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October 20, 2003
World Summit Awards Dubai: The Voting Process
Monday was a contentious day at the World Summit Awards jury as we began our process of voting on the projects we'd select. The first several rounds of voting went fairly well, but we hit a snag at the e-entertainment section. First of all, the committee only presented us with five choices, even though we had to select five; this meant our vote was meaningless and we wouldn't be able to have an impact on the decision. There was also a lot of concern about the quality of some of the projects presented to us. After more than an hour of debate, we decided to have the first e-entertainment panel sit down with the second panel and re-review the sites together to find several more sites that could be put up for consideration.
Unfortunately, because I was departing from Dubai Tuesday morning, this meant I wouldn't be there for the final vote. I submitted my votes on projects I'd reviewed ahead of time, but I wouldn't know who won until I got back. This was a shame, since two US projects were up for consideration during the remaining votes, so I'd just have to wait and see.
Dinner that night took place in an outdoor lakeside pavilion at Dubai Internet City. Once again we were smothered in a buffet of Arab, Indian and continental delicacies. It's a good thing alcohol isn't served at these events, cause I feel like I'm going to gain a ton of weight from this Vegas-like buffet grazing.
After dinner I had a quick drink at the bar with Martin Casey from Ireland, Garegin Chugaszyan from Armenia and Lawrence Zikusoka from Uganda. We marveled at the state of economic development in Dubai, but wondered how all this construction and IT investment would work in the long run. It's great to see the Dubai royal family recognizing that oil wealth won't last forever, and embracing ICT businesses seems like a good move for now.
By 12:30am it was time for me to call it a night; I'd have to get up in five hours for my 20-hour commute back to Washington.... -ac
Posted by acarvin at October 20, 2003 3:42 PM
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