The Webby Awards, the leading international award honouring excellence on the Internet, announced the nominees and honorees for the 11th Annual Webby Awards yesterday. www.milinda.org has been selected as an Official Honouree, in the two categories of personal websites and political websites. "The Webby Awards honours the outstanding work that is setting the standards for the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. www.milinda.org’s Official Honouree selection is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.”

Milinda.org is the only non-US website to have been designated as an Official Honouree in the political website category. Other Honourees in this category included CNN’s website for America Votes 2006, the website for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and PBS’ Online News Hour-Vote 2006.

In addition, in the Personal Website category, milinda.org was the only politician’s website which was selected as an Official Honouree, the others being mostly websites by graphic artists.

www.milinda.org is a collaborative effort of three Sri Lankan institutions, the Milinda Moragoda Institute for People’s Empowerment (MMIPE), the web-hosting company, Four Corners, and the advertising agency, Red Lime. The website is maintained in Sinhala, Tamil and English and has different features in each language.

The Webby Award panel of judges evaluates web sites in several different categories based on six criteria: content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity, and overall experience. It selects five Nominees for each Website category. Out of these Nominees, one Winner in each category will be selected in their awards ceremony held annually in June in the United States. Additionally, a few entries in each category that are not chosen as Winners or Nominees, but are notable in their achievement, are recognized as Official Honourees by the Academy.

The Webby Awards are presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADS), a US-based organization dedicated to the creative, technical, and professional progress of the Internet and interactive media. The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes over 500 members consisting of leading experts in a diverse range of fields, such as Google Chief Internet guru Vinton Cerf, musician David Bowie, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, business guru and author Tom Peters, The Body Shop president Anita Roddick, fashion designer Max Azria, Simpsons creator Matt Groening and Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser.

Members also include writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Forbes, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe, and WallPaper. The Webby Awards and The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences are registered trademarks of International Data Group.

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. The 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 states.