Internet best practice contest launched

Businesses across the UK are being invited to put themselves forward as examples of internet best practice, after Nominet launched a competition.

Nominet, which runs the .uk domain registry, is a participant in the worldwide Internet Governance Forum (IGF). It wants to establish a UK-specific version of the forum to show the rest of the world how well the UK manages its internet governance. Both private and public-sector organisations are invited to enter.

Categories for nomination include: access (including accessibility issues and projects that bridge the digital divide); security (developing methods for online authentication or educating customers about safe internet usage); diversity (overcoming language and literacy problems); and openness (increasing the availability of information online). Evidence of co-operation between businesses, government and law-enforcement organisations would help a nomination, Nominet has indicated.

"International co-ordination cannot work without co-ordination at the national level," said Markus Kummer, head of the UN's advisory group on internet governance, at the competition's launch at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday. Kummer admitted that the IGF had a "fuzzy mandate" — it has no decision-making power — but insisted that this situation led to "a free dialogue [where participants were] not afraid that the wrong decision might be taken".

Nominet's policy director, Emily Taylor, pointed out that last year's inaugural IGF meeting in Athens had seen the Chinese authorities speaking with Amnesty International, a scene she described as remarkable, although "not comfortable".

"The context for the Best Practice Challenge is a collaborative effort by [Nominet] and the Department of Trade and Industry to create a UK IGF," said Taylor. "This will be more effective than individual efforts. We are hoping that a UK IGF will help influence the agenda of forthcoming [IGF] meetings."

Taylor added that the contest's winners could expect "exposure... and international renown for minimum financial input". Speaking to ZDNet.co.uk after the launch, she said that "small businesses are often big innovators", particularly in the fields of security and access, and would be ideal entrants.

The deadline for entries is 31 July. Companies can download the entry form from the Best Practice Challenge website.