Youth charity SpunOut.ie in line for world e-Inclusion award

SpunOut.ie, the online youth charity dedicated to empowering young people, has been short-listed for a prestigious World Summit Award as the best e-Inclusion and Participation website in the world.

Martin Casey, MD of leading web agency Arekibo Communications and Irish Representative for the World Summit Award nominated SpunOut.ie after consulting widely with his colleagues and peers in the Irish web industry.

“SpunOut.ie has been nominated for the World Summit Awards as Ireland’s best example of an e-Inclusion application. After consulting with my peers in the internet industry it was clear that SpunOut.ie is a phenomenal website that has provided the youth of Ireland with a trustworthy and innovative online environment to engage in issues that affect them and interact with each other. We commend the work that the SpunOut.ie team have done over the past 5 years and wish them the best of luck when the international Jury meet to choose the winners in April.”

The World Summit Award (WSA) is the global initiative to select and promote the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications. WSA was started in 2003 in the framework of the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) as a contribution of the Austrian Government to the global effort to bridge the digital divide and close the content gap. The e-Inclusion and Participation Category, in which SpunOut.ie is nominated, celebrates innovation in bringing people, communities and knowledge together, by bridging the digital divide and strengthening social and political participation through ICT.

SpunOut.ie is reaching hundreds of thousands of young people each year online and working directly with young people who publish content, engage in discussion and debate, and influence change through the media and by connecting with politicians and policy makers.

According to SpunOut.ie Youth Participation Officer Emily Lindenmuth, the future is bright for the charity and the award nomination has provided welcome recognition for the hard work and dedication of the Galway based organisation.

“News of the award nomination is fantastic. We’ve picked up awards in the past, including a recent Digital Media Award, but the possibility of getting recognised on the international stage is fantastic. Young people in Ireland are eager to participate in affecting change and SpunOut.ie gives them a platform to engage through. Recognition like this is testimony that what we’re doing works and we’re hopeful that this exposure helps us attract supporters and sponsors to help us develop our ambitious plans”.