ICT4Peace Search Engine on Google Co-op

Using Google’s new Co-Op platform, I created a custom search engine to map the development of the theory and practice of ICT4Peace today.

Google Co-op is a platform that enables you to customize the web search experience for users of both Google and your own website.

Check out the ICT4Peace Search Engine here.

The site does work quite well, filtering out most of the irrelevant stuff. I’ve also invited a few colleagues to share their websites and knowledge to the development of the back-end search engine (some of the sites that power it are displayed on the homepage).

Diplomacy and blogs

A pointer from Lisa’s blog alerted me to an interesting news story on BBC on the travails of UN’s envoy Jan Pronk in Sudan.

Mr Pronk was expelled from Sudan after government anger at comments he made on his personal website. The government accused him of “psychological warfare” after he wrote that government forces had suffered two defeats in Darfur and that it had broken Security Council resolutions.

Jan’s blog, which caused the furore, is, according to the BBC “startlingly detailed, the kind of information that is normally sent back, encoded, only to national capitals.”

I suspect that this incident may result in the development of blogging policies for diplomats and high officials in the UN, with interesting consequences for the future of diplomacy in an increasingly networked world. This also raises the question – are there professions, such as peace negotiators / mediators – who cannot / should not blog about their work? Or should they blog anonymously, using blogs as a vent for their pent up frustrations with lack of progress?

Coincidentally, PCR Blog has an interesting post today on blogs, where it is noted that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, has started his own blog. The questions the posts ends with are worth pondering:

1) What do you think about Ahmadinejad’s blog? What is his audience?
2) Do you think it is advisable for world leaders to publish their own blogs?
3) Is this the emergence of a global civic culture?
4) What do you think of blogs as a form of public diplomacy?
5) Are you tired of bloggers discussing blogs?

Yahoo!’s Time Capsule and farming knowledge

Hot on the heals of the overwhelmingly rich Dropping Knowledge Initiative comes Yahoo!’s Time Capsule.

As the Time Capsule’s site describes:

For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8, Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio – even drawings – to this electronic anthropology project. This digital data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes.

In addition to submitting your own content, you can view, read, or hear the images, words, and sounds contributed by users from around the world.

You can also comment on the content you and others have submitted – and engage in a digital conversation that is just as revealing and important as any of the content you’ll witness.

There are a couple of mostly banal entries from Sri Lanka, but who are we to judge thus given that this content is for posterity? Yahoo!’s site says eternity, but that’s based on the problematic assumption that the digital media we created today can be archived and viewed indefinitely. Hell, even for a decade, I’d like to have my two cents on Hope, Beauty and Anger stored online – an element of narcissism yes, but for some who contribute, surely a way to pass on a message to future generations, in light of the uncertainty of our collective zeitgeist today.

As with Dropping Knowledge’s multiple interfaces to search through the knowledge and content on the site, Yahoo!’s Flash based interface is intuitive and deals well with the plethora of content already online. Again, the assumptions behind the use of Flash are interesting – more for the knowledge that is left out, than for what is contained within.

Furthermore, both sites work best on broadband, which itself limits the generation of knowledge in them (and by extension, whatever that is archived for posterity) to largely a first world / US centric audience – the Time Capsule certainty much more limited in this sense than Dropping Knowledge, which generated content very differently.

Both initiatives, however, are inspirational, and show a world grappling to archive and make sense out of an exponential increase in the generation of digital content, most of which will not be archived.

More knowledge will be lost in this century than in all preceding centuries.Though the Time Capsule and Dropping Knowledge are harbingers of vast knowledge farming exercises to come, they will nevertheless gather and archive a fraction of content produced by thinkers, academics, writers, media, youth, children, women, citizens.

Our greatest challenge in this century will be to visualise information differently, move beyond Google, and capture what is of value to individuals as well as humanity in a virtual Library of Congress.

See also:
Indexing knowledge – Designing search engines for conflict and peace research

Building peace through ICT – Ideas for practical ICT4Peace projects

Image courtesy of e tuk tuk project

A while ago, I got this request from a colleague in England:

Is there anything that the world of Comms and IT could do for peacebuilding and helping grassroots? I am not thinking about databanks or IT libraries, but something really radical and innovative, almost blue sky thinking, that in order to start just needs the right people in the same room. It could be something very simple but needs the right connections and resources behind it…..

This got me thinking about some practical, down to earth ICT4Peace projects that could make a difference given the violent and generally regressive context in a country such as Sri Lanka. Some of these ideas are those that I’m already working on, others have been floated around for want of someone to fund them, others are ones that I’ve come up with in response to needs I see on the ground, still others, those that have been rejected by donors and the CSR arms of large telecoms providers, but are nevertheless powerful social change mechanisms.

In no particular order, here are some ideas for ICT4Peace that can really make a difference in conflict / post-conflict zones:

Community podcasting and internet radio
When people talk about media and conflict, there is the overwhelming tendency to conflate media with news and media with the reportage (in ways good and bad) of violence. On the other hand, what is often required in conflict is media, writ large (theatre, arts, digital, performance), that captures the voices and hope of people in support of peace. Often, these voices are acknowledged as being the “majority of people in support of peace” (or words to that effect) but no one really captures the richness of the voices, or knows how to.

ICT can help. Through New Media technologies such as digital audio / video / mobile video / MMS, it is possible to link community driven production of media that addresses local issues. Community radio stations often find that they are prey to legislation that often restricts their freedom to broadcast issues seen as too sensitive by the incumbent government. Internet radio and websites by pass these restrictions.

Beneficial in this light would also be partnerships developed with large mobile phone operators. In many areas of the world, the so-called 3G (3rd Generation) mobile phone technologies are rolled out that allow for multimedia on the go, but with very little content. Engaging the communities in content creation can be a really useful way to kick start these new technologies.

Imagine the provision of phones able to capture photos and video. A user records and annotates content, sends it to a central website, where the veracity of the information is checked and uploaded. Such a mechanism would serve to highlight local issues, engender discussion between those who have access to the web through PC and mobile phones (people can SMS their responses) and create awareness within the community on ways to address the issue.

Internet radio for grassroots also involves those who cannot read or write. Literacy is not a requirement for digital media production that seeks to capture the views of those who may not be able to read & write, but through their life experience may have valuable insights into the transformation of the conflict and into issues such as reconciliation, transformative justice and co-existence.

Content so produced can be put up on a website, but also recorded onto CD (for audio recordings) or downloaded to devices such as iPod (for audio and video) and then played back at community level / village meetings, to foster discussion.

Projects like etuktuk are also instructive in this regard. The long term sustainability of such projects is suspect however, which is why I advocate the use of technologies already in the hands of many people – such as mobile phones – instead of the creation of wholly new systems for production, storage and dissemination of content for the grassroots.

I think we also need a paradigm shift in the packaging of content for peacebuilding for the grassroots. We need to think of ways through which core concepts of peacebuilding can be delivered to grassroots (and created within the grassroots) using mobile devices such as PDAs and mobile phones (with the challenges of smaller screens, limited storage, input methods, vernacular language interfaces etc).

Skypecasts
The new version of Skype (albeit still in beta) supports a feature called Skypecasting, that allows a large audience to participate, using Skype as well as PSTN phones, in discussions that can be on any topic. The topics are hosted on Skype with the time and topic, so that people can join in from anywhere in the world. Skype’s free, Skype to Skype calls are free (VoIP) and for Skype to work, all that is required is a decent ISDN connection. With the ever increasing footprints of broadband internet access (such as EV-DO in the US and WiMax in many other parts of the world) even countries like Sri Lanka are contemplating coast-to-coast wireless internet footprints in the next couple of years. Even today, wireless technologies such as CDMA PCMCIA cards allow for internet connectivity almost anywhere in Sri Lanka.

We can piggyback upon these access technologies to create Skypecasts on peace from the grassroots itself – say a village meeting by a paddy field with a global audience including members from the diaspora chipping in. Such a series of recorded Skypecasts can be a useful way to capture community driven ideas for peace with international and regional voices in support of such ideas.

Skypecasts can also bring together a range of actors to discuss a specific issue – say the mitigation of violence in a specific location.

Skyepcasts also facilitates unique projects like children to children contact – to have mediated discussions between the life of a child in a conflict affected area, an urban centre in the same country and say a child in the diaspora community, to highlight differences and explore ways that people to people contact can help make lives better for those most seriously affected by the conflict.

Micro-grants for blogging
Blogging is to date an urban phenomenon in places like Sri Lanka. I don’t know of a single widely read vernacular blog (partly because the technology for entering text in the vernacular is still embryonic in Sri Lanka). If blogging engenders democratic dialogue, it needs to go to places outside of the cities. Micro-grants to a) urban promote blogs that get their content from the grassroots b) blogs that are based in the grassroots itself and promote voices of the community can be a useful way of capturing voices in support of peace. The emphasis here should be on blogs that promote a multiplicity of voices. Blogs that only have a single voice can often be seen to promote a biased or partisan view – care must be taken to ensure that blogs ensure diversity and gender participation.

Cheap digital cameras
There have already been several fascinating projects that have given cameras to kids, PLWHA (People Living with HIV / AIDS) and grassroots activists to capture their thoughts on the work they do in a format less invasive than a broadcast team visiting them on occasion. The idea is to capture the world they see as important around them along with thoughts on the challenges of peacebuilding. For instance, it would be fascinating to give digital cameras to members of a pilgrimage in Sri Lanka that has continued unabated through the years of violent conflict that sees people from the North walk by foot to a temple in the South. Their experiences are those that no media has captured – or can for that matter, given the logistical difficult of capturing a pilgrimage for so long through the most violent regions in Sri Lanka. Yet, these are valuable insights into the lives of communities living in conflict and have the faith to go on with their lives.

Digital media devices can help in this regards. With prices crashing for basic, entry level devices that can be ruggedized and given to the grassroots, these can become interesting ways to capture the lives of those actually at the frontlines of conflict.

Content can be, with the permission of the producers, uploaded to websites for public discussions, or stored on private discussion boards for use with the communities that local activists work with.

Projects can produce CD-ROMs based on the lives of an activist in conflict zones, an activist in an urban centre, a web based activist and a activist in the diaspora. Foundational material for such productions can come from the activists themselves – so that you capture what is most important for them through their eyes.

Children spring to mind as an important group you can use these technologies with. The pre-teen years are especially important – they are intelligent, street smart and have perspective on conflict. Care must be taken to use content sensitively – so expert in-country knowledge would be needed so as to ensure the safety of children who produce the content.

This said, projects can deal with human interest stories like the environment, resources, livelihoods that can obliquely touch upon the ravages of conflict and yet not endanger the lives of those who produce such content.

Oral histories
Conflict erases voices. Peace needs to preserve voices. Digital media offers unique ways through which voices that are important and most vulnerable, can be captured and promoted, so as to protect valuable ideas for social change even if their authors are killed.

Simple recording devices can be given to communities that then, according to guidelines collaboratively designed with the community, approach people in the community (keeping in mind gender, age, ethnic, economic, class, caste, religious diversity) and capture their voices that support peace.

The same can be done with specific target groups. In Sri Lanka, this may be the generation before 1983 (the year of the ethnic pogrom), the first NGO leaders, government servants during the British era, the post ’83 generation, women, youth and children. Oral histories can include video as well, on the lines of Conversations with History.

Children & Youth media houses
Children and youth from conflict zones can be encouraged to set up small media production houses. New technologies make such media houses cost far less than even a few years ago, with almost studio quality audio and video editing and recording available without huge investment in equipment. Youth media bring very different perspective to peace and conflict reporting as well as general programming. Children and youth have much more access to political leaders (both State and non-State) than do adults and can get away with asking some seemingly simple but precise questions that go to the heart of peacebuilding (“Mr. President, we think you’ve not lived up to your promise of making a better future for us. What do you have to say?”) that would not be countenanced by adult journalists.

Programmes would be targeted to youth, but the content should be applicable for a broader audience.

Training a youth journalists, armed with a digital camera and a mobile phone, who go to communities and capture information on processes that impact on their lives can be a powerful social change agent.

Also see Youth Radio for Peacebuilding handbook by Search for Common Ground available on the web.

Innovative websites
Let’s not discount websites altogether. Websites can be creative, lively and active instead of static and boring:

1. Ask people to send in ideas for peace on pre-paid forms (through post) printed inside toothpaste, shampoo, soap, washing powder, milk power cartons and packages – which target females in households who may not necessarily otherwise engage in peace related dialogues. Scan or capture feedback and post it on website.
2. A website that counts down to a million “voices” in support of peace – people call in to a toll-free hotline from any mobile or landline to answer a) what does peace mean to you b) how will you work towards strengthen that which you outlined in (a) – in three minutes or less.
3. Projects such as This I believe
4. Web 2.0 mash-ups that tell the narratives of those involved in peacebuilding through the use of Flickr photos, audio / podcasts, GIS (Google Maps), blogs, mobile video, MMS or SMS (like myspace.com, but geared for peacebuilding)
5. Projects such as www.witness.org that use digital media to record human rights violations
6. Mobile phone based “swarming” – the ability to get people together quickly to a spot for demonstrations and discussions / capture ideas for peace through mobiles (competitions for best 5 word idea for peace etc)

Any takers?

The Future of the Internet

Pew Internet & American Life Project released recently a new report on the future of the internet. Being US-centric, the report’s view of the future of the internet is also framed with an American bias. This does not take away from some of the prescient observations in the report on the evolution of technology.

Those who raised challenges believe that governments and corporations will not necessarily embrace policies that will allow the network to spread to under-served populations; that serious social inequalities will persist; and that “addiction” is an inappropriate notion to attach to people’s interest in virtual environments.

Given that many respondents argue that violence arising from conflicts over religion, economics, and politics, will be more prevalent, the future of the internet is in one way or another deeply entwined with violence and conflict. The report does not opine how such conflicts will be exacerbated, prevented, mitigated or transformed using the internet, which is my central field of interest.

While I hold that the growth of the internet in South Asia in particular will be fuelled by wireless internet access and mobile devices, the observations of a “flattened” world are extremely premature – there will always be, even in communities with access to the internet, socio-economic and political inequalities that may in fact be reflected in virtual, internet mediated interactions with other communities. The study of how the evolution of the internet can positively impact upon conflict resolution / transformation / management and strengthen peacebuilding is one that is growing more important with each passing year.

Download and read the full report here or watch a video on the report here.

A Second Life for Journalism?

The Reporter Is Real, but the World He Covers Isn’t is an interesting article that appears in the New York Times today on Adam Pasick, left, a Reuters reporter on permanent assignment within the virtual worlds of Second Life.

This is not the first time I’ve flagged that journalism in online worlds such as Second Life are going to be developments in media that we need to carefully look for their implications for the future of journalism, but what makes this story most interesting is news that Reuters is the first mainstream wire news media organisation with a committed media presence in Second Life.

How is this going to play out with real world journalism? For instance, the news story here on experiments in economics and socio-political modelling in virtual communities has implications on real world applications of economic models and theories for development. How will the interplay between the virtual and the real play out in the years to come? Is Reuters going to be a serious competitor to other in-world newspapers such as The Metaverse Messenger?

And as I ask here, if the year-on-year exponential growth in MMORPG’s such as Second Life continues, the millions of those who inhabit the worlds of these games may create media that is only understood by fellow inhabitants – using new media (podcasts, blogs, mobile content etc) to communicate issues that are of relevance only to in-game communities, leading to a whole new dimension to media fragmentation. For instance, see Adam’s interview with Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale about how the social lending pioneed by the Bangladesh microfinance organization may one day work in Second Life.

What do you feel the implications for real world journalism are from this first foray into a permanent presence of a respected news agency in virtual worlds?

And for ICT4Peace, how can the reporting of virtual interactions help in framing real world issues? Can we envisage Second Life simulations of peace negotiations and conflict transformation that can help real world processes? How can the reporting of simulations help frame issues that would otherwise be too contentious to address?

The Reuters Second Life news portal is here. You can email Adam Pasick at adamreuters at gmail.com.

What ails NGOs and CSOs in IT use and adoption?

I’ve now had more time to read through the extremely interesting Online Technology for Social Change: From Struggle to Strategy report. This post gives an interest history on the genesis of the report, which though short and succinct, has a tremendous wealth of information and food for thought.

• Though the report title reflects what may in some countries and regions a small group of social change agents, the research and recommendations resonate to a larger audience of civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations operational even in countries like Sri Lanka and regions such as South Asia. Social change is central to the mission and vision of many CSOs and NGOs, and technology plays an increasing role in their effort.

• Many CSOs in NGOs in Sri Lanka struggle with technology. Much of what is highlighted in the report from a US centric viewpoint on the travails of using technology in the non-profit, social change, CSO / NGO sector mirrors that which I’ve seen and experienced in the NGO sector in Sri Lanka.

• Some of the findings of the report are particularly insightful. For instance, many organisations, despite the size of their annual budgets, struggle to keep up with advances in technology, and to use the technology they already have at their disposal to their fullest potential. Many information systems operate in silos, forcing users to use multiple systems, with little in common between them, to manage donors, email lists and membership information. In a country like Sri Lanka, the prevalence of offline information (pen, pencil, paper, butcher-paper drawings, magi-board drawings, Post-it notes etc) is an even greater challenge for information management. My experience is that for many NGOs, even the larger ones in Colombo, information management is equated with a IT technician or developer – both professions that are woefully inadequate to advise NGOs on the manner in which technology can help shape social change, strengthen their initiatives and communicate their key mission and vision to key constituencies.

• Unlike in the US, with a 73% penetration of the internet & web, Sri Lanka lags behind in internet and web connectivity, though the exponential growth of mobile telephony and the soon to be introduced WiMax offer a glimpse of a future where many more Sri Lankans may have access to the web through mobile devices and devices such as the OLPC or Simputer. Many NGOs are extremely ill prepared for this internet and web access regime, and are ill advised on how citizens content can help strengthen the social change they seek to champion.

• As the report points out, many organisations aren’t even taking full advantage of existing IT infrastructure to strengthen their communications with stakeholders, donors and citizens.

“Despite believing in the importance of technology to their missions, a surprising number of organisations are not taking advantage of basic online organising techniques, such as collecting email addresses, sending out mass emails, posting news and information on websites, providing materials for download…”

• Many NGOs and CSOs in Sri Lanka are unaware of the power of mobile phones to generate and disseminate content. An SMS poll in the Daily Mirror yesterday (registration required to view the article), in collaboration with zMessenger, was the first I’ve seen of a mainstream media newspaper using new media to generate citizen generate content that was featured on its front page. I don’t know of a single NGO that used mobile phone in campaigns for peace, democracy, reconciliation, human rights or good governance, though some organisations such as PAFFREL have used mobiles in elections monitoring to good effect. How scalable are these projects? How can NGOs and CSOs use mobile technology, along with Wikis, GIS, podcasts, amongst others? An earlier post of mine has some answers.

• This graphic in the report is particularly interesting, in that it clearly shows how CSOs and NGOs are, in effect, tech mashups writ large, using many tools to manage various aspects of their operations. In other words, there isn’t (and possibly never will be) one killer app for the NGO sector. There is, however, a deep sense of frustration amongst NGOs and CSOs that what they work with and have at their disposal isn’t really doing what they want it to do. In my own experience in Sri Lanka, this may be on account of inherent shortcomings in the technology itself, a lack of training, inappropriate technology solutions being used, or a vicious combination of all three.

• Summarising the above, the report points out:

Organizers are clearly struggling, despite their general enthusiasm for technology tools. Regardless of budget size, they feel strapped for time, money, and know-how. They believe that their software lacks the features they need, that they lack the training and support to use the software, and they’re frustrated by the lack of integration between existing tools.

• Working with the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS) based in Vancouver, Canada, I’ve been working on several new media and communications strategies initiatives for CSOs and NGOs in Sri Lanka. Put simply, within a context of heightened personal and organisational security, technology needs to support and strengthen the vitality of the CSOs and NGOs in Sri Lanka, help make these actors more accountable and transparent in their operations, help built trust and public accountability and above all, communicate key messages in support of a negotiated peace, democracy, good governance and human rights to a polity and society bombarded with hate speech and vicious, extremist elements who spew hate speech and incite hatred in alarming proportions.

• For CSOs and NGOs in Sri Lanka in particular, strategic communications and crisis communications imperatives pre-figure an emphasis on how technology can strengthen their vision and mission. Communications strategies that helps CSOs and NGOs identify challenges and strengths, target audiences and the most effective means of reaching them with urgent and powerful messages can be augmented with the use of new media and new technologies. (For a related post, see Defeating repressive regimes)

• The Online Technology for Social Change: From Struggle to Strategy report highlights the importance of “integrators”, which in some of my earlier work, I’ve called “connectors”. We both mean those who understand the imperatives, limitations and potential of CSOs and NGOs and are also strong in their understanding of technologies that can help in social change processes. The emphasis I always add is on process – since many IT Managers currently employed by CSOs and NGOs in Sri Lanka have an abysmal knowledge of how to adopt and use ICT for the long term process of social change and advocacy, and instead only offer (commercial, off the shelf) solutions that only exacerbate existing information and processual gaps.

• Although the report doesn’t mention it specifically, most of its recommendation are founded on the tacit understanding on the need for open standards based applications, that working in concert, can help NGOs and CSOs better address the demands and challenges before them. (I’ve strongly advocated for open standards in peacebuilding applications and humanitarian applications, see here for a specific list of recommendations made at Strong Angel III and here for a list of previous posts on the issue). The awareness of open standards in Sri Lanka is deplorable – vendor lock in and data silos are frequently found in custom made IT solutions that don’t take into account a holistic appreciation of the organisation’s work and mandate, resulting in high maintenance costs, frustration, frequent let down of internal and external expectations.

• With InfoShare and the Centre for Policy Alternatives now using Google Hosted Services for their email, and progressing onto the other hosted services available (such as group calendaring), the report also underscores the potential possibilities as well as dangers of switching to hosted services for organisations that cannot afford custom solutions. In Sri Lanka, the recent and unexpected demise of Lanka Internet’s email and internet services that left many prominent NGO’s and CSO’s and activists were suddenly left without email and web access underscores the need to look at hosted services.

• As the report points out:

“As constant advances in technology motivate and surprise us, the question becomes less about the limits of technology itself, but rather how we choose to use it, and how we make it a more accessible tool…”

• Beyond the report, two ideas of dotorganise are, to me, very much the foundations of how technology will be used in the civil society / social change sector in the future. The first, the AppsMash Lab, is a tremendously fascinating idea (on the lines of Peace Tools, and certainly an idea that InfoShare’s trying to incubate in Sri Lanka):

Rather than try to develop yet another new toolset from scratch, our goal is to encourage “ecosystems” of software and software modules that share data and build on each other’s strengths, rather than stand-alone applications that seek to be all things to all organizations. The result would be a new crop of tools that build upon existing tools, fill the gaps where needed, and ensure that data can be shared seamlessly across all applications.

Ultimately, the AppsMash Lab will serve as a catalyst and development incubator for new and innovative tools driven by the real needs of social change organizers.

• The second, the Organiser’s Tool Crib, is a fascinating social networking based collection of online and offline tools for social change organisations, CSOs and NGOs. This is certainly the first of its kind I’ve seen on the web, and is a tremendously useful tool for experts and newbies and helps non-profits figure out what’s out there in the form of tools that can help them in their work.. It’s also helpful if you want someone to design a custom programme / suite of applications, to see what’s available already online and nourish the development of home grown tools by looking at best practices already on the web.

• The Online Technology for Social Change: From Struggle to Strategy report is compelling reading, highly recommended for leaders and key staff of NGOs and CSOs and communications consultants working in the non-profit sector, in order to strategise, design and implement ICT solutions that strengthens progressive and peaceful social change in the years to come.

Online Technology for Social Change: From Struggle to Strategy

The US-based group dotOrganize has released a new study that compiles insights from more than 400 social change groups, technology providers, and nonprofit technology capacity builders who are using new technologies for social change initiatives. Online Technology for Social Change: From Struggle to Strategy shows that groups are still struggling in their effort to make use of new and emerging technologies, and that, regardless of size and financial situation, organizations feel strapped for time, money, and know-how. The authors assert that, “As a sector, we need to develop new and innovative ways of approaching this ongoing issue. This may include strategizing about creative financial possibilities, multi-agency partnerships, and incentives that encourage providers to allocate resources toward this population.”

Summary of Key Findings

Enthusiasm and Wide-Ranging Interest
Social change organizers are extremely enthusiastic about the potential of online tools: 95% indicate that they believe technology is important or essential to achieving their mission.

Frustration with Current Capacity and Tools
59% of those surveyed report being frustrated or really struggling with their current technology. A surprising number of organizations lack the capacity to employ some of the most standard online organizing techniques — 39% do not use email newsletters and 47% do not accept donations online.

The Heart of the Problem: Data Disarray

Inadequate data management emerged as a major impediment to effective organizing. One of the areas hardest hit by this data disarray is contact management, or the tracking of people and relationships. More than half of survey respondents report using slips of paper, Excel spreadsheets, and personal address books to manage organizational contacts. Organizations across the budget spectrum experience similar difficulties. In the absence of infrastructure to manage information about constituents and communities, organizers cannot engage and serve them in the most productive ways.

Predictors (or Not….) of Technology Success

The number of dedicated technology staff in an organization, rather than size of budget, emerged as the most stable predictor of technology success.

Lack of Time, Money, and Expertise Prevents Adoption of New Tools
Regardless of organization size, organizers across the board report that money (57%), time (45%), and lack of staff expertise (34%) prevent their organizations from taking full advantage of databases and online tools.

Technology Struggles Stunt Impact
Organizations are struggling to master standard and emerging technology, as well as to manage data silos and ill-suited tools. These challenges result in lost time, missed civic engagement opportunities, lost money, and poorly-informed decisions. For example, 55% of survey respondents report not keeping email lists at all, and a majority have email lists with fewer than 1,000 supporters.

Other recommendations include the development of an online resource hub for the organizing sector, and an online searchable database of potential integrators. For more information or to download the full report, visit here.

Video of InfoShare’s One Text / Single Text platform

Ever since my entry into the fascinating world of Online Dispute Resolution, I’ve been interested in pushing the boundaries of using ICT for transformative mediation in peace processes. One of my papers on ODR, Creating virtual One Text processes in Sri Lanka, complements a video of InfoShare’s Groove Virtual Office based One Text mediation platform that I uploaded to the web today.

The video demonstrates one of the first versions of the One Text workspace that we designed and more than anything else, demonstrates the potential for the development of systems that can bring stakeholders together to vision and flesh out options for peace negotiations.

Strong Angel III – Final report

Strong Angel III was an international disaster response demonstration held in San Diego, California from 21-26 August 2006. During the demonstration week there were roughly 800 participants from more than 200 organizations working in an abandoned building on a set of Objectives within a simple Scenario. This report explains the design of the event, our shared perceptions of the results, and our view of the way ahead.

So begins the Final Report of the Strong Angel III exercise. The report makes for interesting reading, complementing on a more macro level the plethora of reports and content generated after the tsunami, Katrina, the Marapi explosion and the Kashmir earthquake on how we can design and develop better humanitarian relief architectures. Click on the icon below to download the report.