Campaigns & Elections Magazine Hands Out 2011 International Innovator Awards

Campaigns & Elections Magazine Hands Out 2011 International Innovator Awards
Washington D.C.  11/10/2011

Recognition is given to those who have made a digital impact through their work.

“Building the Technology Vision of your Campaign – Points of View from the Winners of the Innovation Awards,” Dominican First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández received the 2011 International Innovator Award, given by the magazine, Campaigns & Elections, to those who have had a digital impact through their work.

As part of the panel, “Building the Technology Vision of your Campaign – Points of View from the Winners of the Innovation Awards,” Dominican First Lady Margarita Cedeño de Fernández received the 2011 International Innovator Award, given by the magazine, Campaigns & Elections, to those who have had a digital impact through their work.

The recognition was given by the publication’s director Shane Greer who underscored the work done by the First Lady to reduce the digital divide by providing access to information and communication technology (ICTs) with the installation of Community Technology Centers (CTCs) in rural areas around the country.

As winner of the prize, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández explained that the CTCs have been a modest contribution toward the effort of efficiently decreasing the digital divide in the rural and poor areas in the Dominican Republic.

“The objective of the CTC’s has been to serve as an educational axis in which the community not only has access to educational opportunities such as English as a Second Language (ESL), an introduction to the digital world by familiarizing users with computers and digital technology, the opportunity to take online courses and earn diplomas and degrees but these centers also serve as sources of information with educational radio centers and informative programs directed at defending and supporting community values,” said Cedeño de Fernández.

She added that the CTCs offer permanent Access to the Internet and its endless sources of information. The centers provide community leaders with training possibilities in ICTs which can enable them to become active voices for change and progress.

The First Lady emphasized that they have developed specialized programs for young women in order to motivate their interest in ICTs and to provide them with the necessary tools to compete in the future within the labor market which is traditionally dominated by men.

She added that through the POETA program, handicapped citizens will receive training in the area of ICTs which will enable them to have expanded opportunities and to find jobs in the market place.

“We are hoping the CTCs transform the communities where they operate and that they create an avid and active culture of information, involvement and empowerment that will enable citizens to influence their own destinies. An entrepreneurial spirit is, in our opinion, necessary to be successful in the 21st century,” she stressed.

Cedeño de Fernández referred to social media as part of the tools that can be used to maintain permanent contact with people who are the direct beneficiaries of their social programs.

“Our website, Facebook and Twitter pages are sources of unfiltered information that enable me, as a public servant, to hear the opinions and feelings of people about the effects of the programs.”

The 2011 winner of the International Innovator Award said that Twitter is a tool she frequently uses to not only monitor various points of view about social programs but to keep informed about what is going on in the country and the world.

Other who were recognized by the Campaigns & Elections included Jim Gilliam, Sarah Granger, Matt Lira, Wesley Donehue, Jill Miller Zimon, Steve Moore and Clay Johnson.

About the prizes

The Innovators Prizes are awarded in six categories which include Campaign Innovator, Advocacy Innovator, Capitol Hill Innovator, Candidate Innovator, Nonpartisan/International Innovator.

Founded in 1980 by Stanley Foster Reed, Campaigns & Elections’seminars attract political professionals, candidates, political junkies and those involved in campaigns from all over the United States and around the world.

Exclusive sponsor of the Campaign Tech Innovator Awards, New Media Strategies (NMS), leverages the power of social media to give clients a respected and influential voice in that conversation. Now celebrating its 12th year of growth and social media excellence, NMS has a record unmatched by any other firm: more than 1,800 social media marketing campaigns in more than 80 different industries; unparalleled experience in the industry. It is this experience that gives NMS clients a distinct competitive advantage in the marketplace.