Social Innovation Camp is an experiment in creating social innovations for the digital age.

We think the web and related technologies hold huge potential to change some pretty fundamental stuff: how people hold those in positions of power accountable; who they rely on to provide the services they need to live healthy, happy lives; or how they make a difference to something that affects them.

But for any of this to happen, we have to work out what people really need and start building the technology that can help - which is what Social Innovation Camp is all about.  Through unusual, creative events we bring together talented software developers and designers with social innovators to build effective web-based solutions to real social problems.  Read more about our thinking in The Big Idea.

Our next Social Innovation Camp is running Friday 5th- Sunday 7th December 2008 at the Young Foundation, Bethnal Green, London.

To take part, you’ve got until Friday 7th November 2008 to enter your idea for a web tool to change something important:

• Enter your idea
• How it works
• What’s your idea: Idea submission questions
• What we’re looking for: Idea submission criteria
• December 08 ideas
• The judges
• The weekend
• After the weekend

Things have really been chugging along here at the Knight News Challenge 2008, with lots of innovative new outreach coinciding with the contest’s official start. The worldwide contest reopened on September 2nd with another $5 million in funding available for digital media experiments to innovate news and communication before applications close on November 1st.

You Invent It. We Fund It!

The contest is open to community-minded innovators worldwide, from software designers to journalists to citizens and students of any age. Do you have a big idea for informing and inspiring a geographic community using social media, Web 2.0 tools or OpenID? How about exchanging information via video, photos or text messaging? A way to integrate game theory with web browsing to support local community engagement? Come on, push the edge – we’re seeking true innovation!

Winning entries must have three elements:

1) use of a digital media
2) delivery of news or information on a shared basis to
3) a geographically defined community

Entries must be open-source and share the software and knowledge created.

New in 2008: The News Challenge Garage

To support applications this year, Knight has created a new incubator — the News Challenge Garage — where prospective applicants can receive peer reviews and mentoring from screeners and awardees from previous years. To date, over 40 applications are already incubating in the Drupal-based Garage site. A diverse group of developers, online journalists, nonprofit evangelists, video bloggers and social media experts are on hand to coach at garage.newschallenge.org. The 50 mentors are available to coach and guide everyone who enters a project in the Garage. They include Vidoop’s Chris Messina, Spot.us’ David Cohn, Contentious editor Amy Gahran, Placeblogger’s Lisa Williams, Beth Kanter, J.D. Lasica and many other digital media specialists. For a postable video introducing the Garage in a variety of languages, visit DotSub to find out more.

Want to get more involved?
Apply!

Want more info?
The Knight News Challenge is incorporating new media tools to reach out to more diverse communities to spread the word about this year’s Challenge. You can follow us on Twitter, converse on video via Seesmic or chat about application ideas in our FriendFeed room.

Upcoming events: September 9th Webcast
If you’d like to ask questions and learn how to create an application in a more interactive space, Knight will host an online webcast hosted by Gary Kebbel, Journalism Program director for the Knight Foundation with Amy Gahran and Nora Paul, past Knight News Challenge winners, on September 9th, 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

September 9th will also feature a Knight News Challenge meet up in New York City at CUNY School of Journalism from 7-9 pm. For more info see this link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=41757320632

Background

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation invests in journalism excellence worldwide and in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since 1950, the foundation has granted more than $400 million to advance quality journalism and freedom of expression. The foundation focuses on projects with the potential to create transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

Technology Review's EmTech Conference brings together world-renowned innovators and senior business leaders to discuss the emerging technologies that are poised to make a dramatic impact on our world. Keynote sessions, insightful panels, and groundbreaking presentations--of a caliber only Technology Review can deliver--are combined with networking opportunities and live demonstrations.

Now in its eighth year, Technology Review's EmTech Conference is a three-day summit attracting business leaders, venture capitalists, senior technologists, prominent innovators, and an extraordinary group of the top 35 innovators under the age of 35--the TR35. The TR35 is a unique set of young people who exemplify the spirit of innovation in technology, business, and science.

The 8th annual event will be held September 23-25, 2008, on the beautiful MIT campus in Cambridge, MA

Note also the Women in Technology workshop, held on September 23rd.

The hot topics included in the program agenda are:

REGISTER NOW

SANGONeT  and MobileActive.org invite you to contribute your expertise to MobileActive08  to take place from 13-15 October 2008 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
 
A Call for Your (Mobile) Expertise!
Do you have expertise in the field of mobile technologies for social development?
Are you a researcher working on mobile technology for social impact?
Are you a mobile service provider with specific products to exhibit that benefit the social market?

If so, we invite you to submit your ideas to be part of MobileActive08!
MobileActive08  is the largest event to date focused on mobile technology for social development. This global gathering brings together practitioners, researchers, technologists, and donors interested in the use and application of mobile technology for social impact. At MobileActive08  participants will explore how mobile phones are effectively used to advance civil society work, assess the current state of knowledge in the use of mobile technology to advance social development, and investigate trends, needs and investment opportunities.

We invite you to submit proposals for:

•  Workshops and Skill-share Sessions (for 90 minutes) for in-depth exploration of a topic about unlocking the potential of mobile technology for social impact.
• Short (15-min) Rotating Mini-Talks for research and project overviews.
• A space in the SIMplace to showcase your product.
• A space in the SIMlab where participants can test-drive your mobile application and explore it in depth.

I have an idea!  How do I submit a proposal?
Please review the detailed Call for Your Expertise  and then submit your ideas.  We look forward to your expertise, enthusiasm, and creativity!
The deadline for submissions is 30 June 2008. More information is at MobileActive08.

How would you mashup the Network for Good donation processing service with other services to make it easier for nonprofits to raise money online? We’re working with Network for Good, the Case Foundation, and the NetSquared community to enhance the online donation process.

The DonateNow Mashup Challenge:

There are two categories to enter:

1. Build a mashup using Network for Good’s donation API, with a particular focus on enhancing the donor experience.
2. Build a mashup using Network for Good’s donation API,with a particular focus on improving or revolutionizing a nonprofit organization’s ability to fundraise.

Winners in the each category will be awarded a $10,000 prize by a panel of judges present at the N2Y3 Conference.

In addition, each winner will be granted a one-year license for the Network for Good API to be donated to an organization of their choice (if the winner is an organization, it can choose to donate the API to itself).

Network for Good’s donation API allows developers to integrate NFG's donation-processing functionality into their website or web application. Developers using the API should have a familiarity with SOAP Web Services.

Participants in the DonateNow Mashup Challenge will receive a developer license to the Network for Good Donation Web service. This free license is valid until June 30, 2008. Organizations interested in purchasing a developer license for use beyond this date should contact customerservice@networkforgood.org.

MoHo is a ‘creative chaos’, a house in California that brings together 70 participants from a variety of backgrounds for 7 days to innovate together on 4 important issues affecting the world:
•  “Digital gap”, bringing information to those who cannot access it.
•  Understanding how social networks trigger the innovation process in the Silicon Valley.
•  Energy for the bottom of the pyramid
•  Access to health care for everyone, etc…

Participants will include:
•  MBA students from Stanford and ESSEC Business schools
•  Engineers from Stanford and Centrale Paris
•  Designers from Strate College
•  Venture Capitalists, bankers and top managers from leading companies in Europe and the USA
•  Artists, athletes and journalists
•  You?

Why participate?
•  Be part of a unique experience
•  Create knowledge for public good
•  Network with key Silicon Valley professionals
•  Learn to work in diverse teams on real tasks
•  Represent your country, university or firm

To participate in MoHo, visit www.le-moho.com, and get in touch with MoHo programme coordinators.

MoHo will create an immersive environment where project teams regrouping the previous competencies will finally meet and work together on innovation ideas. MoHo will allow participants to collaborate with each other on a whole new level, to share knowledge, to build networks and above all, gain a better understanding of each other’s interests and how social blending can pave the way for true innovation with high potential for socio-economic applications.

MoHo was born of a French innovative product incubator - the “Création d’un produit innovant” (CPI) program - organized by ESSEC Business
School, Ecole Centrale Paris and Strate College Designers since 2005. CPI aims to encourage innovation and cross cultural integration
amongst students from different backgrounds. It brings together engineers, designers and MBA students around a common goal: invent an
innovative product for a partnering client company (big or small) in 6 to 9 months.

IST-Africa 2008 takes place 07 - 09 May 2008 in Windhoek, Namibia. Part of the IST-Africa Initiative, which is supported by the European Commission under the IST Programme of Framework Programme 6 (FP6), IST-Africa 2008 is the third in an Annual Conference Series which will bring together delegates from commercial, government & research organisations across Africa and from Europe, to bridge the Digital Divide by sharing knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and good practice.

IST-Africa 2008 will focus on Applied ICT research topics addressing major societal and economic challenges, which is part of the European Commission's Information Communications Technologies (ICT) programme. The programme combines strategic keynote presentations, technical and policy papers, case studies, workshops, an exhibition and social activities.

The Advance Programme is available online and in PDF format. All participants should complete registration prior to the event via Online payment registration

IST-Africa 2008 will be officially opened by Honourable Nangolo Mbumba, Minister of Education on behalf of His Excellency, Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of Republic of Namibia and closed by Dr. Libertina Amathila, Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia.

Other Keynote Speakers confirmed to date include Honourable Joel Kaapanda, Ministry of Information Communication and Technology, Namibia; Honourable Dr. Shukuru Kawambwa, Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Tanzania; Honourable Mosibudi Mangena, Minister of Science and Technology, South Africa; Honourable Dr. Ham-Mukasa Mulira, Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Uganda; Honourable Dr. Sally Kosgey, Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Kenya (tbc); Senior Representative, African Union Commission, Ethiopia; Mr. Remigious Makumbe, Acting Chief Director and Director of Infrastructure & Services, Southern African Development Community; Mr Antti Peltomäki, Deputy Director-General, DG Information Society and Media, European Commission, Belgium; Mr José Manuel Silva Rodríguez, Director General, DG Research, European Commission, Belgium; Dr Hakim Elwaer, Director, HRST, African Union Commission; Dr John Mugabe, Director, NEPAD S&T; Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Ethiopia; Dr. Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Division of Science Policy and Sustainable Development, UNESCO and Ms Magda Berhe, The Swedish Programme for ICT in Developing Regions.

This year’s NetSquared Conference, a Mashup Challenge, will bring together a unique mix of people from the public and private sectors to develop and release Mashups designed to provide deeper insight into the social issues affecting communities around the globe.

We have limited seats open to the public till May 16, so please register here.

NetSquared's mission is to spur responsible adoption of social web tools by social benefit organizations. There's a whole new generation of online tools available – tools that make it easier than ever before to collaborate, share information and mobilize support. These tools include blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasting, and more. Some people describe them as "Web 2.0"; we call them the social web, because their power comes from the relationships they enable.

The Tech Museum Awards is a prestigious program that honors and awards innovators from around the world who use technology to benefit humanity in the categories of:
* Education
* Equality
* Economic Development
* Environment
* Health

Reward those making a difference and nominate today. A simple nomination form and program details, including judging criteria, can be found at The Tech Museum Awards website www.techawards.org.  Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged. Individuals, nonprofit organizations, and companies are all eligible. 

Each year, 25 Laureates are honored at a gala dinner, invited to participate in press and media coverage, and introduced to a network of influential advisors. An inspirational and unforgettable event, the black-tie celebration will be held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, on November 12, 2008.

One Laureate in each category will be granted a $50,000 cash prize. Gillian Caldwell of WITNESS, 2003 Laureate in the Equality category and cash prize recipient, called The Tech Museum Awards"...a truly remarkable program that has given WITNESS acclaim for using technology to document human rights abuses. I was deeply honored to be recognized along with 24 other innovators from around the world who are working to improve human life through technology. The exposure generated from receiving this award and the $50,000 cash prize will surely lead to expanded services, awareness, and improved solutions for ending violations of human rights."

We encourage you to forward this information to any contacts you have that may be interested in nominating a candidate for this award. Thank you for your support.

Tech Awards Partners & Sponsors

Social Edge friend and contributor Paul Lamb writes in ComputerWorld: "It is not just hosting Internet access that’s always on and everywhere available that makes a truly great digital city. It is the services built on top of wireless and wired broadband platforms, along with the implementation of cutting-edge mobile technologies, that will allow us to leverage the true benefits of public technology."  Read the rest of this fascinating feature here.

Social entrepreneurs all over the world have discovered how empowering the Internet is. Online access is becoming an important utility, like access to clean water and electricity.  OneWebDay participants around the globe will be making their own short videos and posting them on blip.tv or YouTube tagged "onewebday2007". 

Making these videos available via dotSUB.com, a free platform for creating subtitles, will mean that people using all languages will be able to understand everyone else. 

Suggested topics:

+ how the web has changed your life

+ how you'd like the web to change the world in the future

+ highlights of what you've seen online the day you make the video

+ your favorite online event ever

+ something you've done online to help people in other countries.

OneWebDay is Sept. 22, every year.