In addition, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), and the Open Society Initiative for Western Africa (OSIWA) have sponsored special interest categories under the framework of the AISI Awards:

IDRC Award on Reporting ICT Research and Innovation. This award is geared towards encouraging Media practitioners’ focus on issues related to ICT research and innovations in Africa under the framework of the International Development Research Centre's Acacia Programme. Research into the effects of ICTs on African communities and information on ICT innovations, such as WAP applications, the Simputer, or open source applications are important areas that could have far reaching consequences for the development of marginalized people. This award will therefore seek to encourage the dissemination of this type of information through the media, by acknowledging the best media report on ICT Research and/or innovations and their relationship to the development of the African continent and its people.

IICD Award on Local Content Applications. This award aims to recognize users of innovative or pioneering applications of ICTs to local content defined as ''the expression of the locally owned and adapted knowledge of a community" in Africa. Applications can be from any sector and use of any medium with a demonstrated link with ICTs that provide opportunities for local people to interact and communicate with each other, expressing their own ideas, knowledge and culture in their own languages.

IICD Media Award on Local Content. This second IICD award will recognize an outstanding story, campaign, or project in which the significance of local knowledge and content is raised in local, national, or regional fora.

Open Society Initiative for Western Africa (OSIWA)

OSIWA Award for Best Female reporter on ICT for Development issues. This category recognizes female journalists on the continent and their interest and reporting of ICT for development issues. The overall objective of this award is to encourage women journalists to enter into reporting on specialized fields such as information and communication technologies.

JUDGING

Judging will be based on four categories of entries and winners from each category will be those, who in the opinion of the Judges have made a significant contribution to promoting and raising awareness on the information society in Africa.

The Judges have the right to withhold making an award should it be deemed, in their opinion that no entry fully satisfies the criteria laid down. The decision of the Judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

CONDITIONS FOR ENTRY

1.         Conditions governing the Awards

	ECA has the right to reproduce and transmit in any media, for non-commercial purposes, the work that has been selected.
	ECA has the right to cancel the Awards at any time, when the selected entities and individuals are found ineligible or don’t fulfill the criteria laid down for the award.
	Prizewinners will be ineligible to enter the Awards for a period of two years.

The decision of the judges shall be final.

Members of the panel of judges for the Award and members of the sponsoring institutions shall not be eligible to submit an entry.

2.         Categories of entries:

AISI Media Awards (four categories)

1. Radio:          Programmes from community, commercial and national public radio stations, including news, discussion, documentaries and features.

2. Print: Regional, national and local newspapers, including specialist magazines.

3. Television:   Factual (documentary and features), News.

4. Other: Broadcaster of the Year, Promoting African Languages in the Information Society, Media Personality Award (sustained analysis in the news media), Media and ICT application, and the African Diaspora Media.

Entries that cover only international issues are ineligible unless, they relate to, and develop an understanding of, current information society issues in Africa. 

Reportage, analysis and commentary of information society and ICT for development issues in newspapers, magazines, and in radio and television programming.

	Entries made for the Radio and TV categories can be a single programme, a compilation or a series.
	Web-site entries must include printouts of web pages (A4) with full web address.
	Broadcaster of the Year entries should be a compilation of no more than 30 minutes of radio or TV output from a station.
	Media Personality Award entries should be submitted for an individual or group of individuals, together with a profile, demonstrating the nominee’s commitment to promoting information society issues.

3.         Criteria for entries:

All entries must have been published and broadcasted by an African Media institution during the year 2002.  Entries can be submitted in more than one category but THREE COPIES OF ALL MATERIAL ARE NEEDED FOR EACH CATEGORY ENTERED. Also, SUBMISSIONS IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES SHOULD BE TRANSLATED (in the case of print) and/or TRANSCRIBED INTO ENGLISH OR FRENCH for RADIO AND TV PROGRAMMES.

4.         Submission of Entries:

A FULLY COMPLETED FORM MUST ACCOMPANY EACH SUBMISSION; OTHERWISE THE ENTRY WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

	Entries must be cassettes for radio /VHS for tapes for TV entries and original materials for print entries.
	All material in a language other than French and English must have translation and/or transcription included in the submission.

Submissions can be in English, French, Arabic.

Closing date Friday 28 February 2003

Submit to:

Ms Kidist Belayneh (kbelayneh@uneca.org)
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA AISI MEDIA AWARD
DISD, 5^th Floor, ECA Building, ECA, PO Box 3001, Menelik II Avenue
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Website: http://www.uneca.org/aisi/mediaaward.htm

5.         Winners:

The winners will be selected from entries, which in the opinion of the Judges, make a significant contribution to public awareness and understanding of the information society, and which provide analysis on issues concerning access, policy/regulatory environment, the social and economic impacts of ICT for development. An public announcement will be made shortly after the selection for all the categories.

The selection will be followed by an official notification from the ECA Executive Secretary informing the winners in the case of the AISI Awards. ECA in collaboration with IDRC and IICD will notify winners of their selection for the special interest awards.

6.         Prizes

AISI MEDIA AWARDS (four categories): Prizewinners will receive an amount equal to 2,000 US Dollars.

IDRC AWARD: The first prizewinner for this special category will receive an amount equal to 3,000 US Dollars, and the runner-up, 1,500 US Dollars.

IICD AWARD:

1) The first prizewinner for the first category on innovative or pioneering applications of ICTs to local content will receive an amount equal to 3,000 US Dollars and the runner-up, 1,500 US Dollars.

2) The winner under the second category on an outstanding story, campaign, or project in which the significance of local knowledge and content is raised in local, national, or regional fora will receive an amount equal to 3,000 US Dollars.

[Entry Submission Form]