RTS Launches 2007 Innovation Awards

LONDON, May 29: The Royal Television Society (RTS) has
launched the 2007 Innovation Awards, formerly known as the Technology Awards,
and has revamped the categories to reflect the rise of new technologies such as
video on demand, mobile TV, IPTV, social networking sites and user-generated
content.

The awards dinner will be held on December 1. Entries for
the awards will be accepted from organizations based in the U.K. or
internationally, as long as the hardware or application is readily available to
U.K. users. The cost of entry is £117.50.

The award categories have been changed to emphasize the
growing interdependence of content and technology and to reward those that are
reaching out to new communities of users with innovative and interactive ways
of communicating with anything from hardware to software to delivery
techniques.

This year’s award categories include: The Under the Bonnet
Award, which recognizes a significant advance in the way content is managed or
transferred in any part of the chain from development to end user; The Gizmo
Award, which recognizes a piece of hardware that is readily available in the
U.K. and answers a previously unmet need; and The Raising the Bar Award, which
recognizes a technique, technology, production device or program that sets a
new “gold standard” of expectations. Other award categories include The On the
Move Award, which recognizes either a significant advance in the way users can
access content while away from
base or a significant development in mobile content; The Community Award, which recognizes a new service,
product, program or piece of hardware
that provides significant value to a niche community of users or
viewers; and The User-Generated Content Award, which recognizes advances in the
area of development, production, organization, manipulation or distribution of
content that is either user-generated or involves viewers and users widely in
interactivity.

Finally, The Judges’ Award for Outstanding Innovation will recognize
an individual or group that has shown great vision in determining the future
development of media and how the wider community will relate to all aspects of
communication. No entries are required for this award as it will be at the
discretion of the judges.