Nesta, in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board, has announced the 10 projects that have been selected to kickstart hyperlocal media innovation in the UK as part of the Destination Local programme.

'Destination Local' was launched in April this year as part of a £1 million programme to identify the technologies, business models, content opportunities and challenges for a successful hyperlocal media sector in the UK.  The successful 10 were chosen from over 165 applications by an external judging panel including Will Perrin, Sarah Hartley (Talk About Local), Damian Radcliffe (author of Here & Now), Jan Schaffer (J-Lab),  Jeremy Silver (Technology Strategy Board) and Mark Pearson.

The projects will now work alongside successful Technology Strategy Board projects that are developing new enabling technologies for Hyperlocal media production and distribution.

Nesta's strategic partners include the Community Organisers Programme, Innovation Intelligence group, Mozilla, Skillset, STV, Talk About Local, The Guardian and n0tice.com, The Media Trust, Time Out and The University of Central Lancashire (uclan).  Nesta's co-funding partners include Creative Scotland, the Welsh Government and Creative England.

The 10 chosen from across the UK are:

MyTown - Welshpool and Newtown, Wales

MyTown will launch new sites, in addition to its existing two in Montgomeryshire.  It will create a location aware mobile app, on both Android and iOS, for all sites allowing geographically relevant content i.e. the latest news headlines to be viewed on mobile phones. The service will also create push notifications and users of the app will also be able to upload their own content.

Local Edge - Leith and Broughton, Scotland

Local Edge will allow users to receive and post geographically relevant news and information on their mobile phones.  It will develop a loyalty card system working with local shops and service providers. Users who participate in civic activities will also be rewarded with vouchers to spend at local stores.

LocalSay - London, England

LocalSay will create a geographically relevant guide with an augmented reality feature allowing users easy access to useful local information.  It will also set out pending policy decisions e.g. planning applications, which are likely to impact the local area. Users will be able to share comments on the proposed decisions impacting their local area.

LOL! Leeds Online - Leeds, England

LOL! Leeds Online will develop a map based interface that allows access to its content via a mobile app. In addition to providing users with geographically relevant content, the app will use the map as its dashboard, allowing users to upload, search, read, comment, rate and tag news items.

 

Papur Dre - Caernarfon, Wales

Papur Dre (Town Paper) is a community newspaper working with Cwmni Da, a television production company and Coleg Menai, a further education college in North West Wales. Working together they will create a Welsh language mobile service that features news and information, using images, text and video. Students from the college will have the opportunity to create content for the service and produce a hyperlocal video news channel.

Our Town - Glasgow, Scotland 

Our Town is a mobile hyperlocal news service backed by one of Scotland's leading media companies. The service will include both web apps, native apps and push notifications and will be piloted within a central belt town in Scotland. Content for the service will be generated by professional journalists, businesses, charities, the local authority and user-generated.

#21VC - Loddon, England

#21VC - 21st Century Village Correspondent - is a project to develop the Loddoneye hyperlocal blog into a wi-fi access portal. The service will also draw on content from the parish magazine and a community journalist, creating a local mobile service and wi-fi platform.

URTV - Helensburgh, Scotland 

URTV is an online hyperlocal TV service in Scotland. Following the success of Helensburgh TV, URTV will build a network of community owned, not-for-profit hyperlocal news channels. Phase one of a mobile app has been completed and URTV will further develop the second phase app allowing for location based news and content to be rolled out across the network.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVGIkWnTpPA&feature=youtu.be

Kentishtowner - Kentish Town, England

The Kentishtowner is a daily hyperlocal online magazine with a strong quality editorial focus. The Kentishtowner will develop an HTML5 version of the website and will include geo-tagging of all data optimised for mobile devices. A variety of mobile content will be available, from detailed map-point local history walks to real-time shopping discounts. Local advertisers will also be offered the chance to alert potential customers to special offers as they pass near a shop.

Locali - Craigavon, Northern Ireland

Locali will interact with the community, local council and local businesses to facilitate improved local engagement through a location-aware smartphone app. The app will provide hyperlocal news and information - streamlining existing public information together with new hyperlocal content. It will also allow citizens to feedback issues directly to the local council. 

Jon Kingsbury, Programme Director, at Nesta, says: "The strength and diversity of the  projects chosen shows how exciting the hyperlocal media sector is. There is a real desire for these organisations not only to be innovative but sustainable so that we lay the foundations for a hyperlocal media sector that is here to stay"

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*Definition of hyperlocal media: 'Online news or content services pertaining to a town, village, single postcode or other small, geographically defined community.'

For more information on 'Destination Local' please visit www.nesta.org.uk/destination_local 

Nesta press contacts:  Guy Bilgorri on 020 7438 2611/ [email protected]

Technology Strategy Board press contact: Nick Sheppard on 07824 599644 / [email protected] 

About Nesta

Nesta is the UK's innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery.

Nesta Operating Company is a registered charity in England and Wales with a company number 7706036 and charity number 1144091. Registered as a charity in Scotland number SC042833. Registered office: 1 Plough Place, London, EC4A 1DE

 www.nesta.org.uk

About Technology Strategy Board

The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led government body which works to create economic growth by ensuring that the UK is a global leader in innovation. Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future economy. For more information please visit: Technology Strategy Board website.