A fledgling Cape Town-based startup has been announced as the winner of the prestigious international “Why Open Education Matters” video competition.

Video marketing company Blink Tower beat off stiff competition from more than 60 global entrants, and was this week awarded the top honours and the prize money of more than R200 000 (US$25 000).

The Why Open Education Matters competition was launched as a joint venture by Creative Commons, the U.S. Department of Education and the Open Society Foundations in March 2012, to raise awareness about Open Educational Resources (OER) worldwide. Entrants were asked to submit short, creative videos that would explain the benefits and promise of OER to teachers, students and schools everywhere. The competition was initially announced by U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.

Blink Tower’s two-and-a-half minute animated entry was chosen as the first prize winner by a panel of distinguished film and education experts, including Academy Award-winning director and producer, Davis Guggenheim.

Cathy Casserly, the CEO of Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/) commented:

"I am delighted with the depth, diversity, and creativity of the videos we received in the competition. With this set of great educational videos, we hope OER becomes common knowledge around the world and that teachers, schools, and funders act now to support openly licensed educational materials."

“We are delighted and humbled by this global recognition of the Blink Tower team’s work,” says managing director Elodie Kleynhans.

“We particularly enjoyed this challenge, as we are passionate about education and believe that Open Education has the potential to improve the lives and chances of those who do not have access to the facilities and materials that many take for granted.”

Kleynhans says the Blink Tower team had a common vision for the video during the planning stages, perhaps because of the insight South Africans have about how a quality education – or the lack thereof – can impact on an individual’s future.

Formed in 2010, Blink Tower is a Cape Town-based video marketing company that specialises in 2D animated explainer and demo videos. Their clients include Mxit, the Shuttleworth Foundation and Vodacom.

For more information on Open Education and the competition, go to www.whyopenedmatters.org

Issued by Elodie Kleynhans