Mozilla Wins UN World Information Society Award

May 19, 2007

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva, the United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, awarded Mozilla the World Information Society Award 2007.

Mitchell Baker, Mozilla’s CEO and president attended the World Information Society Day in Geneva to accept the award on behalf of the tens of thousands of contributors to the Mozilla Project. The ITU World Information Society Award honors individuals or institutions for significant contributions that promote, build, or strengthen a people-centered, development-oriented and knowledge-based information society. Recognized achievements and contributions may take the form of social accomplishment, mobilization of public opinion, or a key technical innovation. The ITU selected Mozilla for its outstanding contribution to the development of world-class Internet technologies and applications.

“This award is shared by hundreds of thousands of advocates, tens of thousands of contributors and approximately 100 million end-users,” said Mitchell Baker in her address to World Summit on the Information Society. “Mozilla is a global community of people who believe that openness, innovation and opportunity are key to the continued health of the Internet.”

The main objective of the World Information Society Day is to raise global awareness of the benefits brought by the Internet and new technologies. It also aims to help reduce the digital divide.

Additional Laureates include Margarita Margarita Cedeño, Dominican first lady selected for her outstanding personal contributions towards building an inclusive and equitable global information society; and Professor Dr. Mark L. Krivocheev, Chief Scientist of the Radio Research Institute in Moscow selected for his lifetime achievements in the technical development of television services and systems.