[esocialaction] ICT, Social Capital and Voluntary Action report

[Simon Pavitt | Headware]

Hi comrades

I've not seen this mentioned here by anyone so I'm passing on the 
information that the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) have 
published a report on ICT and the voluntary sector, which was produced 
in conjunction with National Council for Voluntary Organisations. It was 
apparently also the topic of a seminar held at NCVO in London on October 5.

It warns that "Ignoring the Internet is no longer an option for 
voluntary and community organisations - failing to embrace information 
and communications technology (ICT) risks having their work overshadowed 
by those who do draw on this new source of 'social capital' - the 
reserve of goodwill generated when people interact. And though local ICT 
initiatives are taking place, the booklet says that the smaller online 
communities they create need ongoing technical and funding support if 
they are to survive."

"It summarises views from two experts in the field - Jayne Cravens 
(Coyote Communications), a leading researcher regarding 'online 
volunteerism', and Dr Ben Anderson, of the Institute for Socio-Technical 
Innovation and Research, at the University of Essex" and has 
recommendations for policy makers.

There's more information at:
[www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/PO/releases/2006/october/internet.aspx] 


The booklet 'ICT, Social Capital and Voluntary Action' (PDF, 1.6Mb) is 
available at:
[www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/ESRC_ICT_06_tcm6-16623.pdf] 


-- 

If you've not seen it already, in comparison there's also the recent 
DotOrg report 'Online Technology for Social Change: from struggle to 
strategy' which compiles insights from more than 400 US social change 
groups, technology providers, and nonprofit technology capacity 
builders, which has a number of conclusions and recommendations for 
those working in the non-profit sector.

It's available at:
[www.dotorganize.net/report]

Thanks

Simon

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