New Zealand leads in World Summit Awards

New Zealand leads in World Summit Awards

Four countries will top the leader board at the World Summit Award – New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Austria. The Awards are a global showcase of 40 outstanding projects, in eight categories, recognising excellence in multimedia and digital creation. The winners will be recognised at a gala event in Mexico on 2 September 2009.

This year saw a record 20,000 entries from 147 countries. New Zealand received three awards, along with three other countries. Five countries received two awards, and eighteen countries received one award.

The winning entries from New Zealand are:

e-Entertainment & Games: Areograph Limited trading as 'Areo' - Casebook
"Straddling film production, robotics and software design, Areo is a digital technology company based in Dunedin, New Zealand. At its heart is Areograph technology, pioneered by CEO Luke Reid. Composed of thousands upon thousands of images, Areograph creates 3D environments that are both more detailed and far cheaper to produce than traditional digital animation techniques. Areographed games are so realistic, they are able to use real characters and locations with no jarring contrast of gameplay and video sequences. The technology is currently on display in the award-winning /Casebook/ series of forensic crime games, but is set to find use in applications as varied as virtual tours, DVD extras and movie tie-ins. Between the familiar realm of film, and the exploding world of games, Areo is charting new territory in the far south."

e-Government & Institutions: State Services Commission - National Broadband Map
"The National Broadband Map is an online map created to provide a visual representation of New Zealand's broadband landscape. It is a valuable resource for planning broadband infrastructure and investment within New Zealand, providing the most complete map of both current broadband supply networks and the actual and potential demand points for broadband. Transparency of broadband demand is necessary to provide a basis for the assessment of commercially sound and sustainable high-speed broadband infrastructure. The National Broadband Map is an excellent example of government and the private sector working together to make information accessible to New Zealanders. The technology incorporated in the map allows any citizen, business or government agency to easily reuse, re-analyse, consume, or add to the publicly available data contained in the map. "

e-Learning & Education: Te Papa - Our Space
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is making bold and innovative steps towards forging community and exploring identity through a user-generated public interactive experience called Our Space. This venture guides visitors through two unique spaces where they are able to not only view images submitted by the public, but manipulate this media to create individual representations of national identity.
New Zealand will be represented at the Awards by Jan Bieringa and Laurence Millar.

Further information can be found at http://www.wsa-awards.org.nz/ and http://bit.ly/12E5B0

ENDS

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