Last May, we announced the winners of the N2Y4 Mobile Challenge which called for innovative mobile applications supporting social good. One of those winners was Mobile Voices, a platform for immigrant workers in Los Angeles to create stories about their lives and communities directly from cell phones.

NewsTrust is a N2Y2 Featured Project that was created as a free online social news network to help people find and share good journalism. Three years later, NewsTrust is still helping people make more informed decisions through journalism and offers an integrated online service which includes a news filter, media literacy tools and a civic engagement network.

Recently, NewsTrust has been expanding its platform and over the next six months plans to run pilot programs for use of the following tools:

Since the earthquake struck one week ago, there have been a number of technology organizations (from Google to Ushahidi to Frontline SMS Medic), working around the clock with the State Department on a coordinated effort, that uses technology to support the relief efforts in Haiti. The Extraordinaries is one part of this larger initiative.

Visit the Haiti support page here.

I recently had the opportunity to catch up on the work the Digital Democracy team is doing.  Digital Democracy was an N2Y4 Featured Project.  Here's a great recap from Emily and Mark:

Digital Democracy’s co-founders Mark and Emily are representing Handheld Human Rights at N2Y4, in addition to Morgan Sully, our project champion. We're thrilled to be meeting all the inspiring folks at the conference focused on supporting projects on the ground.

Handheld Human Rights uses mobile phones to securely connect human rights workers around the country. Mapping text messages, it helps groups quickly share critical information to coordinate their responses and save lives.

Hey Everyone at the N2Y4Conference!  We are so honored to be considered as a featured project.  

WHAT IS SLAVE FREE ALL ABOUT?

 Last year, slave traders made $32 Billion, more than Nike, Starbucks and Google combined.  Pervasive awareness and marketplace solutions are among the largest and best opportunities to significantly reverse the profitability from human trafficking. 

MOBILE TECH IS THE ANSWER!

At OpenGreenMap.org, our newest mapmaking resource is an interactive platform and social networking website. The Open Green Map has mashed-up Flickr's API code, allowing to us to showcase images of green living sites, natural and cultural resources submitted by Mapmakers and the website's users around the world.

After the 21 innovative Net2 Featured Projects quickly made their two-minute introductions this morning on day one of N2Y3, Nicholas Kardas, Senior Product Manager in the Windows Live Platform team at Microsoft, took the stage.

He gave a short presentation on web behavior and ways nonprofits could use the company's new products -- even some free offerings -- to create more interactive web experiences.

During his talk, he pointed out that customers (or visitors) go to a site, not just to consume content, but to share and discuss it.

They want to do things like:

Payson, AZ 12/10/07 - HELP (www.disasterlogistics.org) is pleased to announce that it is a recipient of a 2007 Award of Excellence in the mobile media ca

One of the few magazines I read cover to cover, is Ode, "an independent magazine about the people and ideas that are changing the world." It is a monthly magazine that is published in English and Dutch.