Enterprising youths celebrated at summit
IT conference honours those who are changing the world with technology tools
The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) was in full gear during the second day of the event.
An appearance by Mayor Gérald Tremblay in the morning and TV host Larry King in the afternoon generated lots of buzz, but the day belonged to the winners of the World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) who made their presence felt.
Sponsored by the United Nations, young people under 30 from more than 100 member states compete every year for the prestigious award that recognizes youth who use the Internet and mobile technologies to change the world. Out of more than 1,000 applicants, 18 winners were invited to attend the WCIT and have the opportunity to present their ideas to industry leaders.
The awards fall into six categories, all of which relate to the UN Millennium Develop- ment Goals: Fight Poverty Hunger and Disease, Education for All, Power 2 Women, Create your Culture, Go Green and Pursue Truth.
One of the winners, Nathan Muema Masyuko, was among eight panellists to participate in a roundtable hosted by King. Masyuko is the founder of Haki, a mobile game series with an environmental message. In the first instalment of the game, which is called Shield and Defend, players must protect trees from illegal loggers. The objective of the game resonates with many Kenyans and citizens of other African countries where illegal logging is rampant.
“I was shown a new way my games can inspire positive change in people and change their mindsets so they can improve and learn new things through the mobile system that we have in Kenya,” Masyuko told the packed auditorium.
One of the goals of the WCIT has been to provoke discussion on how information technologies can be a force for social progress.
“We should feel good about the future. It makes you feel good about young people, it makes you feel good about a continent that we don’t pay enough attention to, Africa. It certifies the fact that people are more alike than differ- ent and that there are great people all over the world. It’s so nice to see some of that compassion. If the future is in the Nathans (of the world), we’re going to be alright,” King said.
During the evening, an award ceremony and gala dinner was scheduled to be held in the WSYA winners’ honour.
“A lot of people want to see entrepreneurship, but the social entrepreneurs excel in comparison to those who are in there solely for profit. Profit makes dumb,” says Peter A. Bruck, chairman of the WSYA.
In attendance was Luize Ratniece, co-creator of I Love Being a Girl, a blog that collects testimonies from young women in order to promote positive dialogue about gender equality, femininity and sexuality. Ratniece was quick to point out the importance of the transparency of the Internet toward realizing her social mission.
“The Internet is opening the world of the weirdness. The things you did before like writing ’zines and having little talks in badly lit places, now you can Google anything starting from porn to the radical strident feminist works of a 14-year-old and be part of a movement,” she said.