These interviews were carried out by David Wilcox by email in February 2002 as part of the research for the article on Civic and Community technology in the Journal of the Communication Network. There's a downloadable PDF of the article and further information here.
All the interviews here informed the article. Quotes were used from some of them.
Those approached for a virtual interview were asked to respond to some or all of the following questions - or otherwise offer observations on the use of Information and Communication Technologies in nonprofits, housing and other civic arenas.
Comments should not be taken to represent the organisations with which people are associated.
Director, Dialogue by Design Ltd. http://www.dialoguebydesign.com/. Interested in use of ICT for public consultation and participation.
The challenges
or opportunities ICTs.
Establishing
constant dialogue between civil society, government and business to anticipate
and mobilise whole communities to address sustainability issues.
Why do you
think these are currently particularly important?
Because
without dialogue, negotiation and agreement among all of us, these issues
will not be properly addressed: they cut across all sectors.
What projects
or research are you involved in to address these issues?
Dialogue
by Design's has been founded in order to address these issues. Our technology
enables us to facilitate dialogue about them on a very large scale.
Main lessons
The
technology is not a substitute for human contact, but it is a very useful
complement to it.
What would
most help those you are working with - and how might this be achieved?
If government
and business were more open to innovative ideas.
Barriers
Conservatism,
ignorance and apathy in government and business.
In your field,
do you think organisations are lagging or in advance of private and/or public
initiatives. Why do you think this is?
In
general, way, way ahead: because all real change ultimately depends on individuals
with innovative ideas, and individuals with really innovative ideas do not
generally choose to work for governments or big businesses.
Do you think
those in your field are likely to meet Government ambitions for getting services
online by 2005 - or be able to use services > effectively then?
Our
services are up and running. We can do whatever, in our line, we are
asked to. The question is whether government and business ask for it
Emma Aldridge, Project Manager - IT and older people, Age Concern http://www.ageconcern.org.uk
The challenge
The
challenge is providing content that is relevant to our clients - responding
to real and defined needs and interests. Without proper engagement with
clients, it is difficult to determine what these really are. The opportunity
is developing ways in which to involve clients more in the work that we do
Main barriers
In
my work to enable more older people to enjoy the benefits of IT, we understand
there to be four barriers to accessing ICTs for older people
Developing content of relevance to older people and generally for any organisation's key clients will provide an incentive for people to get interested in ICTs and get online - either through public points of access or through individual ownership of access devices
Age Concern
Projects
1. Internet 'taster' sessions - Developing a network of computer learning centres and "drop-in" facilities for older people in Age Concern outlets. Volunteers aged 50+ are recruited and provided with basic computer, email and internet training. These volunteers then provide hands-on demonstrations and support for people new to computers or the internet.
2. IT training materials - Publishing IT/internet training materials which are aimed specifically at people aged over 50, who have bought a home computer but are apprehensive about using it, or are considering buying one, or who are learning to use IT through an Age Concern centre or other public facility.
3. Age Concern's Internet chat site (http://www.bbb.org.UK) - Enabling the voices of older people to be heard in discussions with politicians, policy makers and professionals, and developing a community for mutual support and friendship
4. Community web sites - Developing web sites which provide information about community participation and services for older people and their carers.
5. Focus groups and research into IT/internet interests of older people; motivations to learn and information needs.
Richard Blows. Quest-net Co-ordinator, The Quest Trust, developing complementary web based resources for community communications. http://www.quest-net.org/
The challenges
The
cost both of kit (unless you know how to do it yourself) and getting good
technical people. The sector cannot compete with private sector salaries and
good people with the right mix of ethos, skills and ability to relate
effectively to service users are hard to find.
The need is not necessarily for more money but for long-term streams of funding to support development and skills building, and communicating the potential and the opportunities to people. We need to avoid disinterest being replaced by the technology being seen as universal panacea.
Opportunities
The
ability to widen ways in which services are delivered, develop different types
of service, use ICT to make areas such as tenant/resident engagement more
attractive to young people. This is a reflection of the wider issue that different
people need different media to achieve the same end Build up links
beyond the local area to overcome isolation
We have to be aware of the challenges in order to exploit the opportunities We need to be clear about what the achievable opportunities are in order to convince people that its worth getting involved, especially in areas such as housing and regeneration where historically solutions have been sold by raising people's expectations to unachievable levels
Projects
(Within
the context of providing communications and networking services to tenants
and residents involved in community renewal), development of a web-based resource
to provide an online archive of communications resources, additional means
of accessing current services and help put people in touch with other tenants
and residents working in similar things.
The main lessons
ICT
is not the grail for organisations any more than it is for communities. ICT
solutions need to be fully integrated into other service delivery and placed
in a proper context organisationally.
Don't depend on them alone to move everything forward. When explaining your ICT elements take care that the interest and buzz that they might create doesn't obscure that context. It takes time to develop and then to test.
What would
most help
Continuing,
stable and long-term investment in training and resources. You cannot
engage people with initiatives based on three-year funding streams - but these
are not mainstreamed because the money does exist elsewhere to do so.
See the continued shrinking of library services and budgets.
Stop divorcing funding regimes for capital investment from those for revenue. Why give a local authority £2.5m for capital investment in ICT for community buildings if the staff do not know how to use the kit or have the money to give people the high quality access they need? What is the context again?
Barriers
Lack
of interest, understanding of the opportunities. However, this needs to be
offset against the fact that ICT will be intrinsically uninteresting for many
people regardless of what is done - as books are, much I might like to change
that. We need to be clear about why it important to be ICT literate
In your field,
do you think organisations are lagging or in advance of private and/or public
initiatives.
Lagging
behind. Historically many parts of the public sector are not flexible
enough to respond. At a macro level the constraints applied by government
to funding, e.g. regeneration and the "public accountability" issues
limit the number of new things that can be tried and experimented with
- little permission to fail.
When things don't work, little dissemination of that (for understandable reasons), leading to the reinvention of square wheels. The private sector tends not to be restricted in the same way and therefore can (if it wants to) move forward faster. Inability to compete financially for good technical staff. Lack of clear understanding about/interest in the opportunities and how they should exploited.
Senior Lecturer/Researcher in the School of Information Management at the University of Brighton. Main lecture areas include information/network society and policy issuesat local, national & international levels. Specific research interests - community uses of ICTs for community development purposes (community informatics) both within the UK and globally. Director of Sussex Community Internet project. http://www.scip.org.uk
The main challenges
or opportunities in the non profit/civic
use of ICTs.
In
two inter-related areas. The first is engaging with people in their communities
to utilise ICTs as tools that underpin and support existing social networks,
and where necessary assist in the development of new ones, with a view to
empowering people in their communities, through the creation of local knowledge
bases. In this way information and communications may be viewed as participatory
tools that enable the communal storage, sharing and exploitation of local
knowledge for the purpose of citizen and community development alike.
The second is to inform and shape policy at all levels so that social inclusion, active participation and citizenship become social values and norms embedded in network society policy research, development and implementation. Both areas should be seen as presenting challenges and opportunities.
Role for universities.
Universities
can contribute to non profit/civic use of ICTs in a number of constructive
ways. In practical terms, universities have access to infrastructure and resources
that non-profits and civil society organisations/groups can only dream of.
Despite the introduction of market mechanisms in the running of Higher Education, universities are uniquely placed to enter into meaningful partnerships with local community groups, organisations etc. By providing access to this infrastructure and resources and enabling the non profit/civil society sector to acquire and develop the skills/expertise necessary to utilise ICTs for their own ends, universities can play a positive and significant contribution the social welfare of civil society. Such a relationship however provides the potential for mutuality in that universities are also in the unique position to study such activities and communicate their findings in the form of research.
Research is often used in the development of theories that explain social developments, problems, issues etc. The development of Community Informatics theories, for example, are no exception to this. In this context research conducted by universities is vital not only in informing policy but in helping civil society organisations contextualise and understand things they deal with on a day to day basis and how these fit into the broader social agenda/picture. There is therefore a tripartite relationship and inter-dependence between policy, practice and theory/research.
Paul Farrell, Office of the E-envoy, responsible for community and voluntary sector. http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/
Getting
the community and voluntary sector online
"From
my point of view, there is always pressure for the government sector to act
now. But to act you need accurate information, otherwise you will undoubtedly
duplicate efforts and waste resources.
Taking stock
"It
was clear, however, leading up to the Hall Aitken research commissioned by
a number of government departments last year that there was no recent, large
survey of the sector in England or the UK upon which to make judgements about
ICT priorities. The Hall Aitken research, released on 29 November 2001,
(http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/publications/reports/e-enabling/summary.htm)
has given us a good picture of the sector in England but there are other steps
that are prudent to take before we consider policy priorities.
I believe that we, in partnership with the sector, need to take stock of matters. As a first step it makes sense to take stock of relevant best practice in the sector (and in the commercial sector) and gather that together in a way which serves the needs of the sector (which we're starting to do). We'll then want to consider that best practice against the needs identified in recent research and assess the feasibility of a framework for replicating best practice across the country and whether there might be gaps in provision and how that might be overcome.
Once we take these sensible first steps and evaluate the information to hand, we'll be in a much stronger position to consider future priorities. Some initiatives already announced will greatly assist this process.
New portal
The
voluntary and community sector portal being developed by the Active Community
Unit in the Home Office will become a vital resource for tracking down information
on government sources of funding and accessing relevant application forms
and criteria. Over time the intention is to broaden the scope of the
portal so it might eventually become a one-stop shop for other information
relevant to the sector's interaction with the Government.
Awards
The
new award for the voluntary and community sector (http://www.ecommerce-awards.co.uk/index.php)
will recognise and promote best practice in the sector, and at the same time
give cash prizes to the winners. Many people said they wanted the government
to establish awards of this kind and we've delivered. Andrew Pinder,
the e-Envoy, announced the new award on 30 January 2002. The award will
recognise those in the sector using websites/ the Internet in innovative ways
to deliver services to their clients. Voluntary and community organisations
can win up to £40,000 but more importantly their efforts (both the winners
and highly recommended entrants) will be advertised in local, regional and/or
national newspapers. Entries close mid May, so enter soon.
Task Force
welcomed
We
want to work in partnership with the sector in taking this agenda forward.
To that end, the e-Envoy warmly welcomed a recent initiative of the sector
in establishing a Voluntary and Community Sector Internet Task Force, established
by Joe Saxton and Caroline Pile. The task force will be a key intermediary
for our liaison with the sector and we look forward to task force members
helping us determine priorities for assisting the sector.
Your views
please
2002
will be a year for further consolidation and action. We look forward
to hearing from anyone in the sector with views on ICT priorities for the
sector and examples of best practice, particularly in the areas of training
and support."
Executive director, Citizens Online. http://www.citizensonline.org.uk/
Citizens Online undertook some research into Corporate Social Responsibility in the IT sector last year and found that:
The IT industry is a relatively immature sector and as yet has failed to recognise that it is no longer just a purveyor of boxes and techy solutions – it has helped to create a new digital society that has changed the way we do business, communicate and play – but has so far been reticent to address the cultural inequalities that have resulted.
There is much evidence to support the emergence of a digital divide through inequity of access and skills but the industry as yet has done little to address it.
There is also a marked lack of understanding of the third sector – that of the voluntary and community organisations that comprise the not for profits. Business needs to understand the potential of this growing sector and to create products, services and partnerships tailored to their quite specific needs.
ICT competency and utilisation is seriously underdeveloped in this sector and yet it offers both a substantial market opportunity and the potential to address some of the inequity issues
We still find companies investing in sponsorship and patronage of activities that have no connection with their core business and for which there is no obvious business case for Cause Related Marketing or Corporate Social Responsibility.
The third sector has a major role to play in today’s changing society but it needs the support and participation of the business community in new and innovative partnerships
At the time of writing, Executive Development Producer - Communities Granada Interactive and Part-Time PhD Student at the Hypermedia Research Centre, University of Westminster. Robin is now Community Producer, English Regions at BBCi.
The main challenges
or opportunities in the non profit/civic use of ICTs.
The
internet is probably the most commercialised place on Earth! The US government,
which originally owned or administrated important parts of the Internet, has
given control of the highbandwidth backbone and top level domain name servers
to private companies.
This has created a situation where it's actually impossible to go online without treading on corporate space. Obviously, this situation is dangerously open to abuse. But, it also represents an opportunity for non-profit and civic use of the Internet - we need public space online and it's non-profit groups that are most likely to provide this space for people to gather, meet, build communities, and exchange information.
There is also a need for a non-profit or government created search engine - gatekeepers such as Yahoo and MSN hold too much power because they control which sites users will find and, ultimately, which ones they visit: it's like allowing these companies to ban books from the national library!
Why do you
think these are currently particularly important?
I
built my first website in 1995, a time when anyone who could write html could
build a website just as pretty as the site of a major news organisation or
multi-national corporation. Unfortunately, things have changed.
As technologies have moved on, it's become more difficult for the ordinary user to be heard or seen online. If I built my homepage today, I probably wouldn't get it listed on any of the major search engines. I'd have to host it on a commercial web server. I'd probably have to use software from a small handful of companies to make the page look as nice as other pages. More and more, using the internet is becoming a very controlled activity. I'm not suggesting that it's a Big Brother type situation, but I do think that the way things have turned out severely limits our choices and the ways we're able to express ourselves online. It's only going to get worse from here...
I guess this is why I like "online communities" so much. At least on message boards and in chat rooms, people who are new to the internet or aren't technically inclined CAN voice their opinions and get involved. I just wish there were more public spaces online where people could do this.
The main lessons
When
I was working on my MPhil study of AOL users, I found that most people don't
use the internet in the ways that I would expect. An experienced user, I use
the Internet to meet new people and build new communities of interest. Most
users, however, use the internet primarily to email mom and dad, and to conduct
research for academic, work, or purchase related reasons. Very very few people
are interested in joining an online chat or message board debate - they've
got enough friends, thank you.
Barriers
People
don't understand that they can use the internet to meet new people and to
express themselves to a wider audience. They think, and are often told, that
the internet is just a great place to buy products and services at a lower
price than offline.
In your field,
do you think organisations are lagging or in advance of private and/or public
initiatives. Why do you think this is?
I
think commercial organisations are significantly ahead, probably because they
can pay the salaries and option schemes to attract top talent and have access
to the best technologies.
More from Robin
Research by Barry Wellman (http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/main.html ) and others has suggested that online communication supplements existing means of communication. Many people, primarily those who don't use the internet, still believe that internet users are lonely, spotted faced teenagers sitting in a darkened rooms, hiding behind a computer screen. However, most internet users find that email is an efficient way to organise face to face gatherings with friends and colleagues. For many, online communication will actually increase the strength and frequency of their experiences within their own social circle.
online communities I'm part of....
I'm a member of a number of online communities, two of which are very interesting as they show how online and offline can supplement each other in useful ways.
E-Mint (http://www.emint.org.uk) is a group of people working in, or researching, the online community industry. We have an email list which typically carries about 5 messages per day, sometimes more when a particular topic catches the interest of members. Members have used the list to get advice on topics such as selecting chat technology, dealing with problem users, the implications of UK internet law and many other topics. We also meet face-to-face each month for a topical discussion followed by drinks and socialising. A real, measurable benefit of all this is that members have used the email list to advertise employment openings and, in many cases, these have been filled by members of the group.
The other community I am a part of and find extremely interesting is an email list set up by a member of my local community. I live in Hulme, an area of Manchester that has been altered beyond recognition by redevelopment in the past few years. Whereas the area was predominantly afro-carribean and had high rates of crime and unemployment, large pockets of Hulme are now predominantly white with a large percentage of residents being working gay males.
There is lots of new property being built and, with each phase of construction comes a large influx of residents new to the area. One resident, having realised that people new to the community needed a way to share information, set up an email list using free tools from Yahoo Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/). To publicise the list, he put flyers through the doors of each property in Hulme. There are now over a hundred members including the local city councellor, business leaders, employees of the local development corporation, and many residents.
I discovered this email list on my first day living in my new home in Hulme. I needed a taxi to take me to the train station at 5am the next morning but the taxi firms I used at my old home didn't accept work in my area. I joined the email list at midnight and sent a message asking for the numbers of local taxi firms. Within an hour, I had five numbers and at 5am my taxi arrived without any problems. Others have had similar success getting their street lamps repaired, warning others of a gang of youths who were mugging local citizens, advertising the reopening of the local market, etc. In addition to the email list, there is also a weekly chat for members and the group has also had a few face-to-face gatherings in a local pub. When I bump into my neighbours on the street in front of my house, discussion frequently begins with "did you see that notice on the mailing list about..."!!
The Improvement & Development Agency. http://www.idea.gov.uk
The main challenges or opportunities in the non profit/civic use of ICTs.
Opportunities:
Challenges
Resource,
In the non profit sector, efficient use of current ICT technology will primarily
depend upon two key attributes:
a Skills (for the procurement, setup, maintenance and use of ICT systems)
b Finance. To explore and exploit partnership opportunities between 'companies with a conscience' and community/civic / not for profit groups
Why do you
think these are currently particularly important?
There
is a social and community leadership role to play for many non profit and
civic groups in terms of helping citizens come to terms with, and benefit
from, the information and technology revolution - because it isn't going away!.
Perhaps this role needs more exploration, although it can often falter if
the benefits of involvement are not clear or not accessible to citizens (or
both) so 'buy in' is very limited. Even if this issue is being effectively
addressed, groups are left with systems (because the capital was available
to procure) but no skilled staff or practitioners (no ongoing revenue mechanism)
Main main
lessons
The
structure of projects in terms of startup business plans - to indicate clearly
how the skills base to operate effective non profit / civic ICT will be resourced
in the project. If resource is only available in the startup years,
how will it be maintained and grow? These issues must be addressed prior to
any project acceptance or rollout
Barriers
One
barrier is a lack of 'joined up access' to the resources, advice, information
and skills that are needed.
Horace Mitchell is a board member of Communities Online http://www.communities.org.uk ; adviser to Community Action Hampshire, and Parliamentary Research Assistant to Sir George Young Bt MP, in addition to his work as a consultant advising commercial companies and the voluntary sector on new uses of ICTs. In his parliamentary work he focuses on the effective use of ICTs by and for Members of Parliament, and in parliamentary constituencies. In his local and commercial work he focuses on helping organisations to achieve productive and cost-effective online presence and activities.
The challenges.
The
use of ICTs in and for local communities and voluntary organisations has an
important role in determining the pace and nature of ICT take up by individuals,
families and local organisations.
Currently around 45% of households have Internet access; this may seem high but the growth rate in take up by consumers has slowed over the past year. Moving the take up rate from zero to 50% has been relatively quick and easy - most of these homes were already PC users. Moving from 50% through 60%, 70%, 80% and beyond will be slower and will be different in character.
People who are still not PC or Internet users will respond to what they hear from friends and neighbours, from people in local pubs and clubs, from their day-to-day contacts, rather than to the technology-based sales pitch of the PC and Internet suppliers, or exhortations from Government.
For the keen gardener the fact that their gardening club and its members are or aren't "on the web" and actively using the net will influence them more than the fact that Tesco or the Home Office or the county council are online.
Local community engagement will also affect patterns of use. A high proportion of those who have Internet are only occasional users; the extent to which they build the Internet into their life style depends on the extent to which the information and services available reflect that lifestyle. Again, for most people "local connections" are as important as - or more important than - generalised national or international information and services.
The benefits
The
real benefits of Internet for business, government and society will start
to flow only when most people have "got connected" and have high
quality access. With only half the population connected, and less than half
of them "actively connected", anyone wanting to offer an effective
online service has to also maintain all their existing offline ways of reaching
people.
This severely restricts the cost-effectiveness of Internet-based services and makes it difficult to justify investment in providing top quality online services, as local government authorities will find as they discover the cost and difficulty of implementing the "e-government" strategies they were all asked to produce last year.
The low proportion of "active users" also restricts investment in next generation infrastructure. BT complains that although broadband Internet (via ADSL) is available to 60% of the population, take up is very low, but of course only the most active Internet users will pay a premium to switch to broadband.
Local community and voluntary uses of the technology are part of the mix that will drive up levels of use and intensity of use. Again there is a kind of "multiple Catch 22". More people will be attracted to the Internet when the many benefits of broadband are more widely available and affordable; potential providers of broadband content and services won't invest in provision unless they think there will be a mass market of users; there can't be a mass market of users unless broadband is available everywhere; it won't be available everywhere - or affordable - unless infrastructure providers see some assurance of demand. Local community use is a key element in creating this demand.
What
projects or research are you involved in?
At national level
I've been assisting Sir George Young, MP for North West Hampshire, to develop
and present the issues associated with broadband provision, especially in
rural areas. You can see his recent speeches and correspondence on this at
his website, http://www.sirgeorgeyoung.org.uk.
Locally I'm engaged with local authorities at borough/district and county levels, encouraging them to engage with local communities at every level, both stimulate take up with today's main access technologies and to provide "market pull" to bring broadband access to rural as well as urban areas. Through Community Action Hampshire I've been helping voluntary and community organisations of all shapes and sizes to make more sense of the Internet and - in particular - to deliver and obtain better value from their use of the web. Through COnet (the online discussion and information network of Communities Online) I try to help voluntary and community organisations more widely, whenever I can.
The main lessons
Perhaps
the most important experience has been discovering how many organisations
(commercial and governmental as well as voluntary and community) have wasted
a lot of time, effort and money on websites that don't work for them, don't
work for their target audiences and deliver more frustration than value.
When this happens it puts "the cause" back a long way for everyone concerned. People talk more about their bad experiences than they do about the good. There are some relatively simple do's and don'ts about the web that appear to be unknown to most website service providers, so that many of them lead their customers down the garden path rather than into a successful online presence. I've tried to distil some of this experience into a workshop we've run experimentally in Hampshire for leaders of voluntary and community organisations. Perhaps website services providers need a similar workshop!
A second lesson has been not to expect instant results from community and voluntary online activities. It takes time to build momentum; online initiatives need to plan on a two or three year time frame rather than trying to get quick returns. This is of course also true of commercial and public service investment too - as witness the sudden collapse of the dot com world when investors discovered that too much money was being spent too quickly.
That leads me to a third lesson - an online presence shouldn't be seen as a "big budget" item. The main requirements for a successful online presence are know-how and effort, not money. This came home to me recently when sitting round the table talking about an online project and discovering that one of my colleagues had in mind £10,000 as being about the lowest we could get away with, when the figure I had in mind was £2,000-£3,000. Secretly, I was thinking maybe we could get someone to do it for £800! My own village website (http://www.highclerevillage.com) cost around £500 to build and has an annual budget of around £300 which we try to recoup through modest advertising sales. It's actively used and gets many compliments.
What would
most help those you are working with
I
think its time to get some of the basics right. Forward to basics if you will!
First, I'd like to see a simple, hands-on workshop on "Websites that work for you" added to the plethora of basic computer and Internet training that is going on all round the country. Commissioning and running a successful website (as opposed to a merely pretty one) should be seen as an everyday management skill for managers in industry, government, the voluntary and community sectors. And its not something that requires specialist computer or Internet know how; mainly its common sense, but better to be shown at the outset rather than learn through wasting a lot of effort and time getting it wrong.
Second, I'd like to see efforts to professionalise the supply of web and Internet services, in terms of giving customers sound advice and good value for money. We all know about the cases during the dot com boom when companies spent a million pounds building a website that never really delivered anything useful; we ought by now to be capable of developing the kind of good practice guidelines that will help people to get good results whether their budget is a million or a few hundred pounds. And to know the difference in what you can get for a few hundred and what really does need big bucks spending. Perhaps we can persuade one of the major suppliers to sponsor some kind of competition to produce the best "simple guidelines" for effective websites at various levels of investment?
As another aspect of value for money I'd like to see a national effort to track and report what I call "real Internet performance" - in other words the net performance an individual really gets when connecting from their home PC to a particular website. This would be a much better investment than some of things Government is now measuring.
The barriers
Too
many people have a bad experience rather than a good experience when they
first try the Internet. This applies to both the ordinary user and the organisation
running a website and developing Internet based interactions with its members
and target audiences. We need to concentrate more effort and energy on helping
people and organisations to become successful and satisfied users. The rest
will follow. However, low cost broadband, universally available, would also
be a great help!
Lagging
or in advance?
On
the whole voluntary and community organisations are lagging. I see three main
reasons for this. First, many such organisations are run by people who feel
they are already to busy or too hard-pressed to tackle the new. Second, its
very difficult indeed for the leaders of voluntary and community organisations
to get good advice about the web and the Internet, in language they can understand;
in particular, how does a manager with little personal experience of these
matters tell the difference between good advice and bad advice? Many suppliers
of web services don't themselves fully understand the difference between a
good website and a bad one.
The industry is full of companies that are either graphic design led, with inadequate understanding of the technology and it use, or technology led, with inadequate understanding of what really makes sense to the non-technical manager who needs to build website management into the way his or her organisation works. Third, its difficult for most community or voluntary organisations to make the case for diverting scarce time and resources to something that might attract the attention and meet the needs of perhaps only a minority of its members or target audiences. Commercial and public services organisations face similar barriers of course, but in both cases there is a stronger imperative to get things going. The commercial organisation fears that competitors will steal a march and feel they must get onto the learning curve. Public services are being pushed into online activities (quite rightly) as a matter of Government policy.
Will organisations
meet Government targets?
Its
more to the point to ask whether Government targets generally will be met.
I'm glad the government has set such ambitious targets, but - as in so many
fields - I fear we are seeing a lot of money and effort wasted trying to achieve
the wrong things in the wrong ways. For example, looking at detailed e-government
plans and strategies I see little effort at either national or local levels
to understand their target audiences, either statistically (what proportion
of potential users of X service will be effectively connected by Y time?)
or qualitatively (what are the kinds of facilities and incentives that will
get which audiences to go for our online service?).
The methods used by the public sector for market research are primitive, and have a strong built-in tendency to deliver the results the client wants rather than a valid picture. There is also a tendency for online projects to get "left to the experts and enthusiasts". I meet many chief executives and their equivalents in the public sector whose main experience of their own website was when it was presented to them at or before launch. Presented by experts of course. Given that said chief executive is in many cases not an enthusiastic and experienced Internet user, it would be a salutary experience for him or her to force themselves to use their own and other public websites every day and make sure they know how it feels for Joe Public!
Its also important for owners and builders of public services to see the service from the real viewpoint of the audience. If you are in an office with fast connection to your own services you have a very different experience from that of a user out there on an analogue line, coming at the service across a typical low performing cheap Internet connection. Last year I pointed out to the chief executive of one public authority that his website was almost completely inaccessible for most of his target audience. It came as a great surprise.
Miranda Mowbray, Technical Contributor, Hewlett Packard Laboratories Bristol. Interest: Online Communities
I research social and practical issues in running online communities, for HP. I'm also involved in e-mint, (http://www.e-mint.org.uk), a group of online community professionals who share expertise online, and also have offline meetings.
The main lessons
If
you want to reduce the digital divide, it's useless to provide hardware, software
and relevant online information without adequate training and support. I've
seen a case where the provision of access without adequate training actually
exacerbated existing social inequalities. Some training and support - including
mutual support - can be done online.
The Internet is not a library. Although it's a good idea to put useful civic information online, it's a pity not to take advantage of the possibilities for two-way (and multi-way) communication. Similarly, although it's good to put educational material on the Internet, e-learning works best when there is also an opportunity to contact other human beings for discussion and teaching.
To increase voter turnout, allow postal voting. It does increase turnout, it's accessible, and we know how to make it reasonably secure and private. E-voting is riskier. As for e-plebiscites, I agree with the E-Envoy, Andrew Pinner, that they lead to "hastily-formed and ill-informed judgements". Giving citizens the ability to make instant votes, and the ability to email their representatives rather than just writing a letter, won't do much for democracy. To enhance democracy, you need to enhance the quality of democratic debate - and the Internet can help with this.
Online is not a substitute for offline. For best results in the civic use of the Internet, have offline meetings as well, and work with offline organizations.
When designing your Web site, think about making it accessible to people with disabilities. This will force you to adopt good design practices, to the benefit of all your users.
Informal online groups can be a very useful tool for pooling expertise and experience.
Leading or
lagging
A
new idea on the social use of the Internet will typically originate in an
organisation or social group, and be adopted later by the private sector,
and still later by a public initiative. On the other hand, many organisations
aren't on the Internet at all.
Q. Why do you think this is?
Perhaps organisations are more likely to just build something to address their own needs and see whether it works. Perhaps organizations are more used to peer relationships.
Are
organisations likely to meet Government targets?
According
to Derek Wyatt MP, 80% of all Social Security payments go to 20% of the population,
and 80% of these 20% do not have a high enough level of literacy to fill out
Social Security forms. So the policy of putting all the Social Security documents
online is not going to help them much by itself. There has to be an interaction
with other methods. He suggests Call Centres where a call centre agent will
fill out the forms for you..
Simon Pavitt IT Development Worker National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service "helping CVS to use IT better" http://www.nacvs.org.uk/
The challenges
Staff
resources and technical support. Specifically, apart from a few
notable exceptions, CVS are not geared up to be able to provide IT advice/support
to local community organisations.
It is easy to get hold of computers but hard to work out how to use them to develop services. This lesson may have been learnt in other sectors (commercial, education, etc) but not generally
NACVS
projects
We
provide simple template websites to NACVS Members that requires no HTML/FTP
skills so that they can concentrate on managing the website -
what goes on, what doesn't, when, who, etc
We also offer generic internet address for all Members [giving each a subdomain of cvs.org.uk] to make communication with/between CVS easier.
We hope to work with Members on a common contact management database (bit of a holy grail?) and networking computers so the organisation can make better use of IT.
The main lessons
Most
organisations don't currently have time to look at better use of IT - they
can't stop doing what they're doing for long enough to find a different way
of doing it.
It's people's heads that need changing - not their hardware or software
What would
most help
A
source of reliable, independent advice, technical support and training on
developing the use of IT that relates to needs of voluntary sector -
perhaps "UKOnlineforVoluntarySector" ?.
This would presumably need Government funding.
Barriers
Too
much emphasis on hardware. Too much emphasis on skills of individuals
(person v. machine stuff).
Are non profit
organisations are lagging or in advance of other sector
Both
(but mostly the former). There is some excellent/innovative work - often
with few resources - but also many horror stories. However, the
voluntary sector is not the only one that struggles with IT - so do
Government, companies, etc
Voluntary organisations tend to be smaller so somebody with necessary skills - perhaps developed outside the sector and brought in with them - can have bigger impact. But conversely, they are less likely to have somebody with IT skills employed in the first place.
IT is seldom seen as something which needs strategic development. Organisations often rely on giving IT to however has most (least little?) general aptitude rather than looking for somebody that specifically knows about IT.
Will organisations
meet Government target and use services online?
Some
hope [it's the 64p question].
It's a big challenge to the sector that few seem to be worrying about. The Government is putting its services online - health, education, etc -, pushing local authorities to do it, and helping companies do it through UKOnline for business.
When there's "universal internet access" people will find the statutory and commercial services but will they be able to find the voluntary sector? If not they'll go elsewhere.
People won't be wandering up and down the high street looking for the voluntary sector anymore.
The Centre for Housing Policy, University of York. http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/
Where do you
see the main challenges or opportunities in the non profit/civic use of ICTs.
The
challenges are around ensuring accessibility and preserving choice. Every
effort needs to be made to ensure that electronic service delivery is accessible
to people who would find it difficult to use a website via a PC. For
those who cannot, or do not wish to, use electronic service delivery, an ongoing
effort to provide alternative routes to services that provide support and
assistance, rather than expecting individuals to 'self-serve' using interactive
services, is required. Without this, there will be a risk that electronic
service delivery increases marginalisation and exclusion for some elements
within the population.
The opportunities are around increased accessibility and reducing administrative costs, through the use of self service delivery by those service users who are able and willing to employ it particularly if savings are reinvested in service development. Again, it must be stressed that allowance has to be made for those who cannot, or do not wish to, use 'self-service' electronic service delivery.
Why do you
think these are currently particularly important?
Accessibility
is poor in the UK, both in terms of being divided along economic lines and
being low standard and high cost. Electronic service delivery requires
widespread high bandwidth access at a low cost, which is not currently available.
Computers and websites are often ill adapted for people who cannot read well,
disabled people and people who are blind or partially sighted or whose first
language is not English. Current technology is difficult to use and
expensive.
Choice will be important in the medium term, when electronic service delivery becomes widespread and the costs of access start to fall. Even when this occurs, some are likely to be excluded from access or unable to use electronic service delivery and it is essential that their access to services through alternative routes is maintained to prevent further exclusion.
What projects
or research are you involved in to address these issues?
Recently
completed JRF funded research on the early implementation of electronic service
delivery by social landlords, social services and charities.
What would
most help those you are working with - and how might this be achieved?
Balancing
better access, better quality and easier to use technologies with a concern
to ensure access for those who cannot, or do not wish to, employ electronic
service delivery.
What are the
biggest barriers?
Cost,
to organisations and services users. Poor quality access. Poor capacity
of existing technology to be made more accessible to disabled people and other
groups.
In your field,
do you think organisations are lagging or in advance of private and/or public
initiatives. Why do you think this is?
Adaptation
of public services is costly and complex. It is much more difficult
to automate social housing management than sell books over the Internet.
Do you think
those in your field are likely to meet Government ambitions for getting
services online by 2005 - or be able to use services effectively then?
Unlikely.
Electronic service delivery is not a panacea and will need to be used selectively
and carefully if it is to provide savings and improved access. Universal
implementation of 'self-service welfare' is impractical at present.
Most local authorities are in the process of developing electronic service delivery, also the larger registered social landlords.
voluntary and community sector internet task force and head of not for profit at the Future Foundation. http://www.futurefoundation.net/
Where do you
see the main challenges or opportunities in the nonprofit/civic use of ICTs.
I
think the main challenges are
Firing up the imagination of the leaders of the VCS sector as a whole to the potential of ICT. Too many Chief Executives and Trustees see the Internet as something for commerce and not for them. All too often I come across individuals at a lower level within even very small organisations who say they can't get their CEOs fired up, let alone their trustees. The irony is that ICT can help not for profits become more effective organisation: by delivering more services, reducing costs, reaching new audiences, improving communications and so on.
The second big challenge is to get the existing beacons of light in the VCS propagated more widely. Their are some excellent examples of the way that ICT is being used, but it is too hard for neophytes in ICT to learn from them and become inspired by them. We hope the Task Force can secure funding to help build some resources so that it becomes easier for organisations (large or small) to find out what is out there and how they can build their resources on a shoestring. Much of what is needed is to pull together existing resources under a single ICT roof, so that they can then be found out about more easily.
A third area that needs seed funding is to nurture the myriad of exciting initiatives to help voluntary and community organisations. For example, there are now ICT services that can help organisations: fundraise online, build communities, run e-raffles, advertise jobs, find volunteers, cut costs, build websites, create networks, share information and best practice. But too many of them are struggling to make a living - yet they have a critical role in building not for profit use of the internet. But does the Active Community Unit at the Home Office have a strategy for building the Voluntary and Community Unit's use of the Internet - not that I can find.
What projects
or research are you involved in to address these issues?
A
good example of a project that I'm working on is a website to help organisations
find trustees and individual become trustees.There are over 1 million trustee
vacancies and organisations usually find it hard to find the right people.The
web provides a perfect way of matching people with the right skills with the
organisations that need them - all for free
Chair of the Southcote IT Experience, Reading, Berkshire http://www.southcotesite.co.uk
"Hi, I'm Chris Swaine and I am currently Chair of the Southcote IT Experience, a voluntary UK online centre based in Reading, Berkshire."
Challenges
"I
think one of the biggest challenges facing us is the recognition by the more
traditional educational establishments, business communities and funding bodies
of our value and ability to attract new learners, who wouldn't traditionally go
back into a learning environment, whilst maintaining our ability to be creative,
innovative and flexible. "
Priorities
- making it happen
"We
continually hear of initiatives to try attract the more traditionally hard
to reach groups, such as those on low income, unemployed, part time workers
or even retired folk into some form of learning. We also hear of the business
community saying that learners have not necessarily got the skills that they
want. Therefore, it would seem logical that joining with us could firstly
get at those hard to reach client groups, but more importantly train them
with the skills that businesses need.
"Because we don't have the levels of bureaucracy we can, in the words of the Director General of the BBC, Greg Dyke "Cut the crap and make it happen"."
Projects
"We
have a number of ongoing initiatives running at the moment.
Firstly we actually visited and talked with a local recruitment agency and asked them what skills they were looking for, in order to place clients into the workplace. Based on their response, we have now modified our Word Processing offer to reflect those wishes. We will now start working on our other workshops.
Secondly, we have asked the recruitment agency to come and talk with 19 of our learners currently taking qualification courses. The idea being to give our users the confidence to possibly sign up and get a better job - good for SITE - good for our users - good for business!
Thirdly, the grey pound is often talked about. More and more businesses are using e-commerce. But how many businesses have actually thought 'who is going to train all of these pensioners on how to use the Internet and, therefore, shop online'. You guessed it - that's where we come in - another example of how we can not only get people back into learning, but also potentially spend their bucks online!"
The main lessons
"Be
innovative and try out all sorts of ideas. Some will fail, some will go down
well.
"We're not formal colleges or schools and, therefore, can celebrate innovation. Be flexible. As we strive boldly into the 21st century, we need to recognise that lifestyles have changed. This is 24 hour economy - let's modify our training to meet those needs. Understand that this is life-changing stuff for some people. Recognise your value and that of your staff or volunteers. You are opening up brave new worlds to many clients."
What would
most help?
"I
call it the Heineken beer scenario whereby a funder or business finds us and
says 'Hey we think you are doing a great job - how can we help you', rather
that us having to scrabble around in the mud tugging our forelocks - guv.
The barriers
"Only
24 hours in a day! We can't open 12 hours a day - 7 days a week because we
are all volunteers and, although I find it frustrating, volunteers have things
like - families to see, full time jobs to attend etc."
Pages prepared by David Wilcox david@partnerships.org.uk . May 2002