Six Initiatives Receive Awards for their Contribution the Development of the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean

Montevideo, July 3rd.- Six projects that have made a significant contribution to the development of the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean have been recognized by the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean (FRIDA), announced Casa de Internet de Latinoamérica y el Caribe.

The winning projects are from Argentina, Peru, Colombia – one is regional in scope – and have been honored with the FRIDA 2013 Award (programafrida.net) for their contribution in the areas of Internet access, freedom, development and innovation in the region. Proposals from El Salvador, Colombia and Nicaragua also received special mentions.

Among the 63 projects that were submitted, this fourth edition of the FRIDA Award honored six initiatives which, over the past few years, have encouraged the use of Information Technologies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In addition, one out of four initiatives submitted for the FRIDA Award also presented proposals for scaling their projects. Each scaling proposal can receive up to USD 6000 to finance new activities relating to their project. The judging panel will notify winners regarding this last item on July 15th.

The FRIDA Awards are presented by the FRIDA Program (the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean), an initiative of the Latin America and Caribbean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC), with the financial support of the International Development Research Center (IDRC), the Internet Society (ISOC), and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

In addition to a cash prize, winners will receive financial assistance to attend the Pre-Internet Governance Forum that will take place in Cordoba (Argentina) and the global Internet Governance Forum in Bali (Indonesia).

WINNERS BY CATEGORY

Access

Freedoms

Development

Given the excellent quality of the projects submitted in this category, the judging panel decided that the first prize would be shared among two projects:

Innovation

Most Voted, Most Creative Project:

The judging panel also awarded special mentions to the following projects: Matilti (Women's Group for Local Development) from El Salvador, Civil Society Virtual Center for Transparency and Accountability, a regional initiative, Training to Save Childhood, Virtual AIEPI from Colombia, and Surveillance System for the Prevention of Female Cancer from Nicaragua.

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