DIWA Press Release 01/12/03

NEW IMAGING INDUSTRY ORGANISATION LAUNCHES MULTI-LINGUAL AWARDS WEB SITE

The Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA), a new independent international industry organisation formed to identify excellence in imaging products, has formally opened its Web site at www.diwa-awards.com. The site will announce awards made by DIWA and link visitors to the Web site publications of DIWA members and their reviews of products that have earned DIWA awards.

Over time, the DIWA site’s interactive database will establish itself as a central point of reference for high quality and high value information to help members of the public determine their most appropriate purchasing choices. Details on products tested and rated by DIWA members will be freely available to site visitors.

DIWA is an international organisation comprising member Web site publications from many different countries. The cosmopolitan nature of DIWA is reflected in the design of its new Web site, which accommodate the languages of all its members in terms of navigation and specific language sections.

As an industry organisation, DIWA’s Web site will also become a focus of attention from manufacturers and resellers from all over the world.

ABOUT DIWA:
DIWA, through its tests undertaken and scored by its contracted member Web sites, identifies gold, silver and bronze award winning products, including digital cameras, photo printers, scanners, accessories and software. Test scores are determined through a standardised and rigorous test scoring procedure. Cameras, for example, undergo a series of over 200 test score items.

To further reinforce the accuracy and consistency of the DIWA awards process, scores for a single given product are collected from multiple DIWA member test sites and statistically aggregated. By its very nature, the aggregated scoring process is inherently free of inaccuracies risked in by a single person testing a single example of a given product.

Through its unique standardised and aggregated test scoring system, DIWA sets a new, bullet-proof, standard for imaging product awards. DIWA awards signify a mark of excellence that both the public and the industry can value and depend on.

DIWA’s search for product excellence continues throughout the year, with gold, silver and bronze awards issued as and when products earn them. Platinum awards will be celebrated once a year for the very best of breed products identified from awards winners over the previous twelve months.