By Gregg Swanson, Executive Director, HumaniNet
It’s been a full week since returning from N2Y2, and I’m still processing my notes from dozens of conversations and some valuable (and somewhat intense) sessions at N2Y2. Our calendar this last week has been jammed – a (big) birthday, a (very big) graduation, and some exciting developments in the core activity of HumaniNet – to be covered in a subsequent post.
Matt Blair and I met some outstanding people from the NetSquared and nonprofit communities, and we send our sincere thanks to the Net2/TechSoup teams for planning and hosting a memorable, enjoyable and high-energy event. It was a learning experience, for sure. Although Maps 2.0 was not one of the top three winners, we were truly honored to be one of the 21 Featured Projects. It was fantastic to meet and learn from a group of very sharp, committed nonprofit leaders and funders. Their organizations are certainly in good hands. We would not hesitate to collaborate with any and all of them.
Our discussions abundantly reaffirmed the need for a GIS resource for nonprofit and humanitarian managers, planners, and researchers. Here is our bottom line: we will continue to grow the GIS community of practice, but in a paced, methodical way.
The Maps 2.0 team is sorting through the many possible approaches and will launch a project that can and will be sustained. This is the HumaniNet model, as it unfolded since 2001 – one building block at a time, taking care of field partner needs and creating user-driven processes and content.
Here are a few summary comments and observations from N2Y2, in random order:
* Leaders of technology-based nonprofits fully understand the power of networks, and social networking. This includes Net2, TechSoup, and Compumentor, but also visionaries like our friends and partners Allen Gunn of Aspiration, Kim Lowery and Tobias Eigen of Kabissa, and Randy Roberson of H.E.L.P. Actually, all of the 21 Featured Projects and their leaders – and probably most of the 152 original entries - are built on cooperative and networked strategies.
* When you are on the playing field with star projects that deliver direct assistance in such areas as recycling, family support, and civic engagement, it is not that easy to explain to funders how an enabling model (such as HumaniNet’s) will effect social change. That’s one of our primary challenges with Maps 2.0.
* It is still a bit surprising, but true just the same, that some folks who pay close attention to the nonprofit world are puzzled by the idea of “shedding light” or providing “consumer guide” content to humanitarian teams. In business, consultative assistance and current tech information is taken for granted. Excellent resources such as TechSoup, Idealware, and Aspiration (see their Social Source Commons) work really well for nonprofits. Why is it different if you are managing a refugee camp in Darfur or a medical project in Sri Lanka?
* A few years ago, I met an executive who said “humanitarian organizations will never collaborate.” He was dead wrong. Since the Maps 2.0 vision and initial plan was formed, just two months ago, we have heard from many NGO managers who are eager to share information in this booming space. There is a sense that GIS will help “raise all the boats,” which is the idea with collaboration.
* Another challenge for the Maps 2.0 team is to define the primary use cases (“verticals”) and to determine which should be addressed initially. We will address this by paying close attention to the different user communities. And not just GIS superusers! An NGO manager in Nairobi who has had no exposure to GIS still has a set of information needs in running her or his project, and we will reach out to people who are “heads down” in the field.
* The importance of mapping tools and data sets is massively clear to many NGO program and tech managers. We’re fortunate to have the advice of several of them on our Advisory Team (which see). We have been contacted by several highly qualified GIS experts who have offered their assistance in research and evaluation.
* We also met some very forward-thinking managers from Silicon Valley tech companies, who understood at once what we are about, and the power of networking. It is really encouraging to know that corporate citizenship is at work in the tech world, big companies and small, software and hardware, local or multinational.
Please check back soon - probably by June 21 – for more on the Maps 2.0 planning and an announcement of a proof-of-concept field demo for relief operations, tentatively scheduled for late August.
Once again, we thank the Net2 team for a fascinating and network-intensive two days! Also to Gunner for his leadership of the pre-conference meeting, and to all of the Featured Project leaders for being accessible, helpful, and collaborative!
Gregg
