The UK Catalyst Awardswere created to recognise”inspiring stories of people who help theircommunity by using social technology in new and exciting ways”.There are 10 awards up for grabs, each one focusing on a slightlydifferent aspect. The People’s Choice Award, still open for publicvoting, has an impressive list of candidates.

Each one of them is a proof of how passion can fuel creativity andhow commitment can help us make a difference. For example, PatientOpinion,one of our projects which has only a few weeks ago received the NewStatesman New Media Award;Enabled by Design,an online community to help people with special needs achieve a moreindependent life; The Wiki Project on migration through the eyes of asylum seekers; or, from ourfriends, School of Everything and Big Art Mob.What all these projects have in common? The desire to tackle socialproblems by using… er… social tools.

We all appreciate the role socialtools, and online social networks, play in our personal lives. We areaware of how social tools are increasingly being adopted byorganisations. But one of the biggest promises comes from the use ofsocial tools as intervention, democratisation, involvement andengagement mechanisms. “By the people for the people” comes tomind. I know, I know. It is a cliché. But you will have toagree this is what each one of the short-listed award candidates aretrying to achieve.

We have been very lucky to help shapesome of these initiatives (e.g. Patient Opinion, Do the Green Thing,Innovation Exchange) and we have other equally interestingpropositions coming our way. Stay tuned!