More about WSA Award
The list and descriptions of all Slovenian nominees:
1.
project: Državni portal Republike Slovenije (The State Portal of the Republic of Slovenia)
URL:http://e-uprava.gov.si/e-uprava/en/portal.euprava
category: e-government
producer: Ministrstvo za javno upravo RS (Ministry for Public Governance of the Republic of Slovenia)
platform: web site
description/evaluation:
The State Portal of the Republic of Slovenia provides information in the languages of its citizens, in Slovene as well as in Italian and in Hungarian (the languages of our minorities), and also in English. The contents slightly differ, yet the three-part structure remains. The contents in Slovene and minority languages is divided into useful information for citizens, for companies and for the government employees. It is also providing a lot of actual information, links to the most popular sites where citizens can pay taxes, find jobs, speak to the ministers. The site is highly interactive and is growing on a daily basis. The latest achievement is the service portal for business entities - One stop shop - which allows business to be registered online and is operative since July 1st 2005.
The English version of the State Portal of the Republic of Slovenia is a helpful tool to all the visitors interested in gaining general knowledge on Slovenia, information concerning public administration as well as those concerning private sector.
All in all, the State Portal of the Republic of Slovenia is a strong contribution to overcoming the obstacles presented by traditionally strong bureaucracy and to creating a more citizen-friendly public governance. It is one of those projects that aid the state in serving citizens more effectively, using the new media.
2.
project: Med.Over.Net
URL: http://med.over.net/
category: e-health
producers: Zavod Med.Over.Net
description/evaluation:
Med.Over.Net is the first Slovenian internet portal covering health and social care, education and legal issues associated with this areas. In addition, there is lively communication in the portals various forms, chat-rooms and Q&A sections. Over 300.000 users from well-defined target user groups visit the website each month what makes this portal the largest in Slovenia, a nation of only 2 million people. Expert articles and opinions are distributed over the portal in 40.000 pages of digital content. And most importantly, the website is highly interactive. Experts from various fields are keen to answer hundreds of very specific questions each day. The content of the portal is broken into permanent content (40.000 pages of scientific articles), thematic open Forums for exchange of opinions, thematic expert Forums where experts are in charge of editing of content and Presentation pages of many NGO's and other organizations. The benefits of Med.Over.Net are numerous. A user can get a doctor specialist opinion on a topic in a shortest possible time, many times the same day that the question was posted. For free, of course. Because the website guarantees 100% anonymity and privacy, people often ask questions that they would never ask openly. That proves to be very useful for the doctors and other experts who cooperate as they get very informative feed-back on their advice.
The portal is a very useful digital content project that helps those individuals looking to improve their physical and psychical condition and quality of life. MED OVER NET is one of those precious examples of creative use ICTs to improve the health care system.
3.
project: Slovenščina za popotnike / Slovenian for Travelers
URL: http://www.ff.uni-lj.si/sft/
authors: Aljoša Ocepek, Zoran Triglav, Miran Hladnik
air mail - miran hladnik, Sr. Dobrava 3e, SI-4245 Kropa
phone +386-4-533-6169
platform: web site (also a book and cd rom) - combining text, image and sound
category: e-learning
description/evaluation:
History of this paramount language project parallels the history of independent Slovenia and of the Internet. It started in 1988 as a phrase book that should help the traveler communicate where Slovenian is spoken. The book was soon sold out so the second improved edition followed in 1994, some chapters were put on the web in 1995, the complete book was moved to the web in 2001 when also the html- and the CD-ROM-versions were added and have been since constantly under revision.
Conversational phrases anticipate situations one is likely to encounter, with comments on customs and lifestyle providing the necessary background information. Moreover, the site could be useful in planning ones trip, since it covers places to see and things to do. There is a section to help those of Slovenian ancestry searching for their roots, another on letter writing, and yet another on Slovenian cooking, with recipes.
The content is designed for self-study. The recorded phrases should help in mastering the pronunciation: it is enough to click on the active phrase where cursor changes to a palm and repeat aloud what one hears. The best is to start with words in the chapter Slovenian alphabet and pronunciation, intended to familiarize the user with the Slovenian pronunciation of each letter of the alphabet.
Slovenian for travelers is a multi-platform, multimedia project, dedicated to the use of new technologies for preservation of cultural and linguistic variety of our world. Designed to help people learn foreign language, it is a great contribution to changing the world of teaching, making language learning more interactive and personalized. Slovene language, spoken by a nation of a little more than 2 million, is brought to the internet in the most innovative and comprehensive form. The simple and functional design provides for the maximum ease of use and understanding. Colorful descriptions present the cultural, contextual aspect of the language while the sound attached to the words and phrases effectively demonstrates the pronunciation. For languages with various written and spoken forms, this is of the greatest importance.
In this project, the e-learning is put to its most noble and also the most vital use - proving that as the world is becoming the more and more digital, even the smallest nations and languages are being part of the new world map.
Slovenian for travelers has been tried out by many and to their greatest satisfaction.
4.
project: STRIP GENERATOR (Comics-generator)
URL: http://www.thirdframestudios.com/adgame/stripgen
producer: Ziga Aljaz
category: e-entertainment
description/evaluation:
Strip generator is an engine for creating your own comics. It's perfect for people who can't draw. You get to choose from a variety of characters and objects and you place them inside the frames. You can also set how many frames you want to use. There are also text boxes, from thinking to talking and the ones without borders, so there are practically no limits. Strip generator has been operating for about a year now and more than 5000 comics have been created during the time.
Strip-generator (Comics-generator) is an interactive on-line tool for the creation of comics. Technically realized with flash technology it gives users opportunity to create their own comics or to browse the comics created by other users. Interface is in Slovene and English language, it is graphical and highly intuitive and enables users to easily choose between large number of predefined characters, to freely manipulate and arrange them and ad own text in arbitrary number of frames. The main value of this work is the promotion of active participation in creating the online entertainment. It is encouraging young people to freely express their opinion and communicate them with others - besides, it is easy to use and it poses an excellent level of interactive graphical design. Strip-generator has been fairy popular among the users and was awarded the national Magdalena prize in the web games category.
5.
project: Artservis
URL: http://www.artservis.org
company: SCCA, Center for Contemporary Art - Ljubljana, Slovenija
contact: info@artservis.org
editor: Marija Mojca Pungerčar
category: e-culture
platform: web site
description/evaluation: Artservis is a web-based information resource for artists, theoreticians, and cultural managers who operate with/in Slovenia or abroad. The basic mission of Artservis is to inform and offer advice. By publishing tenders, competitions, invitations for cooperation, possibilities of financing and offering various services in the world of art, Artservis helps (free of charge) anybody who operates in the field of contemporary art. Artservis databases are updated on a daily basis.
The project presents a unique endeavor of that kind in Slovenia and the region of Central-Eastern Europe. Similar tools (mostly commercial) have been offered only in the countries with a developed art market and transparent cultural policy system (e.g. USA, UK, and The Netherlands). By facilitating the new entrepreneurial and fundraising models, Artservis supports the independent and self-sustainable operation of individuals and organizations involved in contemporary art and culture. Therefore, Artservis strives to involve its users in the innovative and dynamic process of information-share and new methods and forms of collaboration. It provides conditions for artists and cultural experts to understand the current and future situation of cultural policy, to improve their practical skills in preparation and implementation of programs and projects and especially, in getting access to greater variety of financial sources (local and international, institutional, state funds and private companies) and become more emancipated, competent and self-sustainable.
6.
project: VALEURTECH
URL: http://www.valeurtech.uni-mb.si
producers: Katja Udir, Aleš Vrabič
contact: Tatjana Welzer Druzovec
platform: web site
description/evaluation:
Mobility within the EU has increased in last years, students exchange in academic environment runs successfully. In contrary, little is known about periods that students spend abroad engaged in practical and professional activities. Professional skills are essential traits of an engineer technician, recognition of this type of experience varies greatly from one country to another because of cultural diversity. To carry out this work an European consortium named Valeurtech was set up. It includes 35 partners from higher education institutions and professional organizations in 8 European countries. This is a Leonardo da Vinci Pilot Project with European Union funding; one of its objectives is setting up a database giving students useful information to better prepare their professional placement according to diversities in partner countries. Slovenia is one of the Valeurtech partners. Coordination of Slovenian partners is done by the Database Technology Laboratory at the Faculty for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, providing on the Valeutech site the results of the research project in a form of most useful information for all the parties involved.
The VALEURTECH project, dedicated to bringing information relevant for the life of the society as well as for the life of the scientists to scientists and to the general public alike, is a strong contribution to bridging the divide between science and society, between life in the laboratory and everyday life. By using the new media, it is making scientific issues accessible to citizens, demonstrating at the same time that scientific issues are much more than just problems and/or solutions. The special aim of VALEURTECH and its special value lies in the fact that it is enabling scientists and students as future scientists to work together and understand each other better by using the new media.
7.
product: BOLHA (THE FLEA)
URL http://www.bolha.com/
author: Ales Blatnik
category: e-business
description/evaluation:
BOLHA is simple and free tool for buying and selling of new and used objects on the net. With more than 310.000 visits per month, it is the fourth most visited web site and the best visited e-business site in Slovenia, enabling people to improve their earnings and increase the profits with the help of internet. There are many ways to do e-business with BOLHA - by selling objects, offering services, placing adds and even opening an internet shop. The shop includes own URL and is easily to maintain.
Originally the countries first web site for the exchange of used goods, BOLHA became the heart of Slovene internet community and in particular the hub for e-business in Slovenia. Among its services BOLHA offers the creation of internet businesses (shops), for minimal costs and easy to maintain. It is thus helping people not only to get involved with each other by the exchange of goods, but also to easily master the skills of e-business and take advantage of the internet trade to the fullest, at the same time minimizing the costs and maximizing the reach of customers.
8.
project: KID KIBLA
URL: www.kibla.si/
producer: KIBLA
contact person: Peter Tomaz Dobrila
category: e-inclusion
platform: multiplatform, combining real space with cyberspace
presentation/evaluation:
KID (cultural and information society) KIBLA was founded in 1996 with the aim of training computer users in Maribor area, providing free Internet access, information and advisory services. The two core activities are Student Resource Centre (Info centre for students supported by a reference data base, one of the biggest on the Internet) and Cyber Lab (computer workshop, communication and information centre with free access to the Internet). Other activities of KIBLA include graphical studio; bookshop; art gallery and even a magazine that grew into the publishing edition (on of its publications being Eduardo Kac: Telepresence, Biotelematics, Transgenic Art), audio room, projection room and many others. Yearly KIBLA has more than 200 events with more than 30.000 visitors. KIBLA is a non-profit organization, its visitors include students, high-school kids, the deaf and dumb (who visit the Internet for the first time in KIBLA), unemployed (who search the Internet for job possibilities).
The achievements of KIBLA in bringing the benefits of new technologies to contemporary cultures are globally outstanding and have been reported in celebrated magazines such as Leonardo (MIT Press) and Flash Art and also in all important Slovenian media. Famous Australian artist Stelarc has said for MMC KIBLA "this is the best cyber space in Europe," the great Eduardo Kac, who works at the Art Institute of Chicago, "something like this doesn't exist in United States" and Joseph Tabby, university professor and writer, "I came to visit Slovenia, because I've heard about KIBLA." KIBLA is based on the openness and collaboration with other institutions and individuals, they've co-organised several events and festivals and co-produced various events e.g. International Festival of Computer Arts, Linux Install Fest, International Peace School. KIBLA is connected on inter-city and inter-state levels with Ljubljana, Celje, Slovenj Gradec, Koper, Murska Sobota, Tolmin, Graz, Vienna, Linz, Laafeld, Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Skoplje, Prague, Usti nad Labem, Budapest, Rome, London, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Avignon, Sao Paulo.
In the 21st Century, KIBLA was one of the founding members of M3C – Multimedia Centres Network of Slovenia that at present comprises nine centres in eight Slovene cities, aiming at bringing the benefits of contemporary digital technologies to the citizens of all Slovene regions. KIBLA has been a reliable guidance into the world of electronic communications to many citizens of Maribor, and via their connections in the whole Slovenia, for almost a decade. Through KIBLA, the people of the less developed Slovene region got access to the Information Society and also provided them the contents and applications they need to live a better life.
