Nominet Trust seeks nominations for 100 best tech projects for social change
Howard Lake | 20 July 2014 | News
Nominet Trust, the UK’s only dedicated social technology investor, is asking for nominations for ventures that make use of digital technology for social innovation, to make up their second annual Nominet Trust 100.
Nominations are open globally, and can cover projects using technology in a wide array of social problems, from education, human rights abuses, and health to climate change. Anyone from any country can submit an entry for a project and/or organisation that deserves to be recognised for its impact on society.
Technology can consist of the web, mobile, big data or physical computing, or a combination of some of these.
The key requirement however is that the technology must be tackling major social problems to make the world a better place.
The list isn’t intended to be a top 100 in which the projects are ranked. The organisers say that it would not be possible or appropriate to measure projects against each other and against specific criteria.
Annika Small, CEO, Nominet Trust, said:
“We are looking for nominations of ventures that have inspired people in their use of technology to mobilise significant social change. In this way, the Nominet Trust 100 will showcase and celebrate the extraordinary ways in which technology is being used to tackle major social challenges and raise the ambitions of social innovators using technology.”
Finalists from the 2013 NT100
When asked about their technology of choice, the majority of 2013 NT100 finalists said that mobile technology (including apps) stood out as the technology of choice that will make the biggest impact on society due to increasing penetration rates on a global level.
Although 83% of the finalists acknowledged there had been a growth in the awareness of the technology for good market, nearly two-thirds believed that more needed to be done to support awareness and growth. Lack of funding and/or investment was the most commonly cited problem (35%) for these social entrepreneurs.
Pavegen installed 14 tiles outside the busy station of St Omer in Northern France. These powered LED lighting under benches and two USB ports.
Being listed in the NT100 has brought benefits to many of the ventures, including Pavegen Systems, a technology company that has developed paving slabs to convert energy from people’s footsteps into electrical power. The slabs were first installed at the London 2012 Olympic Games at West Ham tube station.
CEO and founder Laurence Kemball-Cook said:
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“In 2013, Pavegen reached a major milestone in regards to its number of projects and revenue generation. Being selected can be attributed towards our success, with data analytics tracing a spike in sales enquiries and online presence, to the time of our recognition on the Nominet Trust 100.”
Cancer Research UK Cell Slider
Cancer Research UK also made the list for its Cell Slider project. Programme Manager Hannah Keartland said:
“The Nominet Trust 100 helps raise the profile of high-quality social tech projects around the world, particularly for projects like ours that rely on the power of the crowd. It is also a great platform to showcase technology for good and gives us the chance to connect with leaders in the field”.
Nominations for 2014
Nominations for the Nominet Trust 100 can be made until 26 September 2014. They can be made online via the Social Tech Guide or via Twitter using the hashtag, #nt100.
The final 100 will be selected from the nominations by a steering committee chaired by Annika Small and including Charles Leadbeater; Lucy Bernholz; Dawn Austwick, CEO, Big Lottery; Tom Hulme, Director, IDEO; and Rodrigo Baggio, Founder and Executive Director of The Centre for Digital Inclusion (CDI).
The results will be announced in November 2014.
Image: mobile phone thumbs up by Alex Millos on Shutterstock.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.