Today we’re launching the TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards to reward those doing outstanding work using digital technology to improve the lives of people in their communities.
Many of you will be aware that over the past two years we’ve run a scheme with Citizens Online under a different name – the TalkTalk Innovation in the Community Awards. We had a fantastic response to these awards (last year we received over 2,200 entries) but we felt it was time to freshen up the format and ensure we’re rewarding the best possible digital projects around the UK.
So what are the changes this year?
The biggest change is to the format, with fewer but bigger prizes. This year there will be 12 winners – one from each region of the UK. Eleven of them will win £5,000 and one overall winner will receive £10,000.
Also new this year is the fact that we’re throwing open the voting to the public. After the initial application phase – when people can nominate a digital hero, or even nominate themselves – three heroes from each region will be shortlisted and then put to a public vote in September. Whoever gets the most votes (made via the Digital Heroes website) will be crowned their region’s digital hero.
The 12 digital heroes will all be invited to an event we’ll host with Citizens Online at Westminster to receive their awards from one of our judges the UK’s new digital champion, Martha Lane Fox.
Last year the winners included some amazing projects, such as Screenreader, a piece of free software that ‘reads’ web pages to visually impaired people, and SpecialEffect, a charity that was developing the world’s first fully accessible computer gaming suite at a children’s hospice in Oxford.
We’re looking for the individuals behind similarly deserving projects to come forward this year and receive the recognition as Britain’s digital heroes. We’re looking forward to your nominations.
For more information, please see the Digital Heroes website
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