Global Campaigning, Free Stuff and Cute Cats
March 17, 2008 Posted by Andy in : Bristol, e-society, Technology, collaboration, Guest Bloggers , 1 comment so farRecently, I worked with the Global Campaign for Education, who promote education as a human right around the world. They are a coalition of NGOs and trade unions and they run the Global Action Week, which sees activity in 120 countries around the world. Last year, over 5 millon children took part in the campaign.
Action Week this year starts on the 27th April.
The main reason to mention them is to highlight an organisation that could not have existed in its current form only a few years ago. You can run a huge, credible global campaign on infrastructure that is basically free, but arguably as good as the systems being used by multinational companies. So if you wanted to start your own global campaign, I’d suggest three applications that could save you tens of thousands in annual running costs:
Gmail: Free email accounts, but also huge (huge) online storage capability which gives you a place to store files and back things up. With google apps, you can create a private intranet and website. The basic service is free (and good enough for most people).
Google News Alerts: This provides a media monitoring service comparable to expensive clipping services, especially if you’re looking for global coverage. This is free, too.
Skype: You don’t even need a phone. Skype’s free international calling and instant messaging can bring together groups from around the world. It’s also got free video conferencing.
On top of this core infrastructure you’ve also got all the social media applications like myspace, facebook, wordpress and the rest.
There’s a lot been written recently about “free” as a business model recently (mostly triggered by this article in Wired), but one of the consequences of this is that you don’t need to spend much money to organise a huge global campaign.
As I was writing this entry, I came across this interesting presentation by Ethan Zuckerman on “The Cute Cat theory of digital activism” that makes a similar point, but for a slightly different audience. It’s aimed at people who build web services and it argues that if you build free online social web tools, one of the tests of their usefulness is whether or not they are used by activists.
The internet is about more than just pictures of cute cats, as shown by this graphic:
He concludes:
If there’s a single message to the talk, it is that activists are going to use your tools if your tools are any good - watch them, pay attention to them, protect them and learn from them. They’ll make your tools better, and they’re one of the reasons to make social software in the first place.
It’s got loads of good international case studies in it as well. Well worth a read over your lunch.
Digital Inclusion Wales
March 14, 2008 Posted by julzswitch in : e-society, Events, Technology, Guest Bloggers , 2 commentsJust back from a trip across the big bridge to the Digital Inclusion Wales Conference held at the All Nations Centre in Cardiff. I was asked to go along and present on the subject of ICT-based social enterprises, and found out that of the 180 registered delegates, 80 had opted for this workshop! Fortunately Simon Berry from RuralnetUk was also hosting a workshop on the subject so I didn’t have all 80 at once. Hopefully that’s an indication of the growth of interest in social enterprise as good business model for ICT services in future.
One of the benefits of sitting in on the conference was the opportunity to hear some truly inspirational stories from projects being supported in Wales by the www.communitiesatone.org programme. One in particular I found both moving and entertaining, and that was Sharron Morris from Rhys Radio - a woman with a mission and someone who recognised every inch of the way how much she has learned and how she has supported others! Also Stephen Harmes from River Dee Community Church ICT Project - describing how engaging local people in a variety of ICT projects was helping to develop new activities and enterprise. I am keen to share both projects with other people in my work in South West - excellent case studies to inspire other people.
And so my week as guest blogger draws to a close. Thank you Connecting Bristol for the opportunity. Hopefully some readers have found it useful, informative and encouraging. Good luck to Andy Martin with next week’s blog - I will look forward to reading about his work with Cancer Research UK. You can keep on an eye on my work as Regional ICT Champion over on www.swict.wordpress.com and of course the day job which pays my wages over on www.cosmic.org.uk
Julie Harris, COSMIC
Save Money With A Fantastic New VOSCUR Service! - Give One In! Get One Back!
March 13, 2008 Posted by julzswitch in : Bristol, Environment, Guest Bloggers , 2 commentsBack in December you may have heard about the Voscur run ‘Give One In, Get One Back’ project.
Voscur, working with Byteback Computer recycling and Bristol Wireless, supported through the ICT Hubs’ Unmet Needs fund is running project to promote the recycling of old computer equipment and the re-use of machines. Those dumb boxes whose shelf lives have been extended through the use of volunteer computer maintenance and free software.
This project now has less than a month to run so if you are still undecided about what to do with your old equipment, there is still time. In the meantime they are evaluating the success of the project and how it was promoted, so it would be really useful to get your impressions of the service, even if you didn’t engage with any of the services on offer. Please go to the Survey below to complete a short questionnaire -www.survey.bris.ac.uk/voscur/giveoneinsurvey
If you forwarded the original publicity in your networks, please distribute this request too. To find our more about the project go to - www.voscur.org/giveonein
For further information please contact Sean Kenny, Development Worker (ICT), Voscur
Tel: 0117 909 9949
NOTE: Voscur is a Council for Voluntary Service and a Development Agency for the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector in Bristol.
Technology and Planning
March 12, 2008 Posted by julzswitch in : Bristol, Funding, Guest Bloggers , add a commentSpent a day with staff from Black Development Agency, which is based on Russell Town Avenue in Bristol (yes, I do work in Bristol as well), and we had some discussions about the importance of technology in the overall planning of organisations. Its really interesting to find out how different organisations are using various planning tools to see how technology suits their current and future plans. We looked at the need to plan for hardware, software, online resources, websites, emails, maintenance work and staff ICT training. BDA are using the net:gain process to set up a new ICT strategic plan and its providing a good basis from which to review their current systems and their overall work. The same old issue of funding and how to secure the investment needed to enhance the ICT within organisations was also discussed. I am hoping to be able to provide further help with BDA work in future and to run some workshops and training for the groups which they serve.
It was also a useful opportunity to compare and contrast the needs of urban organisations with those in rural areas, and some feedback from a recent event puts this much more succintly than I can - “its not that organsations in rural and urban areas necessarily have different ICT support needs, its just that the way in which that support is provided can be very different”.
More work this afternoon back at COSMIC - and my attention turns the production of our annual report. Business performance, consultation with clients, project reports and finances all need condensing into an easily digested read ahead of our AGM in two weeks. Gulp!
Julie Harris, COSMIC
