Report (Part 2): Conference on Volunteering and ICTs

Trends in Volunteerism and ICTs

Date: 7 December 2003, 13h45 to 14h30
Moderator: Viola Krebs, ICVolunteers and Focal Point of the WSIS Volunteer Family
Reporters: Randy Schmieder
Speakers:

• Ovid Tzeng, Academia Sinica, EduCity: A Network of Volunteers in Education
• Manuel Acevedo, Consultant for UNV, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

During this session, ideas were shared on the exciting possibilities new technological developments bring to expanding the scope of volunteering.

Ovid Tzeng of Academia Sinica, presented a network of volunteers in education and EduCities, the an educational city which turned out to be a real success story in Taiwan (Province of China). The EduCities adopts the structure and operation of a real city for cultivating a learner-oriented learning society on the network. Citizens in this cyber city can be students, teachers, parents, and anyone who are willing to participate and contribute. The main idea is that every citizen can be present and use the net. When science advances civilization changes its nature. In the past, people lived in their village and thought that the world was unlimited. Now it has become small. The Industrial Revolution brought manipulation and automation; digital revolution sharing and open access, biotech revolution management and improvement of life quality. Nowadays, there are those who can access science and those who are left out. Capacity building must be done at every level. Everyone participating does it on a voluntary basis, with the goal to learn, teach and promote social responsibility as well as good citizenship. It is interactive networking and it is obvious that students are interested and can also be contributing in teaching. A 13 years old boy, who won the best online teacher award, is the best example. He was creating online courses and was very popular. This is how lifelong learning and lifelong teaching can be achieved. In total 2,400 courses are offered and 25,000 classes provided on the net, used by 1.3 million participating citizens. The model of learning changes too. Mobile learning devices, connected classrooms, wireless school buses etc. create a favorable learning environment. Experts can participate in the discussions. Working with palm tools and laptops, classes can be held out in the open. The frontier between learning inside or outside a school building disappears and it becomes more important to learn, how to live in a modern information society.

Manuel Acevedo, UNV Consutant, quoted a South African writer: “Poverty is the sum of all its hungers”. If ICTs are considered as tools, then the question is: tools for what? According to Acevedo, if we see information as a raw material, ultimately if ICTs have a value, that value is the one people place on information. This is not just about a farmer accessing the web to check the latest prices. How can volunteers help bridge the digital divide? The development strategies must be adjusted to the emerging information society. Volunteers have already made a substantial contribution in this area. Volunteering becomes a very important asset for a more inclusive shape of the information society. There are different organizations devoted to this goal, such as the UNITeS initiative. But what is more important: food or computers? This is not a good question. ICTs are tools for human development. Information becomes a raw material and must be made available, because it enables human development. Different kinds of information must be made accessible and are of relevance, for example the prices of crops for a farmer. Volunteers can bring ICT to them. ICT volunteering as such is a part of human development. But the other way around, what impact do ICT have on volunteering? ICTs are very useful to the work of volunteers. Used in an effective way, they will improve the action of the organization and make it possible to involve more people, including e-volunteers or on-line volunteers. They improve volunteer management and communication between volunteers. Online volunteering is the simplest expression of volunteer networking. Today, networks are generating knowledge and knowledge can be shared through them. What types of networks can exist and how can they work better, are the crucial questions to be resolved.

The value of volunteer networks rests in the fact that they significantly enhance international cooperation. Mr. Acevedo opted to skip some of his more mundane challenges and preferred to focus directly on mainstreaming capacity in ICT development. Given that human capacity is the most important, whatever the conclusions from the WSIS, it will stand a better chance of success if it integrates volunteerism into the context. In conclusion, ICTs are a powerful new resource for development.
Open Forum on Building Visions for Volunteering and the Information Society

In this open discussion, and the following summation, participants developed their visions of how volunteering could contribute to human development and bridging the digital divide in the future. Moderator Krebs referred to Sfeir Younis’ Paper, “Volunteer Capital”.

Date: 7 December 2003, 14h30 to 15h00
Moderator: Viola Krebs, ICVolunteers and Focal Point for WSIS Volunteer Family
Reporters: Randy Schmieder

Open Floor

Mikale H. Snaprud (Agder University College, ICT Department, Norway) pointed out that open standards were needed for software. He suggested W3C. Richard Jordan of the International Council of Carrying Communities suggested that the Olympic Games should help promote some of the ideas brought up and said he would prepare a paper to outline his specific ideas. Answer: Manuel: interesting, but I don’t know. This gets good visibility; should do. “I know you are all very active, but when it comes to telling governments that NGOs do contribute, framing it in an economic perspective is very interesting.”

ICTs exist and offer a tempting array of possibilities. Volunteers are available. The main problems identified in matching up the two were:

1) The need for infrastructure (organization and coordination)

• To connect volunteers with each other through the technology
• To connect volunteers with the technology itself
• To enable volunteers to use the technology in bridging the digital divide

2) The need for finance to set up the necessary infrastructure.