Battle-hardened GeoNet recognised at Australia New Zealand Internet Awards

GNS Science's battle-hardened GeoNet unit has been recognised at the 2012 Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards.

Since the two major Christchurch earthquakes, GeoNet has added both crowdsourced quake feedback, and cut the amount of time it takes to post basic information about a quake by automating systems with its "Rapid" project.

In awarding the "Information" award to GNS for GeoNet Rapid, the judges said:

The winning entry represents an initiative of critical public importance in New Zealand.  The project makes earthquake information available rapidly – within five minutes – through the web and is being used extensively by third party applications including smartphone apps.

The frightening impact of the Canterbury region earthquakes in New Zealand attracted world-wide interest and since September 2010 the region has experienced well over 10,000 earthquakes.  The uptake of the initiative has been excellent with the downloading of over 36,000 smartphone apps.

The importance of the initiative to scientists, geologists, communities and at a personal level is very significant.  It has helped citizens to engage with and understand what the earthquake data is telling us.  Whilst the judges believe the data and information has undoubted relevance to the international scientific community, it is at the individual and personal level that it is probably most significant.

Another notable winner was Wellington company Aura RedEye in the Security and Privacy category. Aura offers website penetration testing - an option a couple of recent auction site contenders would have been advised to pursue. 

The 2012 Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIAs) recognise excellence in businesses, organisations and individuals to the development and use of the Internet in Australia and New Zealand.

They were presented last night at Old Parliament House in Canberra.

The ANZIAs are a collaboration between the .au Domain Administration (auDA) and InternetNZ and are judged by an independent panel of experts from both countries. Now in its fourth year, Awards are handed out for excellence in six categories: Diversity; Information; Innovation; Internet Access & Digital Skills; Security & Privacy and IPv6.

InternetNZ Chief Executive Vikram Kumar says “The six ANZIA categories cover all facets of the global Internet, from the highly-technical to the cultural, humanistic and innovative”.

auDA CEO Chris Disspain echoes Kumar, saying “The ANZIA awards distinguish the premier businesses, individuals and organisations in Australia and New Zealand that use the Internet to enrich the lives of others and advance the cause of using the Internet in positive and inventive ways.”

The 2012 ANZIA Award Winners and highly commended entrants are:

Information
Winner: GNS Science (NZ)
Highly Commended: Land Information New Zealand

Innovation 

Winner: National Library of Australia
Highly Commended: Australasian Legal Information Institute (AU)

IPv6
Winner: Internode (AU)
Highly Commended: StudentNet (AU)

Security & Privacy
Winner: Aura RedEye Security (NZ)
Highly Commended: New Zealand Internet Task Force

Internet Access & Digital Skills
Winner: 2020 Communications Trust (NZ)

Diversity
Winner: Hika Group (NZ)
Highly Commended: Cultural Infusion (AU)

JUDGE'S COMMENTS

INFORMATION CATEGORY

Highly commended: Land Information New Zealand for their “LINZ Data Service”

The judges agreed that the organisation receiving the highly commended prize for Information has delivered on its goal of opening up data and information for reuse and repurposing.

This organisation provides New Zealand Geospatial data that has multiple applications with clear economic and social benefits and is an excellent model for land and geospatial data services in other countries.

Datasets made available through this service include New Zealand topographic, hydrographic, survey, title, street address and geodetic datasets: all of which are essential spatial infrastructure in a world where location-based information is changing the way we work, live and play.

This organisation has made the information available online for anyone, anywhere to download, use and share for free.

INNOVATION CATEGORY

Highly Commended: Australasian Legal Information Institute for their “LawCite” initiative.

The judges agreed that the organisation to receive the highly commended prize for Innovation has provided a great time saver for finding citations, cutting down potentially long hours of legal research time and allows fast focused case research.  The initiative is a great example of cross-border collaboration as it allows deep citation searching across different source types such as decisions & journal articles. 

The judges believe the simple and free database is incredibly powerful and an excellent resource for legal practitioners, scholars and lay people alike.

Winner: National Library of Australia for their “Trove” initiative.

The judges agreed that the winning entry’s initiative provides a fun, slick, dynamic discovery experience for the user.  The initiative is a terrific resource for professional and amateur social researchers.

The initiative is a single point of access that takes its users to the source of over 303 million resources from almost 2,000 libraries and other cultural institutions around Australia as well as international digital collections of relevance.   Content includes fully-text digitized Australian newspapers and journals, full text transcripts of selected ABC current-affairs programs and oral history recordings.  It is unique as it allows users interactive ownership of the resources as it is the only site that allows the general public access to correct the electronically translated text of the digitized newspapers as well as add comments, tags, lists and merge and split works. It’s collation of social historical information makes it an important social resource.

In June 2012, the initiative was used by more than 50,000 people daily.  The judges were unanimous that this is a wonderful site that deserves to be exposed to a wider audience. 

IPV6 CATEGORY

Highly Commended: Studentnet

The judges agreed that the organisation to receive the highly commended prize for IPv6 has been a pioneer in the use of IPv6 technology for several years and should be rewarded for its’ efforts to educate “next generation” end users with new IP protocol and also Internet security issues.

The initiative is a new collaborative system based on delivering IPv6 networking infrastructure into the school environment.  The judges felt it was quite encouraging to learn that students could enable IPv6 access in their campus networks on World IPv6 Day in 2011 and the World IPv6 Launch in 2012.

Winner: Internode

The judges agreed that the winning entry’s organisation shows clear leadership in the industry and are a deserving winner of this years’ IPv6 Award.

The organisation has launched native IPv6 connectivity for all new customers, and so for these customers it is no longer making any distinction between IPv4 and IPv6 services.  The judges see this to be a major step forward in the seamless delivery of IP services for its customers and, as such, provides an exemplar for ISPs in Australasia.  

This organisation participated in World IPv6 Launch and achieved around 2.5% IPv6 traffic, which is more than double the target set by the Launch organiser.
 

SECURITY & PRIVACY CATEGORY

Highly Commended: New Zealand Internet Task Force

The judges agreed that in its’ initiatives to enhance the capabilities of the security community, the organisation to receive the highly commended prize for Security & Privacy has fostered collaboration between local and international security experts and continues to strengthen the cyber security community of New Zealand.

This organisation’s objectives of information sharing and collaboration extend to the provision of affordable training to enhance knowledge and skills in the industry. 

One of the judges said that the development of this organisation on an almost entirely volunteer basis is testament to the genuine desire of its members and board to improve the cyber security situation of all New Zealanders.

Winner: Aura RedEye Security for their “RedShield” initiative.

The judges agreed that the winning entry’s organisation provides an innovative new service that is a rapid-response defence to vulnerable websites. They believe that this organisation has identified an important need and has shown commendable initiative in filling it.

The winning organisation has created a new service that goes one step further than simply monitoring, reporting and providing advice.  This new service scans their customers’ websites and networks on a daily basis hunting for security holes as well as providing rapid-response defenses against the issues that were found. 

INTERNET ACCESS & DIGITAL SKILLS CATEGORY

Winner: 2020 Communications Trust for their “Stepping UP” initiative.

The judges feel the winning organisation stood out from the other entries because of their programs of active engagement in their communities.  Not only has this organisation have a track record of achieving digital inclusion through innovative programs and initiatives, their response to the earthquake in Christchurch was of particular interest. 

The winning initiative delivered internet access to thousands of citizens, particularly in Christchurch by equipping a bus with laptops as a mobile digital learning centre and travelling to participants’ streets on a regular schedule as well as being available for school and community use.  In addition to the digital skills training, it provides opportunities for families without internet connections in their home to have access to the Internet and have helped empowered residents, particularly those impacted by the recent earthquakes. 

DIVERSITY CATEGORY

Highly Commended: Cultural Infusion

The judges agreed that the organisation to receive the highly commended prize for Diversity provides a great initiative that encourages learning about cultural diversity through the accessible medium of music, with the added benefit of improving users’ IT skills.  They were impressed by the easy-to-navigate website and clear instructions for use as well as the fact that it is free and immediately accessible to everyone, with no extra software downloads required.

The judges said that it is a creative and cutting edge initiative that makes a significant contribution to both cultural and music education.  The fact that it has already been used by over 1 million students speaks to its success.  One of the judges says that it is a shining example of a “virtual classroom” allowing students to share their creation with classmates and even students at other schools online.

Winner: The Hika Group

The judges agreed that this particular organisation produces translation-communication products that have potential to migrate to other languages and is significant for its global use and appeal.

Their products encourage and support expressions of cultural diversity and identity through the promotion of multilingualism and Indigenous cultures using mobile touch devices and online systems. 

The judges believe their English-Maori translation project is one that has an edge and goes much further than a standard online dictionary.  The app is interactive, fun and accessible for the younger generation and encourages learning of phrases rather than individual words, making it more user-friendly than a standard dictionary for beginners.

The winning entry uses the latest technology, fills a clear gap in the market and certainly meets its goal of revitalizing interest in the Maori language and promoting Indigenous cultures.