Access is pleased to announce the winners of the 2014 Access Innovation Prize at the RightsCon evening reception on March 4th.
Endpoint Security Award
The Endpoint Security Award focused on the issues of improving “endpoint security” of individuals and communities working in high-risk environments. The $50,000 prize was awarded to Tails, a “live” operating system providing an out-of-the-box platform for secure communications in high-risk environments. Tails embodies the successful collaboration of developers, trainers, security professionals towards tackling the spectrum of user needs — from usability to security — in high-risk environments. The runners-up were: Open Whisper Systems and Qubes OS.
Many thanks to our Endpoint Security Prize judges:
- Bruce Schneier – Chief Technology Officer at Co3 Systems
- Eleanor Saitta – Principal Security Engineer, Open Internet Tools Project
- Ali Ravi – Program Director, Privacy & Expression at Tactical Tech
- Dan Blah Meredith – Director of Open Technology Fund at Radio Free Asia
- Gustaf Björksten – Technology Director at Access
Facebook Award
The Facebook Award focused on projects that deliver a human rights or social good outcome with the Facebook platform. The $10,000 prize was awarded to IVR Junction, an interactive voice response platform that enables marginalized communities to be heard on the internet through phone-based reporting and automated content updating and sharing. The runners-up were: Safecity and Mobile Agribiz.
Many thanks to our Facebook Award judges:
- Deanna Zandt – Co-founder/Partner at Lux Digital
- Brett Solomon – Executive Director at Access
- Matthew Perault – Head of Policy Development at Facebook
- Cristian Cambronero – Partner & Strategy Director at BigWebNoise
The awards are only the beginning for these projects, and we at Access look forward to continuing to work with the winners and finalists as they attempt to tackle some of the most significant issues facing users at-risk today.