling some of the world's most pressing social
challenges."
"The NT100 is a powerful and influential initiative, bringing together
many hundreds of social tech innovations from around the world which
each embrace digital technology for good," comments Russell Haworth, CEO
of Nominet, founder and funder of Nominet Trust. "That such a diverse
selection of inspiring projects is curated in this way is so important,
not least for the global platform it provides each of them to secure
future investment, but for the wide-ranging challenges they help to
address and solve. As the founder and funder of Nominet Trust, we are
delighted that through supporting international campaigns like the
NT100, and UK-based tech-for-good ventures, Nominet is able to play a
key role in helping to create a vibrant digital future, for all."
The 2016 NT100 was selected following a three-month period of research
and public nominations. Shortlisted projects were reviewed by a panel of
organisations including: Big Lottery Fund, Cancer Research UK, Comic
Relief, Nominet, Oxfam, Telefonica (News - Alert) O2 and Skoll Centre for Social
Entrepreneurship.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161214005711/en/
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