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gils: GILS is finalist for NII Award

gils: GILS is finalist for NII Award

GILS is finalist for NII Award

Eliot Christian (echristi@usgs.gov)
Wed, 13 Nov 1996 06:09:56 -0500 

Message-Id: <2.2.32.19961113110956.0070d9dc@130.118.4.2>
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 06:09:56 -0500
To: gils@cni.org
From: Eliot Christian <echristi@usgs.gov>
Subject: GILS is finalist for NII Award


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Donna Ceparano
Fleishman-Hillard212-265-9150 Ext.2242
ceparand@fleishman.com

Aaron Kwittken
Fleishman-Hillard
212-265-9150 Ext.2240
kwittkea@fleishman.com

NII AWARDS PROGRAM ANNOUNCES FINALISTS IN SECOND ANNUAL COMPETITION TO
RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING USES OF COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES

Judges Narrow Field to 60 Nominees

LOS ANGELES, CA, NOVEMBER 12, 1996 - Judges in the 1996 National
Information Infrastructure Awards program, the world's leading forum for
the recognition of extraordinary achievement on the information highway,
have announced Finalists in the competition to find the country's best uses
of the Internet and related communication technologies.

The 60 Finalists represent the most creative and beneficial applications of
the information highway in 10 different categories that touch on all areas
of America's work, play and community life. The winners will be announced
at a major awards ceremony to be held December 3, in New York City. A
complete list of Finalists is available at the NII Website,
http://www.gii-awards.com.

"All these Finalists have something important to teach us about how
communications technology and the information infrastructure can be used to
improve the health and well-being of people everywhere, in every aspect of
our work, play and community relationships," said James Hake, Chairman of
the NII Awards Program. "More than anything else, our hope is that the NII
Awards will recognize leaders in this new digital communication age who can
help educate and inspire others about the immeasurable potential
presentedby the Internet and related technologies."

Nominees in the NII Awards Program range from powerful corporations, to
entrepreneurs, to grassroots community organizations to individuals. They
are competing for awards in Arts and Entertainment, Business,
Children,Community, Education, Next Generation, Government and Health, and
in two special awards, the NII Public Access Awards, sponsored by the U.S.
Postal Service, and the NII Telecollaboration Award, sponsored by AT&T.
Categories are presided over by separate panels of judges comprised of
recognized experts in each area.

The program is made possible by a wide range of supporters, including
IBM,one of the pioneering organizations of the Information Age, and the
sponsor of this year's Awards ceremony.

"IBM is delighted to support the NII Awards," said Irving Wladawsky-Berger,
general manager of IBM's Internet Division. "The NII Awards recognizes
leaders who have successfully applied network technology and addresses
issues of how the entire society works with and organizes itself around
information in a connected world. We believe that the most important role
of the Internet and network technology is to solve problems, create
opportunities and enhance value, for business and for the community at
large."

This year's NII Awards Finalists display an impressive range of talents and
solutions.Participants include publishers of online magazines and
newspapers, designers of children- and teenager-oriented World Wide Web
sites, manufacturers of semiconductors, teachers, scientists and community
organizers.

"This is the second time I've been a judge in the NII Awards program, and
again I've found the whole process fascinating," said Bob Lambert, senior
vice president for new technology and new media at the Walt Disney
Company."I'm amazed by the depth and breadth of the entries--so many
surprising things have popped out of the woodwork of America from both
small groups and large organizations that have developed some truly clever
applications of the information infrastructure."

Only two years old, the NII Awards Program has emerged as the most
important competition for the recognition of information highway uses, and
has won praise from a broad range of industry and community leaders,
including Vice President Al Gore, who cited the NII's efforts to reward and
showcase these especially beneficial uses of the information highway.

The Awards program itself has proved an overwhelming success: the 850
entrants that responded to this year's call for submissions represented a
50 percent increase over last year. Last year's winners ranged from the
Alzheimer's Disease Support Center on the Cleveland Free-Net, to the
National Materials Exchange Network, to the HotWired online magazine.

The expanded interest in this second year of the NII Awards reflects the
continued explosive growth of the Internet and other kinds of networking
technologies through all sectors of society, added the NII's Hake. "With
new possibilities and potential applications being discovered every day,
it's more important than ever that we recognize the best and hold them up
as models of smart business and public benefit."

Perhaps most importantly, the NII Awards Program is a forum that brings
together people from all areas of business and society who need more
effective ways to trade ideas and experience about information highway
projects, said Hake.

The NII Awards are supported by more than 70 sponsors. Corporate sponsors
of the 1996 NII Awards include AT&T, IBM, the U.S. Postal Service,
BellSouth, Sun Microsystems, Lotus, Netscape, CompuServe, Fujitsu,
PriceWaterhouse, BBN, SRI Consulting, US WEST and Tandem Computers.

Media sponsors include TIME, Business Week, Business Communications Review,
Business Wire, EE Times, Electronic Learning, Federal Computer Week,
Government Technology, Hospitals and Health Networks, Inter@ctive Week,
Internet World, Modern Healthcare, Network World, Telecommunications,
PCWeek and Web Week.

Sponsoring organizations include the U.S. Information Infrastructure
TaskForce, the C. Everett Koop Institute, The Morino Institute, the
AmericanMedical Association, the American Library Association, the
NationalEducation Association, the American Film Institute, The Academy of
Television Arts and Sciences, ISTE, NCTET, the National League of
Cities,the National Association of Counties, the Council on
Competitiveness, the National League of Women Voters, among others.

For more information about the NII Awards, please go to
http://www.gii-awards.com.

1996 NII AWARDS FINALISTS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FINALISTS
CitySpace: Network Social Space of the Future
DISCOVERY CHANNEL ONLINE:
ESPNET SportsZone
Firefly; the personal entertainment source for the Web
JBW: A Random Walk through the Twentieth Century
TerraQuest: Virtual Expedtions on the World Wide Web


BUSINESS FINALISTS
A&a Printers Print Production Management System
Counsel Connect
Firefly, the personal entertainment source for the web
National Semiconductor's Website for Design
Silicon Investor (Financial Online Service)
The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition

CHILDREN FINALISTS
Cyberteens
FACES of Adoption: America's Waiting Children
FreeZone: an intelligent online community for kids.
MidLink Magazine: A Web-Olution in the Global Classroom
The National Missing Children's Network
STARBRIGHT World

COMMUNITY FINALISTS
Charlotte's Web:Building Communities of Hope
Diversified Information and Assistance Network (DIANE)
East Palo Alto Gets Plugged In
GriefNet
SeniorNet
US EPA/USPS Environmental Recycling Hotline

EDUCATION FINALISTS
American Memory: Library of Congress Historical Collections
CELLS alive!
The JASON VII Project Undersea Internet Site
NASA's K-12 Internet Initiative, NASA Ames Research Center
Odyssey in Egypt - The Interactive Archaeological Dig
Passport To Knowledge: Live From the Hubble Space Telescope

GOVERNMENT FINALISTS
FEMA -- An Emergency Lane on the Information Superhighway
Minnesota Planning World Wide Web Home Pages
NSF FastLane Project
Public Access to Labor Statistics (BLS LABSTAT)
SEDAC Access to U.S. Demographic Data.
U.S. Federal Government Information Locator Service (GILS)

HEALTH FINALISTS
Applied Informatics -- Using the NII to Coordinate Healthcare
Children With Diabetes Online Magazine
The Family Village Project
The Global Health Network
Join Together Online: Linking Communities Fighting Substance Abuse
OncoLink - An Internet-based Multimedia Cancer Information Resource

NEXT GENERATION FINALISTS
AQUARIUS > Home of the World's First Underwater Web
I-WAY: Prototyping the Next Generation Internet
North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH)
Pine Ridge-Mayo Telemedicine Project
Remote Experimental Environment in Fusion Energy Research
STARBRIGHT World

PUBLIC ACCESS FINALISTS
Community Technology Centers' Network (CTCNet) Public Access Program
epa.net - East Palo Alto Gets Plugged In
LinkNet: A Virtual Year On-Line
Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN)
Seattle Public Access Network (PAN)
Web Access Project (WAP)

TELECOLLABORATION FINALISTS
ARIES - ATM Research & Industrial Enterprise System
DIANE Diversified Information and Assistance Network
Electronic Cafe International
Fiber Weaves Indiana's Cultural and Education
Space Bridge to Russia Telemedicine Project
The Telegarden

-- end --

--
The National Information Infrastructure Awards
http://www.gii-awards.com
mailto:staff@gii-awards.com


   Forwarded by:
     Eliot Christian
     <echristi@usgs.gov>

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