ICT Hub January 2007 Newsletter
view printable versionThe content of this newsletter was last edited on 8th August 2008
Happy New Year and we hope 2007 is a prosperous and fruitful year for you and your organisation.
This month’s issue is a little later than usual owing to the Christmas and New Year break but never fear, it’s jam packed with news, ideas and provocative suggestions for doing things better and doing better things with ICT.
So how’s that ICT strategy coming along? You didn’t think we were going to let you get away
without a reminder did you? For those of you who haven’t been reading the last few issues, you can
find the articles on Planning an ICT Strategy here .
A cornucopia of features this month starting with Where Do I Go For Help? Got a problem and
are feeling a bit stuck? Well, we’ve got the answer. Everything you ever wanted to know but were
afraid to ask. Well don’t be and if the article doesn’t answer your question, get in touch and we
will.
And last but not least, please, please, please… read ICT Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions.
Short and punchy ideas to bring your ICT to life this year. It is big, it is clever and it does
make a difference. Whether you love ICT or hate it, this is a good starting point for thinking
about the next 12 months.
Contents
Features
Where do I go for help? –
Aargh, my computer doesn’t work and I need to email this fundraising application in ten minutes, so
what would you do?
ICT Top Ten New Year
Resolutions – Forget healthy eating and personal fitness. Here are ten tips to make
your ICT healthier and fitter in 2007.
New year, new date? What could
you do with free help from a media volunteer.
Not so much a regional update but a focus on one model of social enterprise which is working well in South Yorkshire. ESP Projects are an IT services organisation supporting the voluntary sector and providing much needed help to groups in Sheffield and the surrounding area. Morgan Killick tells the story.
Helpful advice
The Organizer’s Tool Crib is an intriguing and helpful online directory of tools
and resources which enables you to search through technology options, read peer reviews, and add
your own
http://toolcrib.ning.com/.
The Community Channel's YourCharitySpace is a social networking area for people to
blog about charities and causes they support and feel passionate about. It also allows users
to upload images and short video clips and comment on other people’s blogs
http://tinyurl.com/ymoc7z. As part of
YourCharitySpace, Gareth offers 5 tips 5 tips to make our lives easier and your campaigns
potentially a whole lot more successful at
http://tinyurl.com/ybml7m.
Advice and support on email disclaimers can be found at
www.out-law.com/page-5536 and on the same theme, why
not brush off that email and internet policy with some help from
http://www.out-law.com/page-458.
Why worry about IT management? Well, this is why ...
http://tinyurl.com/yg3hkr.
Yet more top ten resolutions , this time for search engine marketing ...
http://tinyurl.com/yd7n8w.
Web 2.0 – looks sexy, looks fun , but will it really make a difference to you and
your organisation? ICT is only useful if it fits your goals. Power from the People:
Assessing the New Online Participatory Tools for Your Organization at Idealware puts it all into
perspective
http://tinyurl.com/yaj5kt.
Funding and freebies
So how do you get your message across? From Tearfund, the charity that
brought you the highly successful Water Game
http://tinyurl.com/ya94l7 is a Climate Change Pentathlon
http://tinyurl.com/yfj6ud whilst Christian Aid are going
with the Goat Game
http://tinyurl.com/ylpf2k. Well, not to everyone’s
taste perhaps but this sort of messaging does make a difference (and it’s made me go and switch the
telly off standby!). Thanks to Mr Watford Gap for the links although personally I’ve got a
thing for Alpacas...
CTT's technology donation programme CTX has got off to a flying start. Since
the launch of the programme in July 2006, 1100 charities throughout England, Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland have registered to participate in the programme and over 350 charities have
received donations of Microsoft software and Cisco hardware. They will be announcing
enhancements to the programme early in the New Year and if you’ve not already checked out what’s
available, then go to
www.ctxchange.org.
What can Google do for you? You didn’t think it was ‘just’ a search engine
did you? Google gets bigger, better and more diverse every year. For a host of
possibilities, check out
www.google.com/intl/en/options/ and we
might even do a feature on it later this year.
General news
Is your email signature getting you into trouble? UK Companies (which
includes voluntary organisations who are incorporated at Companies House) must include certain
regulatory information on their websites and in their email footers or they will breach the
Companies Act and risk a fine. More at
http://tinyurl.com/y95vtp If you do it now, we promise not
to tell on you!
Thinking of throwing that computer away? Laws forcing suppliers of IT
equipment to dispose of it free of charge in an environmentally sound
manner have come into force in the UK
www.out-law.com/page-7610.
Working from home – CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) have
issued guidance on teleworking (essentially working from home with a computer or telephone)
including current growth, considerations of the managerial challenges raised (and how to manage
them better) and the CIPD perspective. Worth a look at
http://tinyurl.com/ylwoqc.
Remote assessments for disabled users - AbilityNet has been successfully piloting
a new remote assessment service for severely disabled clients in their own homes since January
2006, and is now offering it as a paid service to employers, schools, colleges as well as the
public and voluntary sectors. More at
http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/newsarticle27.
Online Technology for Social Change: From Struggle to Strategy - This report compiles insights from more than 400 social change groups, technology providers, and nonprofit technology capacity builders, examining the needs of organizers working to utilize new technologies, and offering recommendations for how to meet those needs more effectively. http://dotorganize.net/report/introduction.