ChangeWaves - Observations on the Future from Social Technologies

Entries in Nonprofits (2)

Talk: What NGOs Need to Know about the Future of New Media

Rapid, bottom-up innovation in media tools and communication cultures are changing the way NGOs must reach out to, inform, and engage advocates, donors, and volunteers, Social Technologies futurist Scott Smith told the audience at UNICEF’s New Media Summit in New York City recently.

“If non-governmental organizations such as UNICEF want to communicate effectively in the digital media era, they need to understand and utilize new media tools,” said Smith, the event’s keynote speaker. “Because of the disruptive nature of these tools, we are seeing the emergence of ‘massively parallel emotion.’ This phenomenon has arisen from the convergence of global connectivity, instant and mobile text messaging, and transparency. The result is that people worldwide can experience major political, social, or cultural events in near-real time—-and almost simultaneously share the emotions they experience.”

Smith pointed to the lightning-fast spread of personal accounts of the Asian tsunami in December 2004 and a more recent earthquake in Mexico. Immediately after each event, people began using text and instant messaging to report the events in detail before the media could.

But NGOs can take advantage of these emerging digital-media flows and the sudden surges of regional or even global awareness they can create. In turn, this heightened awareness can lead to a rise in public attention, interest, and action on behalf of causes. “By using foresight, which is a structured approach to understanding trends, and carefully framing strategic issues and exploring potential implications, UNICEF can provide a strong foundation for containing risks and creating positive outcomes,” he concluded.

Smith suggested UNICEF stay on top of the following media trends:

1. Wiring (and unwiring) the world—-Rapid growth in networked communications, such as the Internet and mobile wireless networks, has given individuals a way of reaching out to each other directly, particularly in the developing world.

2. Shift in technology power—-The rising use of information technology in developing countries such as India and China means these nations will increasingly dictate the design and application of new media technologies around the world.

3. Tech-driven transparency-—Individuals and groups now have far better ability to obtain, understand, and even visualize important information about the world around them. This transparency enables more powerful insight and action.

4. Social communication-—Peer-to-peer networks have reduced the role of hierarchies and intermediaries between individuals and groups. New communities with common interests can now easily and rapidly form across borders.

5. Media fragmentation—-The traditional single-screen household has morphed into one with three or four TVs, PCs, mobile phones, and other new devices.

6. World 0-—People living in all parts of the world come together in digital social environments. These provide new “safe” zones for interaction, communication, and education.

7. Participatory culture—-New media have created new ways to share ideas collaboratively. The exploding use of blogs, one of the foundations of digital collaboration culture, provides an insight into the rate at which individuals are collectively building information networks of their own.

8. Serious play-—Videogames are not just for fun anymore. Relief groups, opposition parties, educators, and governments are using a new genre called “serious games” to spread knowledge and enable activists and stakeholders to test new ways of approaching global and local problems—-and finding solutions.

Posted on Tuesday, May 8, 2007 by

Hope Katz Gibbs in Technology, Media, Nonprofits

Request for Proposals: Scenario Planning for Nonprofits

At Social Technologies we want to increase the proportion of our work done in the nonprofit sector. We also want to give something back to our community. So we’re offering to complete a scenario planning project for a selected nonprofit organization on a pro bono basis. Interested US-based nonprofits should submit a brief proposal by August 14, 2006. The project will be executed in the fall and winter of 2006. Details on the project offering, selection process, and contents of the proposal are available in this Request for Proposals.

Why scenarios? People often speak of the future, what will happen in the next 5, 10, or more years. In fact, the future may play out in more than one possible way. Scenarios are images of those possible futures. Scenarios help people and organizations understand at a gut level how existing and emerging forces could cause the future to unfold in multiple directions – for which they can then prepare. Scenarios can enable nonprofit leaders to identify priorities for their organizations, think creatively about new opportunities, and make effective strategic decisions.

We’ve used scenarios with nonprofit and other clients to identify strategic issues, raise awareness of emerging developments, and explore possible futures. A bonus is that scenarios often provoke rich conversations about values and priorities. We hope that this pro bono scenario effort will make an impact on our client, build on our nonprofit experience, and lead to more engagements with the nonprofit community.

Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 by

Bill Croasmun in Nonprofits