Annika Small Appointed Director of Nominet Trust

Annika Small, former Chief Executive of Futurelab, a leading educational R&D lab, has joined Nominet Trust as its first Director.

Nominet Trust is a charitable organisation set up in 2008 to mobilise the Internet for social good. Under Annika’s leadership, the Trust will focus its support on three areas; web access – by providing the disadvantaged and vulnerable with the motivation, tools and skills to get online, web safety – by providing people with skills to use the Internet responsibly while reducing internet abuse and crime, and finally, web in society – by encouraging the imaginative use of the internet to address social problems.

“More than nine million people in the UK have never been online and four million of those are amongst the country's most socially excluded,” says Annika, “this means the people who have the most to gain from the Internet - whether to overcome isolation, save money or find help - are the very ones that are missing out. I am delighted to be joining Nominet Trust with its focus on empowering people – regardless of ability, location, gender, age or income - to use the Internet as a tool to improve their lives and communities.”

One of the first projects to have received Nominet Trust funding since Annika’s appointment this month is Internet Buttons, created by We Are What We Do, the social movement behind I Am No A Plastic Bag. Launching in beta during Get Online Week (18-24 October), Internet Buttons aims to get the offline population onto and into the Internet, via a bright and bold web-based tool to help introduce a new or novice user to the web.

“Internet Buttons turns a potentially daunting introduction to the Internet into a compelling, personalised and simple experience,” says Annika. “Many of us have family and friends who we would like to help get online. These buttons are a fantastically imaginative and practical tool to enable this, offering an easy introduction to online information and services that are meaningful and relevant to the new user.”

Internet Buttons is a powerful illustration of Nominet Trust’s approach in supporting innovative projects that contribute to a trusted, accessible Internet used to bring about positive social change.

Annika’s appointment to Nominet Trust marks an important step in its evolution to become a leading force in mobilizing the Internet for social good.

Press contact

Rebecca Ladbury

Ladbury PR 07941 224 975 / rebecca@ladburypr.com

Notes to editors

About Annika Small

Annika comes to Nominet Trust from the Tony Blair Faith Foundation where she was Education Director. Prior to this Annika was Chief Executive of Futurelab, a leading educational R&D lab, which develops innovative resources and practices to support new approaches to teaching and learning for the 21st century. Prior to Futurelab, Annika focused on developing digital learning resources for those excluded from traditional education. Annika has worked at the BBC and The Discovery Channel and is passionate about bringing together industry, academia and practice to create radically new ways to use the internet to address social needs.

About Nominet Trust: www.nominettrust.org.uk

Established in 2008, Nominet Trust has successfully created a solid foundation on which to build. It has invested in more than £3.5 million in more than 55 projects and organisations that have benefitted more than three million people and contributed to improved understanding about the internet, increased web safety, and engagement with social problems.

In 2011-2013, Nominet Trust will focus its investments through three inter-linked programmes that contribute to a safe and accessible Internet used to bring about positive social change:

1. Web access – providing the disadvantaged and vulnerable with the motivation, tools and skills to get online
2. Web safety – providing people with skills to use the Internet responsibly while reducing internet abuse and crime
3. Web in society – encouraging the imaginative use of the Internet to address social problems

About Internet Buttons

At www.internetbuttons.org, anyone can set up a personalised page for their offline friends and family members (or indeed for themselves), which becomes their homepage. This is populated with large, iconic buttons that, when clicked, takes users straight to their favourite sites and services. At the bottom of the page is the “Call-me-when-you-get-stuck-hotline” - a space natives have the option to fill in with name, photo and mobile number as a way of reassuring new users that, in the event of confusion or questions, they are on call to help. In addition, digital users can benefit from online tutorials and step-by-step guides to particular sites and services such as Skype, and can opt to have their Internet Buttons page annotated with helpful tips.