London Region ICT Champion

I’ve been in correspondance with prolific non-profit/social change commentator and blogger, Beth Kanter, about the adoption of so called ‘web 2.0′ tools in the UK voluntary sector. The discussion came about as Beth and fellow blogger, David Wilcox, will be hosting a workshop on web 2.0 tools at the Lasa Circuit Rider Conference in Birmingam, UK (15-16 Jan). You can catch a preview of their session here.

Beth asked me:

There’s a lot of media attention being paid to “Web 2.0″ or what we call “hype” - how does a small non-profit avoid getting seduced by the hype? What are items on the checklist to determine whether web2.0 is right for you and your org?

In reply I said that technology being what it is, most of my answer would probably change 6 months down the road. Anyway, here’s what I said:

As far as the UK non-profit sector goes, most people probably don’t know what web 2.0 is and why it matters to their organization. However, I’m willing to bet that many of the same people and their kids use web 2.0 apps (skype, myspace, flickr, etc) without knowing it’s web 2.0. On a macro level, I suppose the key thing is to make the link between web 2.0 tools and business applications for it.

Let’s imagine a random scenario where we’re trying to sell web 2.0 apps to a community centre for Bangladeshi women. I guess our checklist would be a lot like the barriers to second wave adoption blogged about elsewhere:

• Understand the activities and goals of the organization
• Understand how web 2.0 apps can help perform activities and meet organizational goals
• Understand ICT needs and skills of the staff and volunteers
• Analyse risk of web 2.0 apps - are they ready for business uses? Sustainable?

Seems to me that circuit riders will be the key to evangelizing web 2.0 apps at ground level and assessing which tools are right for each job.

Beyond that, my job as ICT Champion is to start the debate rolling and showcase new technologies. I really like the dot organize tool crib because it gives people the opportunity to assess web 2.0 tools already out there. Perhaps we could extend the model pioneered by Ruralnet’s I-See-T project for groups to try out web 2.0 apps risk free?

Anyway, last words……to put it in a UK context , we’re seeing a new voluntary sector emerge, and if organizations want to survive and win funding they’re going to have to show (i) greater accountability to stakeholders (ii) collaborate and share and (iii) embrace new technology, ie, web 2.0 tools! IMHO the winners will be those that understand it’s not enough to do the same old things.

I then gave a brief sample of early adopters of web 2.0 that UK readers would be familar with:

Video-blogging: Our old friend David Wilcox.

Video-campaigns:
NSPCC
Greenpeace

Forums: This one designed by Jason King

My Space: UxFest

E-consultation: here and here

Web Campaigning:
Write to Them
Make Poverty History
icount
Animals Matter

As always, I’m keen to showcase UK voluntary and community sector projects using technology in innovative ways for social change, so let me know about yourselves via this blog.